Raiff Celebrate's Mariah's 20 Years In Music: 2008

Posted by Raiff on Wednesday, 02-Jun-2010, 12:01PM EDT

Mariah Carey rang in 2008 at TAO in Las Vegas, where she counted down to the New Year in the presence of Mario, Da Brat, Kelis, NAS and Randy Jackson, among others. The party-goers were in for a treat when DJ Suss One closed the night by playing her new track, "Migrate," featuring T-Pain, from her upcoming album. "The album is probably my favorite album that I've ever done," Mariah told Extra,"I don't want to brag, I am am just humbly grateful that I was blessed to be able to make this record, because I love it." With the premiere of "Migrate" and the previous revealings of two other song titles ("Heat" and "I'm That Chick"), anticipation was building for the follow-up to The Emancipation of Mimi!

The first new music to be released was not from the new album, but from a Randy Jackson compilation entitled "Randy Jackson's Music Club - Volume 1." Mariah was featured on a track called "I Understand," which also had vocals from Bebe Winans, Kim Burrell, Rance Allen, Hezekiah Walker and The Love Fellowship Tabernacle Church Choir.

In mid-January, Def Jam/Island CEO Antonio "L.A." Reid flew to London, where he appeared before an exclusive VIP audience at a central London hotel theatre to preview work from two of his biggest artists: Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey. He announced that Mariah's new album was tentatively titled That Chick, and presented several new tracks, including uptempo songs ("Migrate," "Touch My Body"), ballads ("Bye Bye," "Love Story") and even a track with a Jamaican groove featuring Damien Marley ("Cruise Control"). Listener response to the new music was positive, and Reid announced that That Chick would be released in April. Further That Chick album previews were held later in the month, in Australia and Taiwan.

In February, Elephant Eye Films announced that the film Tennessee, which Mariah had filmed in 2007, would premiere in theatres nationwide in spring 2008. While that did not happen, one premiere that did was that of the new single, "Touch My Body." The track, which was written and produced by Mariah, C. "Tricky" Stewart and The Dream, hit airwaves in mid-February. Brett Ratner directed Mariah in the song's video, which featured 30 Rock actor Jack McBrayer as a computer nerd who is called to the home of none other than Mariah to fix her PC. The video was "the perfect combination of fantasy and comedy," according to Ratner, with "Mariah looking more beautiful than she has ever looked." The video was serviced to music video outlets worldwide, and Mariah stopped by MTV's TRL and BET's 106 & Park to premiere the clip.

"Touch My Body" flew up the charts immediately after its impact, debuting at #23 in airplay and eventually peaking at #2. Radio response to "Touch My Body" was so enthusiastic that after only four weeks on the Hot 100, it sat at #16 based on airplay alone. ("It's Like That" peaked at the same spot on the Hot 100 three years earlier, with the availability of digital downloads!) Once the song was released for sale on digital outlets, it soared to the top of the Hot 100, giving Mariah her 18th #1 single. This put her ahead of Elvis Presley, who had 17 #1 hits, and made her the only active recording artist with the potential to surpass The Beatles all-time high of 20 #1's. "Touch My Body" also gave Mariah the distinction of being the solo artist with the most #1 Hot 100 singles in the history of the Billboard charts.

With the nearly instant success of "Touch My Body," it was time for the first new Mariah Carey album in nearly three years. Island/Def Jam issued a press release announcing an April 15 release date for the record, which had been renamed from That Chick to E=MC² In addition to C. "Tricky" Stewart and The Dream, E=MC² would feature production from Jermaine Dupri, DJ Troomp, Stargate, Will I Am, Bryan Michael Cox, Nate "Danjahandz" Hills and James Poyzer. In February, Mariah shot the album cover at the penthouse suite and rooftop of Lenny Kravitz's Crosby St. apartment building in New York, NY.

Mariah called in to radio stations across the country, from California to Ohio to New York, to chat it up about her new projects. Her first major television appearance in support of E=MC² took place on March 15, when she returned to the Saturday Night Live stage after a ten-year absence. In an episode hosted by Jonah Hill, she performed the hit single "Touch My Body" and premiered "Migrate" with special guest T-Pain. Mariah was also featured on MTV's 52/52 campaign, which features one artist every week for each of the year's 52 weeks, with 11 hours of commercial time on MTV ranging from performances to interviews to skits and more. Mariah's appearance for 52/52 included a clip of a live acappella performance of the ballad "Love Story" and a skit where she ran on a treadmill in high heels. She also filmed interview spots for Wal-Mart's SoundCheck series, which plays on TV screens in the entertainment sections of its stores worldwide. Early magazine promotion for the album included cover articles for Allure, Billboard and Parade. Throughout the year, Mariah would also shine on the covers of Jet, People, Vibe, ELLE, and Red Book. In March, appeared in a Macy's commercial, along with Carlos Santana and Martha Stewart, in which she referred to her fragrance "M by Mariah Carey."

