Raiff Celebrates Mariah's 20 Years In Music: 2003

Posted by Raiff on Friday, 28-May-2010, 12:01PM EDT

Although sales of Mariah's latest album Charmbracelet were dismal on their own, they pushed her overall album and single sales to a new record. In January 2003, Mariah was honored by the Recording Industry of America with a plaque that read "Presented to Mariah Carey to commemorate more than 100 Gold, Platinum and Multi-Platinum certifications over the course of your extraordinary career. Congratulations from the Recording Industry Association of America."

After a three year absence, Mariah returned to the stage of the American Music Awards in January. Though she did not win any awards that night, she would share a very special moment with the world. She was there to pay tribute to a very special man in her life - her father. With the support of four backing singers and a choir, Mariah performed "Through The Rain," as photos of her throughout her life flashed on a giant screen behind her. At the end of the video collage were several photos of Mariah and her father, before cutting to the image of a giant sunflower field and the words "In Loving Memory of Alfred Roy Carey." Mariah received a standing ovation. In another performance inspired by her father, Mariah sang the national anthem before the Daytona 500 in February. "I'm totally psyched about it," she said to the Daytona Beach News Journal. "My father used to race cars, and when I was called to do this I felt like it was perfect timing because my father passed away this past year. We had gotten into long conversations about the fact he raced cars and what it meant to him."

Mariah's next major appearance was another tribute performance, not to a major music icon but rather to Michael Jordan. "Michael Jordan is one of the greatest athletes that has ever lived and has done so much for basketball and the world of entertainment over the years," said Mariah in a statement. "He is truly a hero and I am honored to perform this special tribute to him during this year's All-Star festivities." Before the audience of the NBA All-Star game, Mariah performed "Hero," dedicated to Jordan, as well as "My Saving Grace" and "Boy (I Need You.)"

In February, MonarC released a commercial single for "Through the Rain," featuring a dance remix of the song and a live version of "Bringin' on The Heartbreak." First-week singles sales gave Mariah the #1 selling single of the week (13,823). However, over four months had passed since "Through the Rain" initially impacted radio, and the combination of sales and airplay were not enough to bring it past #81 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single from the album, which was originally set to be "The One" but then changed to "Boy (I Need You)," was serviced to radio, and a music video directed by Joseph Kahn (which featured footage from their 2002 shoot in Japan) was issued. A CD single was released internationally, featuring a remix with Cam'Ron, Juelz Santana, Jimmy Jones and Freeway. Regarding the song-swap, here is what Billboard Magazine had to say in a review:

"About 10 minutes after releasing lackluster "The One" as the second single from Mariah Carey's current Charmbracelet, label honchos reneged on the decision in favor of "Boy (I Need You)." Good thinking. This relaxed slow jam gives the diva's career a nudge with its playful, sped-up chirp of the word "boy" throughout, which is positively infectious."

Also keeping Mariah busy at the beginning of the year was a whirlwind promotional tour through Europe, where she performed on The Graham Norton Show, CD:UK, Lottery Show, Eurobest, Top of the Pops, and an intimate performance for MTV Europe where she sang "Through the Rain," "Yours" and "Bringin' on the Heartbreak."

Right on the heels of "Boy (I Need You)" was the next single release. "I Know What You Want," credited to Busta Rhymes & Mariah Carey featuring Flipmode Squad, was taken from Busta Rhyme's album It Ain't Safe No More. A video was shot for the track in Los Angeles, featuring Busta in a high-speed car chase and Mariah singing the hook in a Harley Davidson biker-chick outfit. "I Know What You Want" gave Mariah her first entry in Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks chart. It also earned Hot Shot Debut honors on the Hot 100, where it opened at #57 and eventually peaked at #3, making it Mariah's highest-charting single of the Charmbracelet era. Though the song did not appear on the original album, it would be put out later in the year on an international Charmbracelet re-release and again on The Remixes.

The next single from Charmbracelet was "Bringin' on the Heartbreak." The music video, directed by Sanaa Hamri, was shot rock-concert style in Los Angeles, and featured a cameo appearance by Dave Navarro. The video was inspired, in part, by Bette Midler's The Rose. Mariah promoted the single with another performance on The Today Show, this time as part of the show's Summer Concert Series. On May 30, Mariah appeared before a packed crowd outside the Today studios to sing "Bringin' on the Heartbreak," "Dreamlover" and "Yours."

The Today Show performance was just a warm-up for what was in store next. The Charmbracelet Tour would take Mariah through Asia, North America and Europe over the course of several months. The itinerary underwent several changes from the initial announcement. Several dates scheduled at the beginning of tour, including stops in Singapore and China, were cancelled due to concerns over the SARS outbreak in those areas at the time. Most of those shows were rescheduled to later in 2003 or 2004. The North American leg, which was originally an arena tour, was changed to a more "intimate" theatre tour three weeks after the dates had already been announced. While some speculated that this was due to poor ticket sales, an Island/Def Jam spokesperson said the idea came from a fan who posted on a messageboard, and that Mariah thought it would be fun to have a more intimate environment for the fans. Fans were invited to log on to Mariah's website and help determine the setlist by selecting their top 20 songs from her entire catalogue.

On June 21, Mariah kicked off the Charmbracelet Tour in Seoul, South Korea. From there she headed to Japan, still a huge market for her, to perform a total of ten shows between Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Hiroshima and Nagoya. After a ten day break, it was time to hit North America.

