Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek’s network of contributors
The Grammy Awards have long been somewhat of a “Heartbreaker” for Mariah Carey.
“They scammed me,” Carey, 55, told Las Culturistsas podcast hosts Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers during the Wednesday, October 16 episode. “They toy with me.” Carey’s statement came after Rogers, speaking of her Grammy wins, said, “You don’t have enough of those, by the way.”
Carey took home two Grammys in 1991 — Best New Artist and Best Pop Female Vocal Performance for “Vision of Love.” Though she received many nominations, she wouldn’t see another Grammy win until 2006.
Mariah Carey attends the 2024 Recording Academy Honors presented by The Black Music Collective at Fairmont Century Plaza on February 01, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Speaking on the Wednesday, October 16 episode of the ‘Las Culturistas’ podcast, Carey said she felt ‘scammed’ by the Grammy Awards.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
That year, she took home the awards for Best Contemporary R&B Album for The Emancipation of Mimi, and Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for “We Belong Together.”
The Precious actress lamented the lack of love she received for her 1997 album Butterfly, which she considered “probably my best work” noting that at the Grammys, there were “zero accolades” for it. Despite her fifth studio album, Daydream, featuring “Always Be My Baby” and “Fantasy,” two of her biggest hits, she received nominations, but no wins.
That year, Alanis Morrissette’s Jagged Little Pill won over Daydream for Album of the Year and Joni Mitchell’s Turbulent Indigo won out for Best Pop Album. Since her wins at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, Carey received three more nominations, but no wins.
When the “Elusive Chanteuse” was honored with the Global Impact Award from the Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective earlier this year, she couldn’t help but to throw a little shade. “Is this a real Grammy? I haven’t seen one in soooooo long,” she joked, adding, “It’s weird. I don’t know. We’ll figure out what this is later.”
While speaking on the podcast, Carey also revealed that she had recorded a whole grunge album in 1995 — during a grunge rock boom — but ended up not releasing it due to pressure from record executives.
She dubbed it a “good album,” and when Rogers asked if she would ever release it, she simply said, “I know, right? I’m so mad that I haven’t done that yet, but who do I drop it with?”