After a busy month of March in the U.S., Mariah went to Europe for a mini-promotional tour in three countries. In France, she called into French radio stations, appeared on the program Le Grand Journal, and held a press conference at the Alexandre III bridge. In England, Mariah stopped by The Paul O'Grady Show and The Friday Night Project, in addition to filming an interview/performance special, 4Music Presents: Mariah Carey. She also took time to make appearance at the Selfridges store in London to sign copies of the "Touch My Body" single, and attended a party at the Cipriani Restaurant in celebration of her 18 #1 hits. In Germany, she appeared on the talent-show SuperStar, where she performed "Touch My Body" and offered advice to the contestants, of whom the females were singing Mariah songs.

As the release of E=MC² grew closer, Mariah was nearly inescapable on television. On March 24, Mariah entertained the crowd at the season premiere of MTV's The Hills, where she debuted "I'm That Chick," in addition to performing "Touch My Body" and "We Belong Together." In April, Mariah performed "Fly Like A Bird," with Randy Jackson on bass, at American Idol's "Idol Gives Back" show at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The following week, she appeared again on American Idol, where she mentored the contestants, all of whom were singing Mariah songs. She also performed "Bye Bye." Other notable television appearances included Oprah, The View, Live With Regis & Kelly, a three song concert on Good Morning America, and a BET special, The Relativity of Mariah.

Reviews for E=MC² were good, but the consensus was that it would be hard for the album to follow the mammoth success that The Emancipation Of Mimi had been:

USA Today: "Mariah Carey once again demonstrates a knack for radio-friendly fare... The Emancipation of Mimi restored her pop footing three years ago. E=MC² puts a little glide in her stride.

Entertainment Weekly: "Pop goddess Mariah Carey scaled Olympian heights with her last album, 2005's Grammy-winning, 6 million-selling The Emancipation of Mimi. Certainly, E=MC² doesn't equal its predecessor. Still, this is a satisfying follow-up, heavy on hip-hop flavored midtempo jams and beat driven ballads."

Billboard: "She's proclaimed emancipation before, but Mariah Carey's never sounded as free as she does on her 10th album. The usual hummable radio hip-hop and bold ballads are here, in pristine form.. But so are some coy surprises, like the irresistible "I'm That Chick" and the Swizz Beatz-produced "O.O.C."... Carey's made a pop album with equal parts levity and gravity."

E=MC² debuted with the biggest first-week album sales of Mariah's career; more than 460,000 copies sold. The album stayed at #1 on the Billboard chart for 2 weeks and quickly maintained platinum status. E=MC² was a top 10 record in most major worldwide markets.

Mariah made a number of special appearances throughout the U.S. during the first few weeks of the album promotion. She held a CD signing for E=MC² at the Hard Rock Cafe in Los Angeles, where she was also presented with a special proclamation from mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa for her achievements. On April 25, Mariah attended a lighting ceremony at the Empire State Building, which was "in honor of a great New Yorker and her #1 album E=MC²" as stated in a press release. The New York landmark was lit in pink, lavendar, and white to celebrate the album's motif. Mariah did the honor of flipping the switch on a scale model of the building.

On April 26, Mariah attended the premiere of Tennessee at the Tribeca Film Festival. Filmed over a year prior, the film featured Mariah as a waitress who joins two brothers on their journey to re-connect with their father. The film was well-received at the festival. Tennessee was also slated to premiere at France's Marche du Film in May, as well as at the Cannes Film Festival.

The second single from E=MC² was "Bye Bye," a moving ballad, reminiscent of "One Sweet Day," about having lost a loved one. The song received respectable airplay, peaking at #17 on Hot 100 Airplay. A remix featuring Jay-Z was released to digital media outlets. "Bye Bye" was the "Hot-Shot Debut" on the Hot 100, where it started at #23 (selling 60,000 downloads) and peaked at #19. The music video was directed by Justin Francis, and featured behind-the-scenes footage of Mariah promoting the album, as well as shots of Mariah with some people she had lost, including Luther Vandross, Luciano Pavorotti, O.D.B and her father. Other footage in the video showed Mariah with her on-screen love interest, actor/comedian Nick Cannon.

