Summary
- Mariah Carey regrets not finishing a song collaboration with Prince, admitting she will never forgive herself for it.
- Prince didn't have much faith in new artists, but Carey showed him her own songwriting skills.
- Despite Prince's disapproval of covers, he loved Carey's song "Honey" and defended her to record executives during a difficult time in her career.
Mariah Carey – who's currently going through a break-up with her boyfriend of seven years – has had many successful music collaborations, like One Sweet Day with Boyz II Men and Heartbreaker featuring Jay-Z. So imagine if she finished her song with Prince before he died of an accidental fentanyl overdose April 21, 2016...
In a recent interview with EGOT winner Jennifer Hudson, Carey got emotional talking about that unfinished project, for which she "will never forgive" herself. Apparently, the Purple Rain performer helped the Queen of Christmas through a "rough time" even after telling her he hated her cover of his song, The Beautiful Ones.
Mariah Carey Will Never Forgive Herself Over Unfinished Prince Collaboration
In November 2023, Carey went on the Jennifer Hudson Show to promote her "Merry Christmas One And All!" tour. In a digital exclusive, the former opened up about the time she got so nervous working with Prince in his home studio at Paisley Park. "So I went to Paisley Park, and I was there with an idea to sample Nasty Girl by Vanity which he wrote," recalled the Hero songstress.
"And this was when I was doing my album, Glitter which became a complete debacle," she continued. "So he didn't think it was a great idea because he didn't really like people sampling other people's songs. He would tell you, 'Go do your own version of it.'" Back then, Carey "had done a lot of records based on samples," but Prince suggested they worked on "something else."
"I don't think he really had that much faith in new artists, not that I was a new artist, but like in artists that were maybe not proven," Carey said of Prince. "Like he didn't know what really went on in the studio because so many people fake it in terms of they're a writer."
The five-time Grammy winner explained that some singers "say they're a writer just to get the money." She then showed Prince that she really worked on her own songs. "I was like, 'Um okay, I have this other little song,'" she recounted. "And it was just a melody, something that I had. And we kind of like worked on it, and then he was probably expecting me to just sit there."
The self-proclaimed diva admitted that she was "nervous" at that time "'cause it was Prince and we were in the studio, and I'm like, 'Come on, this is not real.'" As a result, they didn't finish the project. "Basically, he was like 'Okay, well finish...' Because I was like, 'Well I just kind of want to do a ballad,'" Carey said.
"And I don't know it was me being really nervous, because it was Prince" she added. "But we didn't finish that song, and I'll never forgive myself for that." The Glitter star didn't go into detail on why the song wasn't completed. But she seemed remorseful talking about it.
In 2018, Mariah Carey's flop album, Glitter (2001) re-entered the Billboard Soundtrack charts at no. 14.
Why Prince Hated Mariah Carey's Cover Of His Song 'The Beautiful Ones'
In September 2022, Carey revealed to Variety that Prince "did not like" her cover of his song, The Beautiful Ones from his sixth album, Purple Rain (1984). The former covered the track with hip-hop group Dru Hill, concidentally for her sixth studio album, Butterfly (1997). "He did not like [covers], nor did he believe in the concept," Carey said of Prince's disapproval. ""I only found this out years later, around the time I was doing Glitter when he told me so."
"And I'm thinking, 'Oh my God' — but then Prince told me how much he loved my song Honey, and I was dying," she shared. "For him to have even known that song was major to me."
Regardless of Prince's "loathing" for covers, fans thought Carey did a great job at it. "This is actually my favorite song on the album," someone wrote on Reddit. "She emotes in it like she used to back in the day. The emotion is palpable and that’s the kind of music I love. Interestingly, she was never given the Blessing to do this track from Prince. But she went on and did it anyway 😳. Love BOTH of them."
Here are all the songs covered and popularized by Mariah Carey, ranked by journalist Angela Hawksford:
| Rank | Song | Original Artist |
| #14 | Open Arms | Journey |
| #13 | One More Try | George Michael |
| #12 | Didn't Mean to Turn You On | Cherrelle |
| #11 | Last Night a DJ Saved My Life | Indeep |
| #10 | I Still Believe | Brenda K Starr |
| #9 | Sweetheart | Rainy Davis |
| #8 | Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To?) | Thelma Houston |
| #7 | I Wanna Know What Love Is | Foreigner |
| #6 | Bringin' On the Heartbreak | Def Leppard |
| #5 | Endless Love | Lionel Richie and Diana Ross |
| #4 | The Beautiful Ones | Prince |
| #3 | Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) | Phil Collins |
| #2 | Without You | Badfinger |
| #1 | I'll Be There | Jackson 5 |
Prince Helped Mariah Carey During A "Rough Time" With Her Label Bosses
When asked about her "experience with Prince," Carey told Hudson that she "still plays his music like every day, probably." She went on to share that "he was a very good person towards" her and that he helped her during a "rough time." The Obsessed hitmaker said Prince gave her "something... a gift that meant a lot" to her.
Carey was referring to the time when the When Doves Cry singer "defended" her "to record executives who didn't understand my decision to make an album like that (Butterfly). The execs didn't understand me veering from a successful formula. But Prince understood."
Mariah Carey and Jennifer Hudson both got calls about "saving the music industry" from Prince.