On July 26, Mariah played to a sold-out crowd at the Colosseum at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Over the next two months, she would play to audiences all over North America, many of whom had never had the chance to see her before. Because the smaller production of the theatre tour was easier to take on the road, Mariah was able to visit several states she'd never been to, including Missouri, Ohio, Colorado, Texas and New Jersey. For the first, and so far only, time, Mariah offered backstage meet-and-greets after every show. Fans who were randomly selected by her fan club, Honey B Fly, were entitled to bring a guest to the private autograph session and take part in a group photo, of all of the winners plus Mariah.

The North American tour ended on September 23 in Manchester, New Hampshire; and from there it was off to Europe. The European leg of the Charmbracelet Tour kicked off just four days later in Moscow, Russia and would take Mariah to several other places she had never performed before, including Switzerland, Sweden and Austria. After playing Milan, Italy on November 7, Mariah returned briefly to Asia to perform for fans in China and Philippines.

During the tour, a new album was issued: a joint venture between Sony Music, Virgin Records, and Island Def Jam. The Remixes was a two-disc set of some of Mariah's best remixes. Disc one featured some of her best-known club remixes, including the David Morales mixes of "Dreamlover" and "Fantasy" and the Junior Vazquez version of "Heartbreaker." Disc two was Mariah's urban remixes, including the epic Bad Boy Remix of "Fantasy" featuring O.D.B. Also included were three previously unreleased tracks: Charmbracelet international bonus track "Miss You," "I Know What You Want" and a So So Def remix of "The One" featuring Bone Crusher. Mariah was happy about this release, as she had been pushing for a collection of her remixes to be put out for several years. "I'm excited about it... All the hip-hop remixes are there, and then you have the club mixes, so it's a totally unique kind of album," she said. "In a way I'm just like [sighs] 'OK, this should've been out four years ago,' but I think it's definitely like a collector's item. 'Cause a lot of the remixes you couldn't get in stores, you couldn't buy them."

Mariah's achievements in music were again celebrated in October, when she was presented with the World Music Awards' Diamond Award for over 100 million album sales worldwide.

In December, Mariah celebrated the holidays by bringing the Charmbracelet Tour back to the United States for a series of seven special holiday concerts. The second U.S. leg only visited the west coast, beginning on December 9 in Oregon and ending on December 22 in Costa Mesa, California. Christmas trees were added to the show's set, as well as three songs Mariah had not performed in concert in the U.S. before: "All I Want For Christmas Is You," "Joy to the World" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/Gloria (In Excelsis Deo)."

MARIAH QUOTES

"Everybody has problems but as a celebrity it's really hard to live under a microscope. Last year I was burning the candle - forget both ends: basically it was just the wick left! So I've changed the way I live my life. If I need to take a break, have some fun, take a nap, I'll do it. Before, I never wanted to disappoint anyone. But if you start off like that as a young artist and record companies see that you're willing to do an album a year, they'll milk you dry. It's the nature of the job." Blues & Soul

"How's my love life? Where's my love life! Look, if there was someone who was cool, fun, someone who would let me be me... Someone who didn't have [my] poster, because you can't live up to a poster. I think men expect me to sit there in a black dress and sing 'Love Takes Time' in their ear." Blender

"I was like a parent who was overcompensating. I had gone from one situation which was very confining [her five-year marriage to Mottola ended in 1998], and I was trapped in my business life as well. And then I was let out of my contract with Sony in the middle of recording [the soundtrack for Glitter], and I was shooting Wisegirls [with Mira Sorvino]. So I thought, I've been doing my own business for this long, how hard can it be to go somewhere else?" Allure

"Everybody's a diva these days. You can be the diva of garbagewomen - it doesn't matter. It a little bit tired. When I was growing up, my mother was an opera singer, so I connected divas to someone who can really sing and is a bit grandiose. So I guess that would be me." Maxim

"Someone asked me for my autograph when I was 20. It was a feeling of validation." Daily Mail UK

"If you're not strumming a guitar or playing a piano like Alicia Keys, people assume you're not involved. I don't think they realize how much time I put in in the studio. It's my second home." Vibe

COLLEAGUES' QUOTES

Busta Rhymes: "She was cool. She's incredibly professional, incredibly beautiful. One of the best singers in the game, hands down, despite the trials and tribulations. On every level it was extremely pleasant."

Lyor Cohen, President/CEO Of Island/Def Jam: "Her work ethic is insane. She's psychotically professional and a real perfectionist."

"I said to [Mariah], 'What's your competitive advantage? A great voice, of course. And what else? You write every one of your songs - you're a great writer. So why did you stray from your competitive advantage?... It's like driving a Ferrari in first. You won't see the Ferrari will do until you get into sixth gear."

Mike McKnight, Sound Technician: My first impression of Mariah was that she was an incredible singer, very funny (she's always cracking jokes) and just a very nice person to be around."

Max Beesley, Glitter Actor: I'll never ever judge anybody until I meet them ever again because she was lovely! She was like a breath of fresh air, you know! And professional and generous and just a nice girl and, it's a shame that they abuse the power they have in the media!"

Chris Robinson, Director, "I Know What You Want": "We created a set to what she was going to wear. Mariah's a star so you know she brings so much production value to a project like this you know what with Busta Rhymes who's a huge star, you put Mariah Carey in the mix is like."

TV APPEARANCES