Music video co-stars Mariah and Nick took the world by surprise when they announced that they had been married in a top-secret sunset ceremony on April 30 in the Bahamas. Having met briefly at the Teen Choice Awards back in 2005, the two hit it off during production of the "Bye Bye" video, and after only several weeks of courtship, they made the commitment to spend their lives together. They shared their wedding photos exclusively with People, with which they also sat down to talk about their special day. "We really do feel we are soulmates," Mariah said. "I never felt a love like this was in the cards for me."

After honeymooning in the Bahamas, Mariah was back to work promoting her successful new album. In May, she appeared at the Lincoln Center in New York City for Time's "100 Most Influential People in the World" gala. She had made the magazine's prestigious list, and her page in the magazine included a write-up by none other than Stevie Wonder. The gala was one of the newlywed couple's first public appearances together. Mariah was also named one of The New York Post's "50 Most Powerful Women in NYC." On May 13, Mariah made her first post-marriage television appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show, where she sat down to talk about various topics, from meeting Nick to attending the comedienne's birthday party. On May 15, Mariah attended the 5th annual Operation Smile Gala in New York. She was an avid supporter of the charity, which benefited children and young adults born with facial deformities.

At the end of May, Mariah flew to Japan for a promotional tour. The first stop was the Tokyo Dome, where she threw out the opening pitch at the Yomiuri Giants vs. Rakuten Eagles baseball game. After that, Mariah filmed an appearance on Music Station and went to the MTV Japan Video Music Awards, where she received the "Video Vanguard Award" and performed "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time." She also held a fan meeting event at the Venus Fort shopping mall in Tokyo.

"I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time" was the third single from E=MC². Chris Applebaum directed the video, which was shot in Hawaii and featured rapper T.I., who was featured on the remix. The remix was issued to digital retailers, but did not take off as hoped. The song peaked at #58 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it spent only 8 weeks before falling off the chart.

You Don't Mess With The Zohan, the Adam Sandler movie in which Mariah made a cameo appearance, was released to theatres in June. "I did a little cameo in that with Adam. It was so much fun," Mariah told Extra. "Like everybody is like from the School of Comedy or whatever. Every single person you encounter has a great vibe, great sense of humor and Adam Sandler is the nicest guy."

Also in June, Mariah performed as part of the second annual Samsung AT&T Summer Krush at the Hollywood & Highland Center in California. She performed several songs including "Touch My Body" and "Side Effects," which were broadcast as part of an appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel Show. She also stopped by TRL and 106 & Park to talk about the "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time" video.

July saw the release of Mariah's next Elizabeth Arden fragrance, Luscious Pink. "Luminous and sensual, Luscious Pink embraces Mariah's ever-captivating presence and playfully seductive personality, translating these qualities into an exquisite and effervescent fragrance that reflects Mariah's aura of femininity," stated a press release.

Mariah appeared at the Teen Choice Awards in August, where she performed a medley of "I'll Be Lovin U Long Time" and "Touch My Body." She also participated in a charity single, "Just Stand Up," which benefited the cause "Just Stand Up To Cancer." The song featured 15 all-star artists, including Mary J. Blige, Rhianna, Melissa Etheridge and Sheryl Crow. At the beginning of September, the ensemble performed the single live on stage at a telethon in New York City.

The month of September was a busy one for Mariah. She made an appearance on the Fashion Rocks concert at Radio City Music Hall, where she performed "I'm That Chick." Her next stop was to Canada where she headlined the season finale of Canadian Idol. Upon her return, she attended a screening of Tennessee at the Urbanwood Film Festival in New York. She then took off for Hong Kong, where she performed at a private event for the 15th CLSA Investor's Forum. In a concert called "Like Honey," Mariah sang 12 songs, including "Dreamlover," "Make It Happen" and "Touch My Body."

At the end of September, Mariah was named Hunger Ambassador for World Hunger Relief. Her image and the quote "The change from hunger to hope starts with you" were prominently displayed on posters in restaurants worldwide in the effort to combat world hunger.

