Mariah Carey Declares She Doesn’t Have Birthdays because She Doesn’t Believe in Time

17 June 2025

Mariah Carey / Creator: Kevin Winter

Mariah Carey, the self-described “Songbird Supreme,” has once again asserted her unconventional stance on the passage of time, emphasizing that she doesn’t celebrate birthdays and refuses to acknowledge clocks or calendar years. The 56-year-old icon shared her lifelong philosophy during a recent appearance on the U.K.’s Capital FM, where hosts Sian Welby, Jordan North, and Chris Stark directly questioned her about her relationship with time and the responses were quintessentially Mariah. She confidently declared, “I don’t believe in time,” and flatly stated, “I don’t have a birthday, no,” opting instead to commemorate her life in anniversaries, not years.

This isn’t a new stance for Carey. Back in 2014, she referred to herself as “eternally 12” and, in 2016’s Complex interview, shared that she had entered into a pact with her younger self to never let time define her. “I was just dropped here,” she explained, reframing her existence as whimsical destiny rather than a birth date. Carey has recounted creating an imaginative contract at age eight or nine, promising to hold onto childhood forever by rejecting traditional aging, a mindset she maintains even now.

During the Capital FM segment on June 16, when asked if she acknowledges time zones or tracks birthdays, Carey dismissed the notion entirely. “Just let it go,” she told the hosts, who appeared bewildered by her detachment from temporal norms. She went so far as to suggest that planning on her schedule requires coordination through a representative, “I would have someone call you and figure it out,” she quipped.

Carey’s unique relationship with time ties to a broader pattern of self-creation and persona management. As explored in writings like those in The Cut and e‑flux, her dismissal of chronological markers reinforces her mystique and enhances her identity as a divinely untouchable diva. By rejecting linear aging, she remains perpetually the “eternal tween,” transcendent above the usual constraints of celebrity life and personal timeline.

Her fans, affectionately known as the “Lambily,” have embraced this ethereal perspective. Carey’s frequent references to anniversaries rather than birthdays reinforce an intimate bond with supporters, shifting the focus from personal aging to shared celebration of milestones: the launch of a new album, the debut of a music video, or a record-breaking performance.

The timing of this interview also dovetails with the lead-up to her sixteenth studio album, expected later this year. With the release of the music video for “Type Dangerous” and her BET Icon Award win fresh in the public eye, Carey’s philosophy on time dovetails with a carefully curated promotional strategy that keeps her image as vibrant and ageless intact.

Critics and cultural commentators tend to see Carey’s time stance as more than mere whimsy, it’s a deliberate construction. In e‑flux, Mariah’s refusal to accept time as a concept is described as vital to her artistry, serving as a deflection from authenticity and an elevation into myth. Time becomes both a mask and a canvas: she performs persona, not personal chronology.

Even mainstream outlets have framed her behavior as a blend of diva flamboyance and psychological strategy. She bathes in milk for skincare, bathes herself in humidifiers backstage, and declares fluorescent lighting intolerable actions that all feed the narrative of The Diva, performing magic and enigma at every turn. In the end, how she treats time is simply another stroke in the portrait of a pop deity who defies conventional labels.

Her message is unmistakable: birthdays are irrelevant; what matters are the stories, the music, the milestones. As Carey summed up in 2014: “I don’t count years, but I definitely rebuke them. I have anniversaries, not birthdays, because I celebrate life, darling”

This philosophy isn’t just lyrical flourishes, it informs her worldview and public presentation. By choosing not to mark birthdays or chronicle personal aging publicly, Mariah Carey sets herself apart, defying both Hollywood’s chronology and the expectations of celebrities who commodify age and longevity. Instead, she remains timeless, evoking fairy tales, eternal youth, and unhindered self-definition.

As she continues to dominate the charts, break records, and dominate awards into her mid‑50s, Carey’s personal declaration serves as a quiet manifesto: time does not define her and neither should it define us.