Mariah Carey Explains Her Refusal to Acknowledge Birthdays: ‘I Don’t Have a Birthday’

Mariah Carey has one very unconventional belief system. She doesn’t believe in the passage of time. 

On Monday, June 16, the superstar singer appeared on the U.K. radio station Capital FM, where co-hosts Sian Welby, Jordan North and Chris Stark, each asked her a series of questions about what she does or doesn’t support — including acknowledging time.

North asked the 56-year-old singer, “Is it true you don’t acknowledge the passing of time?”

“That is true,” Carey candidly confirmed.

When Welby asked what she meant by that, Carey simply replied, “I just don’t believe in it.”

Stark, still confused, wanted to know if she was referring to time zones, but Carey said, “No, just time,” she added.

Welby then said, “So no clocks? Just not into that?”

“Yeah. No, just let it go,” Carey nonchalantly replied. 

But Welby pressed further and asked, “Do you celebrate your birthday?” 

“I don’t have a birthday, no,” said the “Dreamlover” singer. “Anniversaries, yes.”

Stark, who continued to be perplexed, asked, “But if we were to meet up later, how would we know when?” But North retorted, “It’s on Mariah’s time.”

“Yeah, I would have someone call you and figure it out,” Carey proposed.

This isn’t Carey’s first time sharing her beliefs surrounding time and aging. In a 2014 interview with Out Magazine, she said, “I’m eternally 12 years old.” But when she asked about being a pop star for 25 years, she replied, “I don’t count years, but I definitely rebuke them–I have anniversaries, not birthdays, because I celebrate life, darling.” 

“Please put an LOL next to this,” she joked. “Because people are going to be, like, WTF?”

But two years later, Carey stayed true to her beliefs, and told Complex that ahead of her March 27 birthday, she doesn’t have one. “I don’t have a birthday,” she joked, per Complex. “I was just dropped here. It was a fairyland experience.”

Then, in 2019, she reiterated to Variety that her “true fans” know that she’s “eternally 12.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Carey began teasing her upcoming sixteenth studio album in June 2025. The album is slated to drop later this year.