Mariah Carey

Personal and career struggles, 2001–2003

Carey had ended a very successful decade in music, however, things took a sudden downward turn for her. Her one victory was in finally ending her contract with Sony after which she signed a huge contract with EMI's Virgin Records worth a reported US$100 million covering five albums. Both parties appeared to be enthusiastic about the deal and Carey received a hefty signing bonus. Just a few months later, in July and August 2001 it was widely reported that Carey had suffered physical and mental exhaustion. She had left voicemail messages on her website (which were quickly removed) to her fans complaining of being overworked; her many years of concurrent singing, writing, producing, and now acting seemed to have finally taken their toll. In addition, her three-year relationship with singer Luis Miguel was coming to an end. Carey made a notorious appearance on MTV's Total Request Live, where she handed out popsicles to the teen-aged audience and began a strip tease; host Carson Daly covered his eyes and asked, "What are you doing?"{{ref|VH1TRL}}{{ref|IMDbTRL}}. After that, she checked into a mental health facility and announced that she was taking a break from public appearances.{{ref|CNNPublicBreak}}

Related Topics:
EMI - Virgin Records - 2001 - Luis Miguel - MTV - Total Request Live - Carson Daly

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Her acting debut, in the semi-autobiographical film Glitter, was scheduled for later in August but had to be delayed; it was finally released a month later, but panned by most critics and became a box office failure (see below). When Virgin Records released her tenth album, Glitter, Carey was unable to do much promotion due to her ill health and the album, having been released on a dark day in American history, September 11, 2001, peaked at number-seven (Carey's weakest showing to date). Reviews of the album were not enthusiastic either; Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone was generally pleased, but criticised Carey's ballads for having "zero melodic or emotional punch"{{ref|SheffieldGlitter}}, and E! thought that even the most serious tracks on the album, some of which dealt with suicide and stormy relationships, were "as glossy as her latest publicity shot"{{ref|EGlitter}}. A similar criticism was levelled at lead single "Loverboy" by a critic for NME, who said "the song is over almost as quickly as it starts", and was "not memorable"{{ref|NMELoverboy}}. "Loverboy" reached number-two on the Hot 100 thanks to Virgin's massive campaign to sell the single for only 99 cents across the United States, however, airplay was almost nonexistent.

Related Topics:
Glitter - Below - Glitter - September 11, 2001 - Rolling Stone - Ballad - E! - Loverboy - NME

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Carey did rally to perform "Hero" as part of the September 21 ' nationally televised fundraiser in the aftermath of the attacks, and in December she performed before U.S. peacekeeping troops in Kosovo. She was also given her own CBS television special, At Home for the Holidays with Mariah Carey, which aired in the U.S. on December 21, 2001. Shortly after the disastrous release of Glitter, Sony released a semi-authorized second compilation album, the 2-CD Greatest Hits, just before Christmas. Although the album initially failed to make an impact on the charts, it would eventually hold strong, steady sales.

Related Topics:
Kosovo - December 21 - 2001 - Greatest Hits

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In January 2002, EMI decided to part ways with Carey and they bought out her contract for $28 million, as an addition to the $21 million paid last year when singing, giving her another round of bad publicity. Despite this, there were several record companies vying for her signature in the months that followed and she eventually signed with Island Records' Def Jam that formed her own label MonarC Music for a reported $20 million for three albums (with an option on the fourth) in 2002. To further add to Carey's emotional burdens, her father Alfred Roy Carey died of cancer that same year.

Related Topics:
2002 - Island Records - Def Jam - MonarC - Music

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Following a well-received supporting role in the independent film WiseGirls (see below), Carey then released a new album, Charmbracelet, in December 2002 as part of a new deal with Island Records; it debuted at number-three. She expressed an interest in writing music that is more profoundly meaningful to her and her fans, but Charmbracelet failed to ignite critics. In addition to the poor reception of the song "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" (a cover of the 1981 Def Leppard single) and the conventional feel of the entire album (Angus Batey called it "conservative, unadventurous and uninspiring"{{ref|BateyCharmbracelet}}), the quality of Carey's vocals, which had previously been perceived as the singer's strong point, came under immense fire. "Mariah's voice is shot, sounding in tatters" declared Erlewine, "and there's not a moment where it sounds strong or inviting"{{ref|ErlewineCharmbracelet}}. "Carey's once glorious voice is all over the place" said another{{ref|ECharmbracelet}}, and Barry Walter's commented, "Carey's lead vocals blend into choruses of overdubbed Mariahs cooing overlapping phrases"{{ref|WaltersCharmbracelet}}.

Related Topics:
WiseGirls - Below - Charmbracelet - Bringin' on the Heartbreak - Def Leppard

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Carey's devoted fan base—who sometimes go by the name "lambs"—continued to buy her singles in the thousands, but none of the singles took off with pop radio, whose playlists had become less open to maturing pop "diva" stylists such as Carey, Whitney Houston, and Céline Dion{{ref|USATodayRadioDivas}}. After a decade of one Carey hit after another, many observers came to the conclusion that Carey had lost her "radio magic". Subsequently, her duet with Busta Rhymes, "I Know What You Want" (2003), fared considerably better, reaching number-three on Billboard's pop singles chart; it is featured on her thirteenth album, The Remixes, a double CD released by Columbia Records. That year, Carey was awarded the "Diamond Award" by the World Music Awards show in honour of over 150 million album sales worldwide{{ref|OfficialSiteDiamond}}{{ref|WorldMusicAwardsDiamond}}, and she also staged the "". Reviews were generally favorable, though the press also spoke of Carey's large travelling entourage, many pieces of luggage, hotel and dressing room demands, and other diva-like behaviours{{ref|AbstractsCharmbraceletTour}}.

Related Topics:
Busta Rhymes - I Know What You Want - 2003 - The Remixes

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