Mariah Carey will perform at the 2026 Olympics opening ceremony. The five-time Grammy award-winner has announced she’ll take a main role in the Winter Olympics, which will take place in Milan in February 2026. She announced the news on her Instagram page, writing, “Ci vediamo a Milano” (See you in Milan).
She is the first international star to be announced to appear at the games. It’s believed the opening ceremony will have a crowd of 60,000, with millions watching. “Mariah Carey fully represents the emotional atmosphere that accompanies the run-up to the Games,” the committee said. “Music is a universal language that attracts different stories and sensibilities, and intertwines with the opening ceremony’s theme of harmony.” The Games will take place across northern Italy, with opening events held in three mountainous areas, Cortina, Predazzo and Livigno.
The opening ceremony will take place on 6 February. The Olympic flame will also burn in two places: the Arco della Pace in central Milan and in Cortina’s main Piazza Dibona. The closing ceremony will be headlined by internationally acclaimed ballet star Roberto Bolle in Verona’s ancient Roman Arena and take place on 22 February. Mariah, 56, has had 19 number one hits. She sang the US national anthem at the 2002 Super Bowl but has never performed at the game’s halftime show.
