Mariah Carey performs in Canada, 1st show since split from billionaire fiancé
Singer was nearly 90 min. late for the free concert at The Bay & Saks Fifth Avenue windows
Mariah Carey was nearly 90 minutes late for a free concert in Toronto Thursday evening, her first public performance since her much-reported split from fiancé, James Packer.
Wearing a floor-length red gown with gift-like bow, the 46-year-old singer delivered a two-song performance to hundreds of enthusiastic fans who'd gathered for the seasonal window unveiling at the Hudson's Bay and Saks Fifth Avenue location near City Hall.
Fan favourite satisfies
Despite waiting in the cold, some of them for as long as eight hours, Carey's rendition of her holiday hit All I Want for Christmas is You had many fans singing along warmly.
It was a particularly special evening for longtime Carey fans Iqra Riaz and Jalak Shah. The women travelled all the way from London, England for the concert, which lasted only six minutes.
"We heard she was coming to Toronto and we said: 'That's our next holiday destination,'" recounted Riaz, who said she would do it all over again if she had the chance.
Not everyone was pleased by the Grammy-winner's tardiness. Some fans were seen ducking out before the show even started.
Punctually challenged
It's not the first time Carey — who received a reported $1 million for the Toronto gig — has proven to be punctually challenged.
Fans booed the bestselling artist when she showed up 45 minutes late to a March concert in Leeds, England earlier this year. In 2014, the self-proclaimed diva was famously three hours late for the lighting of the Christmas tree in New York's Rockefeller Center.
That was the same year she split from her second husband, rapper and actor Nick Cannon.
Carey's most recent split, from billionaire Australian businessman James Packer, is currently generating headlines for the singer, slated to premiere her new reality series Mariah's World next month.
Packer proposed with a 35-carat diamond engagement ring shortly after the pair met at a movie premiere in 2014.
