Mariah Carey

Independence and new image established, 1997–2000

Carey and Mottola separated in 1997; although she had often projected the image of a happy marriage to the public, in reality, she had felt emotionally and psychologically abused by Mottola. He was often described as possessive even to the point of spying on Carey when she had friends over, and telling their live in servants not to look at her in the eye to intimidate her. Their divorce became final the following year.

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Carey's 1997 album, Butterfly, was her second consecutive number-one debut, and saw her continuing to move in an R&B/hip-hop direction. Its titular motif was interpreted as a relation to Carey's feelings about escaping what she saw as the controlled, cocoon-like environment of her marriage. Lead single "Honey" displayed a much more sexual Carey than before in both its lyrics and music video. The autobiographical title track "Butterfly" was widely praised, and "My All" became her thirteenth number-one single, an unprecedented feat for a female artist. J.R. Reynolds said Butterfly "pushes the envelope", a move that he thought "may prove disconcerting to more conservative fans", but Reynolds still praised the album as "a welcome change"{{ref|ReynoldsButterfly}}. Another reviewer felt Butterfly illustrated "that Carey is continuing to improve and refine her music, which makes her a rarity among her '90s peers"{{ref|ErlewineButterfly}}. In 2004, Butterfly was named one of the 50 Essential Pop Albums by Slant magazine{{ref|SlantButterfly}}.

Related Topics:
Butterfly - Titular - Honey - Music video - Butterfly - My All - Slant

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At some point after the release of Butterfly, Carey had a falling out with Walter Afanasieff, who had helped co-create Carey's albums since her debut release. He had travelled and toured with her, playing piano live, and had appeared in Carey's home videos talking about their creative process. The two reportedly had creative differences, and they have not worked together since. Reportedly, much of their falling out was due to Afanasieff being caught between Carey and Tommy Mottola during their divorce with each asking him to take a side; Afanasieff was also a bit sick of being pigeonholed as Carey's producer, and wanted to expand his production horizons. Even after the falling out, Carey continued to release songs the pair co-wrote in the past, such as Glitter's "Lead the Way". After Carey's breakdown, E! Entertainment interviewed Afanasieff, who spoke highly of Carey, noting her hard work ethic and musical talent. When interviewed about Afanasieff, Carey too has spoken highly of him, and has expressed an interest for them to one day work together again.

Related Topics:
Lead the Way - E!

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1997 also marked the year that Carey became a major songwriter and producer for other artists. For Allure's self-titled debut album, Carey wrote two songs and produced several of the album's tracks, including the Top 10 single "All Cried Out". For the Men in Black (1998) soundtrack, Carey wrote and produced Trey Lorenz' "Make You Happy". In the next few years, Carey would write and produce more songs for other artists. She wrote and produced tracks for the self-titled debut albums of 7 Mile and Blaque, and also wrote "Where Are You Christmas" for How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) soundtrack, which Faith Hill sung in the film's closing credits.

Related Topics:
Allure - Men in Black - Trey Lorenz - 7 Mile - Blaque - How the Grinch Stole Christmas - Faith Hill

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During 1998, Carey had a highly public romance with New York Yankees baseball star Derek Jeter, who also had a multiracial upbringing. She would state later that while the timing was not right for them to sustain the relationship, it did teach her that multiracial families could function well.{{ref|DerekJeterRomance}}

Related Topics:
1998 - New York Yankees - Baseball - Derek Jeter

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In 1998, Carey released the album #1s, a collection of all her thirteen U.S. number-one singles up to that point. Carey, who was planning a film/soundtrack project known as All That Glitters, had not wanted the album to be released, but pressure was put on her to release some sort of an album to host a duet with Whitney Houston. The album included four new songs, the most successful internationally being the aforementioned "When You Believe", the duet with Whitney Houston, and the most successful at home being "I Still Believe", a cover of the 1980s song by Brenda K. Starr. Critic Amy Linden pointed out that "while these may be the tracks that sold the most and charted the highest, these aren't necessarily Mariah's best songs", though admitted that Carey's fans would be pleased with it{{ref|LindenNumberOnes}}.

Related Topics:
#1s - Whitney Houston - When You Believe - I Still Believe

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Also in that year, Carey appeared on the first televised VH1 Divas program, a joint benefit concert appearance with Aretha Franklin (her favorite singer alongside Stevie Wonder), Céline Dion, Gloria Estefan, Carole King, and Shania Twain. Carey's statuesque appearance (she is 5' 9" / 175cm tall), vocal and stage presence, career twists and turns, and alleged prima donna behavior had already led many to consider her to be a diva.

Related Topics:
VH1 - Aretha Franklin - Stevie Wonder - Céline Dion - Gloria Estefan - Carole King - Shania Twain - Prima donna - Diva

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In December of 1998, Carey met Latin heartthrob Luis Miguel while vacationing in Aspen, Colorado. Their relationship wasn't made official until early 1999.

Related Topics:
1998 - Luis Miguel - 1999

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In 1999, Carey released Rainbow, which like Butterfly, was comprised of pop and more hip hop oriented songs. Carey intended the album to express her feelings about her divorce two years previously{{ref|DivorceRainbow}}, and lead single "Heartbreaker" was another number-one success, helped by the accompanying music video, one of the most expensive ever made. Despite several collaborations with other artists such as Joe and 98 Degrees (on her fifteenth U.S. number-one single, "Thank God I Found You") and Westlife, the album was her lowest seller up to that point, and reached number-two on the U.S. charts. Decent reviews accompanied Rainbows release, but there were complaints that Carey was suffering a case of repetition; words such as "formulaic" and "predictable" frequently came up from even the most impressed critics{{ref|ErlewineRainbow}}{{ref|LambRainbow}}{{ref|BergerRainbow}}.

Related Topics:
1999 - Rainbow - Heartbreaker - Joe - 98 Degrees - Thank God I Found You - Westlife

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Although being the recipient of several awards in recognition for her decade-spanning career, including Billboard's Artist of the Decade Award and the World Music Award for the Best-Selling Female Artist of the Millennium, signs of decline began to appear when her final release from Rainbow, "Crybaby"/"Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" became her first song ever to not make the Top 20 of the Hot 100. Carey (via her website) publicly accused Sony of sabotaging the two singles and the album.

Related Topics:
Billboard's Artist of the Decade Award - World Music Award - Crybaby - Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)

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During her Rainbow era, Carey soon became a prominent figure in hip-hop music. She was a featured artist in Jay-Z's single "Things That U Do". Soon, she was collaborating with new, as well as established, rappers.

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