MariahJournal.com

LIFE

"This is for all of you out there tonight, reaching for a dream, don't ever give up. Never, never listen to anybody, when they try to discourage you; 'cause they do that, believe me!" [Fantasy: Mariah Carey at Madison Square Garden (1995)]

"When I was driving myself into the ground, I lost sight of the fact that God is in control. Now I know that He brought me to that point so I could get closer to Him." [Essence, April 2005]

"And I moved around with my mother, like, 13 times. I didn't have a sense of stability. So I said to myself as a child, 'When I grow up, I'm going to be successful. I'm going to work as hard as I can so I never end up in this place again.'" [Us, December 16, 2002]

"I never thought it would get to the point where tabloids make up crazy stuff, but I thought I was gonna sing and have a career and I wanted to be famous, but I didn't know what that meant. But I am grateful because you know what? I could be scrubbing floors. And be singing along with the radio, miserable." [The Guardian, April 2005]

"Forget the image, forget the ensemble, forget the rumours, forget the short skirts, the big hair, whatever! I owe this to the fans and I will never forget you so I want to accept this award on behalf of all of you. We've come a long way and I feel like I'm just getting started. Because as an artist, and most importantly as a person, I am genuinely happy to finally be free to be who I am. Thank you." [1999 Billboard Music Awards]

"It's hard to be someone that people talk about and write about, you know? They don't know me."

"Someone said I never paid any dues.I feel my whole life was struggling, because we were poor. We were alone, we had nothing--no security. I feel I have paid my dues. I've been paying my dues all my life."

MUSIC

"Even from the beginning, I said, 'If you want to put me with people to write with and collaborate, that's fine, but don't try to force me to record someone else's song.' I'm not saying I'm friggin' William Shakespeare. But even writing a melody, it's a release. And I really have a need to express myself." [Rolling Stone, February 2006]

"Music was my main source of peace and happiness. If there was something messed up going on in my house, turmoil and things that were unsettling to me, I would walk and sing to myself. It grounded me emotionally. I would sleep with the radio underneath the covers at 4 a.m. and just sing along. The feeling I had was, I need to sing, I need to make a big melody, I need to express myself." [Cosmo Girl! November 2005]

"I think I am a romantic and that's why I can write love songs that people relate to. It might even be a memory from eighth grade. I haven't lost that side of who I am." [Cosmo Girl! November 2005]

"One person could say 'Hero' is a schmaltzy piece of garbage, but another person can write me a letter and say, 'I've considered commiting suicide every day of my life for the last ten years until I heard that song and I realized after all I can be my own hero.' And that, that's an unexplainable feeling, like I've done something with my life, ya know?"

"In the beginning, I wanted to be taken seriously. I didn't want to be taken as a teen act. But as I evolved...I think a lot of people don't want the girl who can sing the long notes to be sensual. I know I've gone over the top with it sometimes, but because of my voice, and for what's palatable in Middle America, I'm not supposed to be sexy." [america, 2005]

"A lot of the time they (the media) form the idea in listeners' minds. Calling me a 'pop diva' without listening to my work so when I come out with an urban song it's like, 'Pop diva goes black.' I mean, pur-lease." [Hip Hop magazine]

"I prayed very hard for this to happen and it happened. I don't even think about what I've achieved, I haven't focused on it and I wish I had, because I really want to enjoy it, and I don't know if I am enjoying it, because I am going through my life like a bulldozer. I still haven't marveled at it. I don't mind being compared to Whitney, there are people miles worse to be compared to, but if you really listen there's a difference."

"People all of a sudden just see me and hear me having hit records and it seems to have come out of the blue. But really I have been working towards this my whole life, and this is what I say when people say I haven't paid my dues."

"What I write is all from my imagination. Fact is, I haven't had time to experience all that, but that doesn't mean to say that I don't write from the heart, because I do. I put myself in other women's shoes, I can feel their pain and joy when I think about it. It's all the same, we're all women."

"There's never been anything else in my life that inspired me at all. It's crazy, but I've always loved music and I've always known this was what I wanted to do. I can't remember a time when I didn't want to be a singer."

