Two decades ago, there were no bigger names in music than Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.
His individual and unique powerhouse vocals flooded the airwaves and enthralled an entire generation who still love him today.
On Sunday, fans tuned in for the American Music Awards’ 50th anniversary special. The night started with a performance of Mariah Carey’s hits from one of her greatest albums, Mimi’s liberation.
Later, Jennifer Hudson took the stage to honor 22-time AMA winner Whitney Houston with a soulful performance.
But this was a mistake. It was time to finally pay tribute to Mariah to put to rest the rumors that have persisted for years that the two divas never really liked each other.
When in reality, they were actually each other’s biggest fans.
respect for jennifer hudson
Before we go any further, let’s make one thing clear: Jennifer Hudson is a treasure and a unique talent in her own right.
No one sings like Whitney, and to her credit, she doesn’t try in any way to imitate Houston’s talents. Instead, he added his own flair to the performance. In fact, her performance once received a Whitney nod of approval in 2010, when Jennifer sang “I Will Always Love You” at that year’s BET Honors.
Also, there should be no complaints about Maria’s performance. Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Mimi’s liberation, The MC’s performance of “We Belong Together” was exactly what the world needed right now.
And might we also add that Mariah looks just as good as she did in 2004!
But the truth is that Whitney Houston fans have always been concerned that despite recording an Oscar-winning duet, their icon never got along with Mariah Carey.
Mariah’s tribute may have put those rumors to rest – even if she has denied them for years.
Still, people are having a hard time forgetting the duo’s early years when they struggled on the charts.
Their “rivalry”
By the time Mariah released her self-titled album in 1990, Whitney Houston was already a pop icon and Grammy winner. The record sold 15 million copies globally; Meanwhile, Whitney had recently released her third album, I’m Your Baby Tonight, which sold 5 million copies that same year.
For you youngsters, both stats were slam dunks in their time, but Mariah bested Whitney on her very first attempt, which immediately raised questions of rivalry.
Keep in mind, the woman hadn’t even been found yet! But given this, after Mariah’s success, Whitney was asked in an interview, “What do you think about her?” His initial response was, well, sarcastic.
“What do I think about him? I No Think about that.”
Now, to her credit, Whitney tried to follow up the comment by calling her a “good singer,” but then the damage was done and the press had a field day pitting the women against each other.
So, it’s time to change the story.
their friendship
Nearly a decade later, the world attended the 1999 Oscars to see Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston perform together live for the first and tragically last time.
The pair sang their acclaimed duet “When You Believe” on the animated film prince of egypt Soundtrack. The performance was spectacular and the song won the Oscar for Best Song.
Again, for younger readers, let’s put this in perspective – imagine Taylor Swift and Beyonce recorded a duet together. This is the level we are talking about.
The hope for the self-proclaimed divas was that their work together would finally put an end to the rumors of rivalry.
“If we were ever going to get together on any kind of record, it would definitely be perfect,” Mariah told MTV at the time.
“And really the best thing for me is that after all that drama and everyone making it like there was a rivalry between us, she was really great and we had a really good time in the studio.”
Whitney felt the exact same way and said as much oprah winfrey show When he and Maria appeared together on 25 November 1998.
“When we got together, it was like magic,” Whitney explained to Oprah. “We clicked, we laughed like old girlfriends.”
remembering an icon
Nevertheless, even after recording a duet together, rumors of rift between the artists persisted.
Perhaps this is an inevitable evil for superstar women.
Sadly, they never got the chance to record or perform together again as Whitney died on February 11, 2012, just before the Grammys.
Mariah Carey was one of the many famous faces attending her funeral in Newark, New Jersey.
After that, Mariah made sure to praise Whitney again and again, ensuring that the world will always remember them as friends.
“I don’t think people will ever understand our relationship,” Maria said. good morning america“It was always supposed to be a rivalry in the beginning and then we did a duet and became friends and I saw her at the end and I fell in love with her… Her legend will live on forever.”
She added, “The thing that needs to change most in our industry… is pitting women against each other.” Diversity In 2019. “We didn’t know each other – and she was one of the greatest players of all time. And then finally we did a duet together that won an Oscar. We had the best time working together. This was female camaraderie. We both got it. We were like she doesn’t hate me. We’re really having a great time together and it’s a lot more fun than me working alone. So I think it’s a big deal to be friends with women you respect.