North Carolina Town Cary Honors Mariah Carey by Renaming Itself 'Carey' on Nov. 1 Each Year

Mariah Carey may not be able to legally claim to be the sole "Queen of Christmas" — but she can say that she (kinda) has a town named after her.

Cary is a populous town in North Carolina with a history long before the R&B star, have been founded in 1750. The town's name is pronounced the same as Carey, so Mayor Harold Weinbrecht decided to lean into it and honor the singer's legacy.

Weinbrecht took to the airwaves on local station Mix 101.5 to declare that on Nov. 1, the town will be renamed "Carey" for "One Sweet Day," a play on Carey's hit song. After all, the town just needs one extra letter. In an Instagram video, a woman is seen adding a lit "E" in the town's name. Other photos in the collection show the proud mayor posing with the official proclamation.

"This is amazing!!! I’m so honored!!" Carey, 55, replied in the town's Instagram comments. "Can’t wait to be in North Carolina next month!! ❤️"

The temporary annual change is said to honor "the holiday magic that she brings each year," and it's a role Carey takes very seriously.

On Nov. 1, the same day Cary announced the name change and a day after Halloween, the "Emotions" singer dropped an Addams Family-inspired video to announce that the holiday season has begun. The countdown in the video turns the dark and gloomy set into a Christmas wonderland, and Carey is of course dressed in the fur-lined red dress similar to the one on her Merry Christmas album cover.

And the superstar went step further in honor of the 30th anniversary of her best-selling Christmas album by launching an Amazon storefront. On Nov. 4, two days before she embarks on her  Christmas Time Tour, Carey released a collection of holiday decorations, gift picks and merchandise.

There's even a massive lawn inflatable with Carey herself navigating reindeer on a sleigh.

If you don't have a lawn, you can also bask in Carey's holiday spirit by visiting her newly unveiled wax figure at Madame Tussauds in New York. On Nov. 3, the singer visited the figure and was taken aback by the resemblance. The museum opted to forgo her classic fur-lined dress in favor of a sparkly red gown with a deep plunge similar to the look she wears in her 2020 Apple TV+ holiday special, Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas.

According to a press release from the museum, Carey loved the display, saying, "Oh my gosh, it’s surreal. Very good!"