Mariah headed to Las Vegas in October to film a music video for her next single, "I Stay In Love." The video, which was directed by Nick Cannon, showcased Mariah as a Vegas showgirl who is having a difficult time seeing her ex with a new woman. BET dedicated an episode of Access Granted to the filming of the video. Although several dance mixes were released digitally, sales and airplay for "I Stay In Love" did not make enough of a dent to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.

While in Las Vegas, Mariah and Nick attended the 13th Annual Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation's Grand Slam for Children benefit concert. Several weeks later, in California, Mariah performed "I'll Be There" with Trey Lorenz at the 2008 Spirit of Life Award Dinner. After that, she returned to New York, where she stopped by Good Morning America and The Rachael Ray Show to promote her new fragrance, Luscious Pink.

Although no further singles were released from E=MC², a new Mariah song hit the airwaves in October. "Right To Dream," her collaboration with Willie Nelson from Tennessee, impacted AC radio, where it peaked at #24. A digital single was released but did not sell enough copies to chart on the Hot 100.

In November, Mariah appeared on Britain's X Factor, where she sang "I Stay In Love." She performed the same song on the American Music Awards, where she received an honorary award in recognition of being the solo artist with the most number one hits of all time. Mariah received a similar distinction at the World Music Awards.

Mariah kicked off the holiday season by making an appearance on the Grammy Nominations Concert at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, where she gave a festive performance of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." Next, she took time to attend a private screening of Tennessee held by the NAACP. Mariah supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation by partnering with Macy's to grant a wish to a special child during an airing of The Early Show. After a flight to Japan to meet with the Camp Fuji Marines during a charity gala in Tokyo, Mariah and Nick spent their first Christmas together in Aspen, Colorado.

MARIAH QUOTES

"I'm always feeling festive! I hate, hate, hate when it's not festive. Don't you hate a non-festive moment? It's rancid! Seriously. And I love how if something isn't festive and amazing, it's just like rancid and horrible. No, honestly? I don't even know what made me start to say 'festive'. I just am! It's always about being festive. Sometimes when you get smacked around the face with whatever it is, when you have a non-festive moment or whatever, you just have to come back at it with all that much more happiness." i-D

"I was never thinking this is going to be my new thing. I'm going to walk round the town with butterflies. No, this is just something that people have said 'oh my God, you are obsessed by butterflies!' It became this thing and it's like it's not that deep." i-D

"I never really felt famous. Even when my album Music Box was out, I didn't feel that thing other young singers or songwriters who are just starting out feel when they become famous. I see other people who have one hit and they're already thinking they're the biggest star in the world. But I didn't feel that because of the relationship that I was in and because I think there was a concerted effort to keep me from feeling too empowered. So how do you keep your artistic integrity while you become a corporation? You've got to go through some stuff! I feel like I connect to people through song because it's filling a void in me. I don't do it just because I want to make money or I want to be famous. I need to make music. If I didn't have this, I don't know where I would be." Parade

"How do you climb back from the shambles when everybody counts you out? That can be a very difficult thing to come to terms with, especially when you've had so much success from such an early age. I have such faith in God that I really had to surrender everything and just know that I was going to be okay. That's truly where I had to go to when it felt like the bottom. More than anything, it was learning to grow up and take care of myself. Not treat myself like the corporation wanted to treat me, but treat myself like a human being. I've faced my worst fears and come out of them okay. Everything is always going to be all right as long as I hang on to the person inside of me." Parade

"My mother, now she was festive. She always wanted Christmas to be exciting. We didn't always have enough money for a lot of presents, but she'd wrap up whatever she could--even an orange--and say it was from the cat or something, just so I could have things to open. I think that when kids are little, it's really all about opening things; it doesn't matter so much what they are. And my mother always made things very fun." Red Book

"When I was a kid there was an ice storm in the suburbs. We went to Manhattan to stay with a friend of my mom's. There was nobody on the road. It was this moment that could have been scary for a kid, but she made it festive. That's what Nick is like: He takes the hard part of a situation and makes it celebratory."
Fashion Rocks

COLLEAGUES' QUOTES

Stevie Wonder:
Mariah Carey by Stevie Wonder
TIME's 100 Most Influential People

"I could never describe or measure the level of respect and love I have for Mariah Carey in just 300 words, but you know, I'll do my best. I've only met three people who had a truly wonderful voice and spirit to match: my first wife Syreeta, Minnie Riperton and Mariah. Obviously she is talented and has a great voice, but when a person has the opportunity to be heard and seen, at the end of the day she will also be felt. I feel Mariah has enjoyed such success at 38 because she's a good human being; her heart is wonderful, and she has a great spirit to watch. When I lost my mother, she was one of the first people to reach out to me. She was very far away and yet found a way to reach out by phone and share a prayer with me. It's easy to be friends when the lights are bright, but how is your love when there's none of that? I know how Mariah's is.

