Mariah Carey's demands exposed with huge changes during recording of Christmas single
Mariah Carey, the Queen of Christmas, has confessed that her iconic festive hit All I Want For Christmas wasn't entirely truthful. Despite the song's lyrics stating, "I don’t care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree," and, "I won’t even wish for snow."
Mariah admits she loves a good gift and always dreams of a white Christmas. The 55 year old diva revealed, "It was the first Christmas song I ever wrote, and I was thinking of all the things I really did want at Christmas! When I sing, ‘I won’t even wish for snow,’ that’s a lie, I did wish for snow, it’s the most important thing! And that thing where I don’t care about the presents at Christmas? Of course I do! We all love a present! But I guess if there is someone that you love, it means more than all that stuff."
Recording All I Want For Christmas was no small affair as diva Mariah demanded a festive ambience in the studio, complete with dual Christmas trees. She gushes, "I did doll up the studio. I put lights everywhere on the walls. I put two trees up. I wanted it to be festive. I don’t feel the same way when things aren’t decorated!"
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To mark the song’s 30th anniversary, Mariah sat down with Rylan Clark for a new BBC Two interview titled "Mariah Meets Rylan". During their chat, Mariah shared how her priorities have shifted since penning the track. Now, the singer – who has sold over 200 million albums worldwide – cherishes spending Christmas with her 13 year old twins Moroccan and Monroe, who truly are the only thing she wants for Christmas.
When asked about the best Christmas gift she's ever received from her children, Mariah shared with a warm smile, "Just them being them. No, it really is true... They’re very, very cool kids." Despite her staggering £280 million net worth, Mariah enjoys lavish Christmases but admits that her twins, affectionately called Roc and Roe, are spoiled with presents. "They are 13, they’ve had some Christmases growing up," Mariah beams.
"They do their Christmas lists and they are quite lengthy..." The festive season is precious to Mariah, who treasures every moment with her kids. When Rylan Clark hinted at the twins growing up and potentially spending future Christmases away from home, Mariah was taken aback, quickly responding, "Give it a few more years. Don’t freak me out!".
Mariah's own upbringing in New York was starkly different from that of her children. As the youngest of three, her mother Patricia, a vocal coach, nurtured Mariah's singing talent, especially during the holiday season. "I used to sing with my mother on the piano, so I would learn songs I wanted to sing," Mariah recalls. "I would sing with my mum and her friends. They would go carolling."
For young Mariah, music was her sanctuary. "I love the way it carries you away," she reflects. "Music is an escape, it always was. I just loved music in general." Before her rise to fame, Mariah's early career involved working in hair salons and waitressing, where she found little success, a stark contrast to her later achievements.
Mariah opened up about her early career struggles before she hit the big time, revealing some hilarious job fails. The superstar singer admitted, "I couldn’t do the cash register. I couldn’t figure it out and most of the girls who worked there were 25 and I was 18 and they were like, ‘Look at her! She can’t even do the cash register...’ and I couldn’t!"
Her stint in the beauty industry didn't fare much better. "I went to beauty school. I figured, ‘OK, I’m just going to be the girl who sweeps up the hair, anything to make a bit of money...’ But the guy who owned the place said something like, ‘Your name is now Echo,’ and I was like, ‘Honey, that is not my name!’ So I left to make a phone call and never went back!" Despite becoming a renowned songwriter, Mariah also confessed she didn't enjoy her piano lessons as a child. "I played the piano when I was little but it wasn’t a good time," she shared.
Yet, Mariah cherishes her connection to the piano, owning
iconic white baby grand which she purchased for a cool $662,500 (around £522,500) in 1999. "It’s my treasured, most prized possession," Mariah gushed.
Mariah has always attributed her unparalleled success to penning her own hits and has often taken firm control in her career path. She insisted on writing her own material from the get-go, "I said, ‘You can’t force me to do other people’s material,’" Mariah revealed about her early dealings with record labels. She wanted to craft her own tunes, "I just wanted to write songs. I used to hear songs on the radio and think every artist wrote songs. I didn’t know that some artists got songs from a songwriter then recorded them. For me it was another release, something that I loved to do."
In a candid conversation with Rylan, she admits to devising the melody of her iconic melody Hero in rather humbling circumstances – the loo! Someone pitched her a movie concept involving Dustin Hoffman as a newfound hero and Mariah wasn't here for it. Off she went to the restroom, only to find inspiration whilst escaping the pitch, "Somebody came in to the room who worked at the record company, and they were like, ‘There is this movie with Dustin Hoffman, he’s this guy and he becomes a hero...’"
Mariah detailed the moment. "I was like, ‘Let me run to the loo for a moment,’ because I didn’t care about the story but it was in my head and I was in the loo and I was like [sings], ‘There’s a hero...’ Back then that was the only time I was by myself. It’s super glamorous!".
Mariah reminisced about her illustrious music career, which led to encounters with legends like Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, and
. However, it's Last Christmas sensation George Michael who truly won her affection.
"I loved George Michael," she confesses. "I loved his music. Before I ever met him Faith was one of my top favourite albums. We went to dinner one time in England and talked about all the people we didn’t like! "
Watch Mariah Meets Rylan on Saturday 7 December, at 8.15 PM on BBC Two
