The 'Fantasy' hitmaker reflects on the drama behind the complete rework of her hit song almost 20 years ago, and addresses her bizarre stunt on MTV's 'Total Request Live' show.
- Oct 10, 2020
AceShowbiz - Mariah Carey was "almost killed" by the stress of the song sampling drama which forced her to completely rework her hit song "Loverboy" almost 20 years ago.
The superstar had originally used parts of the 1978 Yellow Magic Orchestra song "Firecracker" in the 2001 single, but ended up having to scrap that version on discovering Jennifer Lopez had sampled the same tune in her release, "I'm Real", after Mariah had already recorded and wrapped her track.
She ended up going back to the drawing board to overhaul the lead single from her "Glitter" album, after becoming convinced it was all part of her ex-husband and Sony Music boss Tommy Mottola's bid to derail her career, and although she is now much happier with the final product, which incorporates the classic Cameo tune "Candy", the controversy really took its toll on Mariah.
"I had to change the entire song, and re-sing and re-produce it," she recalled on U.S. talk show "Watch What Happens Live".
"I'm actually glad it happened because I like the version with Cameo better."
"It almost ruined my life, it almost killed me that it happened, because then I had to work doubly hard..., and it really, really, really was a horrible thing to have happen, but here we are!".
Continuing to reflect on the drama, Mariah said, "In retrospect, I don't even like that (Firecracker) version anymore. It's cool but... I love the Cameo loop so much that I'm happy that I did (it), but back then, as I say, it literally almost destroyed me that that happened because of the chain of events that happened afterward."
The "chain of events" which followed included a bizarre stunt on MTV's "Total Request Live" show, which featured Mariah pretending to crash the set with an ice cream cart and then rip off her oversized T-shirt to show off a pair of gold hot pants and a tank top - all to promote her flop album "Glitter", followed by what was widely considered to be a nervous breakdown, ending with a stint in rehab.
Insisting it was all blown out of proportion, Mariah explained, "It was a stunt gone awry. By today's standards, it's like, nothing. It wouldn't even get picked up (as news)...".
"I brought an ice cream cart to TRL and had a little moment 'cause I was trying desperately not to allow a huge corporate entity and someone with an agenda to destroy my career, so that moment was a really screwed up thing, but I look at it now and I'm like, 'Oh please, they acted like I stripped butt naked on TRL...!', which today, would also be a normal, everyday occurrence!".
"And, might I add, people are staging their own stunts, their own meltdowns and all that stuff just for the attention. Back then, if you did that, it lived on forever... We're lucky if they stay on one subject for 24 hours in today's world, so it's a different time...".
Mariah goes into full detail about that troubled period in her new memoir, "The Meaning of Mariah Carey", and included the original cut of Loverboy in her compilation album, "The Rarities", which dropped last week (October 2).