She has the ability to be sexy, but not so much that you think it's getting too crazy. It's a sexy classiness. The whole thing with her song Touch My Body is that she keeps it acceptable and has fun with it. And Mariah didn't break all those sales records just because she's beautiful. She has perseverance and consistency. You need the two: the ability to keep going and the ability to keep doing the right thing. She once said that every time she makes a new record, she feels like she's brand-new again. It's like a child looking at a computer for the first time. By doing it and not thinking about it, the magic just comes.

When people talk about the great influential singers, they talk about Ella, Barbra, Aretha, Whitney and Mariah. That's a testament to her talent. Her range is that amazing.

I look forward to the time the two of us can do a song together, but in the meantime, I will celebrate with the rest of the world the voice of Miss Mariah Carey.

L.A. Reid: "Talent always wins. And Mariah Carey has an abundance of talent; she's extremely gifted. She's eternally youthful, and because she's a true fan of music and a student of music and she's a sponge -- she's always soaking up music around her -- she refuses to grow old or get outdated. For an artist who's been in the business for almost 20 years, she's still one of the youngest. Her music has such young appeal. Her fans include 11-year-old kids from Long Island, for example. It's remarkable that she has this magic that's a combination of eternal youth and amazing talent."

Lil Wayne: "I have never done nothing with Mariah Carey, and I would like to, because I love older women. I'm attracted to older women. It's my thing. Mariah Carey, she might need a dude like me. I do my thing."

Adam Rothenberg: [Tennessee co-star] "I am always surprised when I meet super famous people. It is not that exciting. Well, it's not that. It's just that they are so real. Everyone on set is very nervous on that first day. We want people to like us. So you generally come together pretty perfectly, because you have a common goal. Mariah Carey was really nice. She was great. And I'm sure we will hear more about the film as it gets closer to its release date."

Benny Medina: "There is one original and it's Mariah Carey. I don't think there are five women on this earth that have that voice. And the other four - they haven't been discovered yet. She's an architect of lyrics, keeps culture's urban sensibilities in every album and as a result we're excited to see what the next phase of it is."

DJ Toomp: "It's an extreme dynamite of a song. It's called 'Lovin' You Long Time.' Right now we're definitely pushing for it to be the first single, a few people in the office are pushing for it also, so I'm just crossing my fingers that... I'm definitely on the album - first that was the hope. I was hoping I could make the album, now I'm hoping that it's released as first or second single. So I figure that's kind of powerful as far as you know, how I've been working on my career, just being known for Hip-Hop, and finally getting my first R&B placement on Mariah Carey, come on! You know what I mean?"

Brett Ratner: Mariah is musically at the top of her game and has never looked better. This will be our 5th music video we have collaborated on and definitely the best one yet visually, as well as musically. The video [for 'Touch My Body'] is the perfect combination of fantasy and comedy with Mariah looking more beautiful than she has ever looked, ever."

Nate "Danja" Hills: "On that track ("Migrate"), she definitely opens up towards the end of the song and shows what Mariah does. It's a different array of her vocal range on this record, but she keeps it pretty mid-range and then toward the end she lets loose. She was singing in the room, and I was just blown away by how good it sounded without her even trying. It's incredible, I see why she is who she is."

Jack McBrayer: "She's a comedy nerd. She was awesome! She was fantastic!"

Randy Jackson: "You see a lot of singers come on wanting to sing her songs, wanting to sing like her. She's one of the best singers in the world, but she's also one of the best songwriters in the world. There hasn't been one like her since her. The great singing voice starts with a great tone; that's what you love about Nat King Cole, Sinatra, Stevie, Donny Hathaway, Nina Simone, Ella -- it's about the tone. Mariah's got that amazing buttery tone and then all of the vocal ability. That's what makes it so ungodly deadly. It's instantly recognizable on the radio as a brand -- and to be able to write like that? Dude! C'mon! A lot of people you find today -- I won't mention names -- they have the vocal ability, but the tone is not beautiful. That's what we call the Holy Grail, I guess. She's got it all -- all in her throat, dawg!"

TV APPEARANCES