With nearly 40 years in the game, and 19 No. 1 hits to her credit, Mariah Carey has nothing left to prove. But early on in her career, she almost didn’t get to explore the depth of her craft.
In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar UK published Tuesday, July 29, Carey opened up about her relationship with Tommy Mottola, who was president of Columbia Records at the time of her signing in 1988. Mottola — who was 20 years older than the singer — took Carey under his wing. The two got married in 1993, and their marriage is often regarded as tumultuous, as Carey has previously accused him of trying to control every aspect of her career.
Though Carey has since moved on, she remembered the one thing that truly ailed her during this time, which was Mottola trying to restrict her sound.
"I wanted to do more R&B, more urban music, and any time I would bring that up, it would get shot down," Carey said. "It wasn’t that I didn’t like the music I was making – I just felt there was more inside me that I wanted to release."
By 1997, Carey and Mottola separated. That same year, she released her sixth studio album Butterfly, which spawned the hits “Honey,” “My All,” and “The Roof.” It was during this album era that she “felt free for the first time.” This came before Carey and Mottola’s divorce was finalized.
"Sometimes I feel angry about that time, but I think I’ve made peace with it – in any case, I vowed I’d stop talking about it," Carey said, noting that she is still able to have a good laugh over the matter.
"Humor is my release, and people who know me know that,” Carey said. ”I’ll make little jokes about what happened because otherwise I could make every day a sob story. It’s a coping mechanism, but it’s in my nature to laugh."
Fans can soon look forward to Carey’s upcoming 16th album Here for it All, which arrives on Friday, September 26.