"No, I don't want to be like, 'woe it's me' but I mean, there's a certain stigma sort of attached with this whole 'diva' thing like what everybody likes to use now and most people who are technically divas don't write their songs, don't produce and don't spend the time in the studio and that's nothing against them but usually when someone has a big voice, you know, you don't really have to do that but writing is like 50% of what I love about making music and I can't just write a song and leave the studios. I think if I had a guitar in my hand, strumming the whole time, people would be like, 'okay, singer-songwriter' but because I stand there looking, I guess, 'diva-esque,' they don't really, I don't think people think about it but whatever. I'd rather be a girl so... (laughs) [On not getting credit as a songwriter, MTV Presents UK, Jan. 15, 2003]

"I write the music first and the lyrics second, almost always. Melody comes to me really, really quickly - sometimes when I don't want it to - like when I'm trying to sleep and I have to get up and record a melody so I don't forget it. I keep a tape recorder by my bed for this. If I'm cowriting a song, we'll sit at the piano and I'll say, 'This is a chord progression I'm working on' and we'll work it out. We'll bounce ideas off each other, and I'll take it home and whatever the music makes me feel, that's what I write about." [YM, April 2002]

"I don't know. I've never measured it. I'm always experimenting. My mom gets scared, she'll be like, 'You can't be hitting that, that's off the piano!' She goes crazy, because she's a traditionalist." [On the highest note she can sing, YM, April 2002]

"I love ballads. I grew up listening to Barbra Streisand and Olivia Newton-John." [Mariah's Musical Memories, Cosmo Girl! October 2001]

"One of my favorite songs is Cherrelle's version of 'I Didn't Mean To Turn You On.' That's the one I was, like, living for when I was growing up." [Mariah's Musical Memories, Cosmo Girl! October 2001]

"In high school, I was obsessed with Bon Jovi - we had the same hair!" [Mariah's Musical Memories, Cosmo Girl! October 2001]

FAME

"The most annoying thing is when people exaggerate a situation. Like, this talk show hosted by a woman - I won't say who, an older woman - had this guy on who said I wouldn't give someone an autograph who was fixing my TV. I give. I do anything because I feel that if people respect your music and care about you enough to ask, then you should oblige them. I go out of my way to be nice and generous to fans. It bothers me when people make things up just to have a bite of gossip. And who cares? You know? Wow, big earth-shattering news, even if I did do that!" [YM, April 2002]

FAMILY

"What I saw as a kid...growing up, I saw what promiscuity could do to you. I saw some people use sex as a way to feel wanted and loved. And I saw the lifelong commitment that came with a child." [america, 2005]

"My mother gets very upset when I say we were poor but, then again, we had a conversation the other day, and she was recalling that she worked three jobs at one point. And I don't think that's something to be ashamed of. She really worked hard to keep us afloat." [Rolling Stone, February 1998]

"...and my father said: 'There will be no singing at the table!' So I got up from the table, and I went into the living room, and I got up on the coffee table and continued singing at the top of my lungs. I guess that was an early indication of who I was going to be." [Rolling Stone, February 1998]

"Growing up, if someone would ask me if I wanted to be famous or rich, I would always say famous. I thought it would validate my existence." [america, 2005]

On parent's divorce: "They went through some very hard times before I was born. They had their dogs poisoned, their cars set on fire and blown up. It put a strain on their relationship that never quit. There was always this tension. They just fought all the time."

"And maybe there are some people out there who think a quarter Venezuelan is not a lot... Well, I may be only one quarter, but it's a strong quarter."

LOVE & MARRIAGE

"...'abusive' and one that 'purposely preyed on every insecurity I have.' " [On her marriage to Tommy Mattola, Rolling Stone, February 2006]

"There was a time when all I was allowed to do was go to gay clubs, because my quote-unquote husband was so afraid of me being around straight people."

"I can count on one hand the amount of men I've been with in my life." [Touch, 2003]

"I just said hi and then had to go back in. He said, 'Bye Mariah,' "Ahhhh, It could have been perfect." [On Tupac Shakur, america, 2005]

HUMOROUS SIDE

"There is a light at the end of the tunnel...hopefully it's not a freight train!"

"I like to think my dancing is like my cooking. It might not look right but I try." [In answer to Mary J. Blige's question if she could cook]

"I decided to make my own ski-wear range after I found there were no fashion outfits for me to wear on the piste."