Mariah Carey engaged to Australian mogul James Packer

US pop star Mariah Carey and Australian casino tycoon James Packer are engaged to be married, according to friends who said Friday they were over the moon for the lovebirds. The couple has been dating for several months and celebrated New Year’s Eve at billionaire Packer’s Crown Casino in Melbourne, where the singer took to the stage to perform before an intimate audience that included Packer’s mother. “I’m so excited to be in Melbourne with James for New Year’s Eve,” the husky-voiced songstress reportedly said at the fete.

A close friend of the couple confirmed the upcoming nuptials to AFP and saying she was “over the moon that James has found such happiness with Mariah”. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Packer proposed to his girlfriend in New York on Thursday.

Sources close to the Packer family said “the family is overjoyed that they have found each other”, the newspaper reported. “Mariah has made James a very happy man, she is a very special person and the family wholeheartedly approves,” it added.

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E News entertainment website described her engagement ring as “breathtaking” and said the rock weighed in at a whopping 35 carats. Carey, famous for her five-octave range, was previously married to rap artist and actor Nick Cannon with whom she had fraternal twins. Her five-year union to legendary music producer Tony Mottola ended in divorce in 1998. The singer who is around 45 but whose date of birth is a matter of dispute, is best known for smash pop hits Hero, We Belong Together and Someday.

Packer, 48, has three children from his marriage to his second wife, Erica Baxter. The tycoon runs a worldwide gambling empire Crown, one of Australia’s largest entertainment groups.

First Published: Jan 22, 2016 18:20 IST