The story of an album and a film that should have been a success, but were not, at the wrong time, ex-husbands who interfered with the work, and Jennifer Lopez (“I Don’t Know Her”)
Mariah Carey has certainly achieved untouchable status, but her career has had its share of shaky moments. The most important of them is the one that existed at that time. Shine,recording + film, which ours only recently began to say out loud again.
It was 2001, Mariah was incredibly famous and, like many pop stars, was preparing for her acting debut. Why? Eh, we don’t know, but everyone gets cravings at some point. However, let’s just say she’s not really Anna Magnani, and the movie isn’t all that good in the first place. Remake A star is born (yes, pre-Gaga), the result is a story that’s a little autobiographical and a little camp. Trailer:
It must be said that the film was not a great success. Low ratings on critic sites, Razzie Awards and the like. For the first time in eleven years, Mariah came close to the word “bang”, giving the haters who had accumulated over the years an opportunity to speak out against her. The first crisis in his career was not only cinematic, because if something is done, it is done well. The movie clearly had a soundtrack, essentially a new Mariah album.
The release of the film and album came as part of a new recording contract, one of those that no longer exists now and that didn’t even exist then: a $100 million deal with Virgin Records, the largest deal ever made by an artist with the label. Imagine the expectations: it was also the first album after the end of the hegemony of her ex-husband Tommy Mottola (who at the time of Mariah’s debut was the president of Sony, with which she had released all her albums before). What could go wrong? All.
The film, which was not really this masterpiece, was destroyed by critics, taking with it the soundtrack, which instead is a very respectable album. Before publication, to season the period, even the appearance TRL in which it seemed a little over the top. A year that Mariah would describe as very stressful: “I was exhausted, I needed a break and for people to leave me alone and stop knocking on my damn door and asking for a video,” she said in a 2002 interview.
Result? Movies and albums that were supposed to be released in the summer have been postponed. Film September 21, album September 11. Yes, it’s September 11th.
Mariah Carey glitter promo reaction video billboard poster meme pic.twitter.com/UFJqT0Llzh
— Memes Archive (@TheMemesArchive) July 26, 2023
Not a bad time. In 2005, while promoting Emancipation of Mimialbum with which she returned to the top of the charts, she said The newspaper “New York Times: “This album may have been the best album of my life, but anything released the week of September 11, 2001 would not have worked.” Of course, the situation was not optimal, but other albums released that day showed different results. Two examples? Plan from Jay-Z and Silver side up by Nickelback, multi-platinum certified.
First single from Shine, lover, also reached number two on the US charts, becoming the best-selling song of 2001 in the US. But this was not the first: the air changed.
Meanwhile, her ex-husband tried to make J. Lo the new Mariah (we won’t even comment): initially, lover should have contained a selection of Petard from Yellow Magic Orchestra, but Mottola and Lopez anticipated this by publishing Jennifer’s song. I’m real. A move that caused Mariah to change her plans and she was forced to retreat. Candies A cameo, but most of all, a move that prompted Mariah’s most iconic response ever. “What do you think of Jennifer Lopez? I don’t know her”.
To sum it up, Shine It occurred amid a combination of bad luck and unfortunate circumstances and was a turning point in Mariah’s career, but she demonstrated that rising from the ashes was possible. Also, forgive this poor album: in 2018, Mariah’s fans started a social campaign #JusticeForGlitter, returning the album to number one on the US iTunes chart and turning the film into a cult classic. How would she say: after every thunderstorm there is a rainbow.
Not forgetting that this recording also saved the life of a woman who worked in the Twin Towers and who had gone to work late that morning because she had stopped at the store to buy Mariah’s new CD: “I think I was very lucky,” she explained. Holy Mary, pray for us.
People say Mariah Carey’s Glitter album was cursed because it was released on September 11th.
But people don’t know that this album saved a woman’s life.
So you can say that Mariah Carey helped save this man’s life.This is interesting. Imagine if things had gone differently… pic.twitter.com/UsO5WKUkIr
— Kacperᴰᴸ 🦋✨️ (@KacperCroft) September 12, 2021