Mariah Carey back: diva readies for Dec. 4 release
Mariah Carey is back, kids. New York's hometown chanteuse, famous for lots of things including an eight-octave range, is getting her new album ready for a Dec. 4 release. The album is the follow-up to her mega-selling "Emancipation of Mimi". So far, the new one, Mariah told me Thursday night, does not have a name. "We're working on that," she said, "and we're working on an R&B song like 'Fly Like a Bird' from the last album. But we have lots of songs."
Carey looked sensational in a tight-fitting blue gown as she was honored by VH-1 Save the Music along with former President Bill Clinton and VH-1's John Sykes. Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, and Jon Bon Jovi with John Mayer, turned in memorable performances. Carey didn't sing - she's on vocal rest while she makes the CD - but she gave a great speech about what music in her Long Island public school meant to her. In the audience to cheer her on were L.A. Reid, Benny Medina and her cousins.
Just to demonstrate that she has still has pipes, Carey sang out a couple of lines from the chorus of "Vision of Love" in her story of making it to the big time years ago. Later, I told her that there had been a small war going on between Madonna's fans and hers, and that some of it resulted in nasty e-mails to this column.
"What? Why?" she asked. "I mean, I think I was in sixth grade when Madonna got started." Carey's old rivalry used to be with Whitney Houston, who was closer in age. But with Houston in semi-retirement for now, somehow Madonna became her peer. And what of "Tennessee", the Lee Daniels film Carey made? Is it any good, I wondered? "I think so," she said. "Lee thinks it is. I haven't seen it yet."
Carey's unnamed album hits stores on Dec. 4, although L.A. Reid told me he might hold off one more week to the 11th and hit the holiday sales big time. Are there any singles, I asked? "It's like only singles so far," Carey said, laughing. "I don't want to give it away. But wait 'til you hear it." She has about a month to six weeks left to finish it.
Meanwhile, Carey stayed from beginning to end so she could root on old friend Sykes - she hung out with his kids for a bit - and see Bon Jovi play with Mayer, and Waters perform a jubilant version of "Another Brick in the Wall" with a 60-piece children's choir and orchestra from New York public schools. Waters had rehearsed the piece for several days up in the Bronx with the kids, who were all grins during the show. It was quite moving.
Bon Jovi followed Mayer to the stage after the latter did his Curtis Mayfield-inspired "Waiting for the World to Change". When Bon Jovi got up to sing "Wanted Dead or Alive" and "Who Says You Can't Go Home", he humorously called out for partner Richie Sambora. In his place, Mayer - sporting a crushed velvet purple suit - took over lead guitar duties. Later, Bon Jovi called him the "Eric Clapton of the next generation".
Reid, Doug Morris, Sylvia Rhone and Steve Bartels of the Universal Music Group cheered on both Bon Jovi and Carey. In a dying business, this gang is having a run of success again with Kanye West and 50 Cent, among others. But their new surprise hit is the soundtrack to Julie Taymor's "Across the Universe" Beatles film. Released last Friday, the soundtrack is already No. 2 on iTunes and has sold 16,000 copies, according to Nielsen Soundscan. The iTunes number is pretty interesting, as Beatle fans may be downloading it to hear the new - and very good - takes on the songs, including a bluesy version of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and an electric take on "She's So Heavy" by the cast. (Fox 411)
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