Mariah Carey has never been shy about saying what she thinks, especially when it comes to her own songs. So when an entire gala built around other people belting her catalog turned into one of the biggest nights of her career, the irony practically wrote itself. The singer who once said she hates hearing others tackle her hits ended up sitting front and center while a parade of stars did exactly that, and she called the whole thing “overwhelming in the best possible way.”
The MusiCares tribute to Carey was not just another awards show moment, it was a live test of how an artist who guards her work so closely handles losing control of it for a night. What unfolded at the Los Angeles Convention Center showed that even a self-professed cover skeptic can be moved when the right voices, the right songs, and the right cause line up.
The singer who “doesn’t like people doing my songs”
Long before the MusiCares spotlight, Mariah Carey had already made it clear that covers of her music are not her favorite thing. In an interview with GQ, she was asked directly if she enjoys other artists singing her material, and her answer was blunt: she said she just does not like people doing her songs, a stance later highlighted in a detailed recap of her comments about covers and fan performances that framed her as unusually protective of her catalog, according to Mariah Carey. That kind of honesty fits with the way she has always talked about her voice and songwriting, as something she built and refined over decades rather than a set of interchangeable pop products.
Her skepticism about covers did not come out of nowhere. A later breakdown of her remarks on the subject noted that in September 2025 she doubled down on the idea that hearing others reinterpret her work can feel uncomfortable, even when the intentions are good, and that she tends to prefer performances that treat her songs as tributes rather than reinventions, a nuance that was underscored when Mariah Carey Explains. That context made the idea of an all-star tribute night, built entirely on other people singing her hits, feel like a potential minefield as much as an honor.
From cover anxiety to MusiCares Person of the Year
That tension is exactly what made her MusiCares recognition so compelling. Earlier in 2025, Carey was announced as the MusiCares Person of the Year, joining a line of honorees that has included rock veterans like Jon Bon Jovi, whose own gala was promoted as a major fundraiser where proceeds support MusiCares’ health and human services work for the music community, as detailed in the organization’s description of Proceeds. For Carey, the title came with the same format: a full concert of other artists performing her songs in front of industry heavyweights, fans, and donors.
By the time the gala rolled around, the stakes were clear. A separate look back at her earlier comments on covers pointed out that the Person of the Year honor would inevitably force her to sit through reinterpretations of the very songs she has guarded so closely, and framed the night as a kind of live contradiction of her own quote that she does not like people doing her songs, a contrast captured in a piece that revisited how Her earlier stance collided with the MusiCares format. Instead of backing away, Carey leaned into the moment, walking into a room designed to celebrate her work by handing it to other voices.
A butterfly-soaked, star-packed tribute
Once the lights went down at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the event itself looked and sounded like a Mariah Carey fever dream. The room was dressed in butterfly décor and touches of her signature lavender, a visual nod to the “Butterfly” era that helped cement her as the Queen of Christmas and an R&B legend, details that were highlighted in a vivid account of the gala’s staging at the Los Angeles Convention. The setting made it clear that this was not just a charity dinner with a few songs tacked on, it was a full-scale production built around her aesthetic and history.
Onstage, the lineup matched the décor in ambition. Person of the Year Mariah Carey was saluted by Foo Fighters, Teddy Swims, Adam Lambert and more, a mix of rock, soul and pop voices that took turns reimagining her catalog while she watched from the audience, a dynamic captured in coverage that marveled at how Foo Fighters and others leaned into her songs. The Queen of Christmas tag followed her into the night too, with observers noting that even though the holiday season had technically passed, the event still treated her festive legacy and R&B catalog as equally central, a balance described in a broader look at how the Queen of Christmas was celebrated.
“Overwhelming in the best possible way”
For someone who once bristled at the idea of others doing her songs, Carey’s reaction in the room was striking. At one point she was quoted exclaiming “Oh my gosh!” as she soaked in the performances, saying she felt blessed to be there and describing the atmosphere as full of love and music, before later calling the experience overwhelming in the best possible way, a reaction captured in detail when Carey reflected on the night. She did not look like an artist gritting her teeth through unwanted reinterpretations, she looked like someone genuinely surprised by how much joy she was getting from hearing her work through other people’s voices.
By the end of the show, she made that shift explicit. When all was said and done, she thanked the performers and described the tribute as both sublime and surreal, saying it was a special kind of out-of-body moment to hear her life’s work refracted back at her, a sentiment relayed in a recap that noted how When she spoke, she sounded more moved than conflicted. The woman who once insisted she did not like people doing her songs had just spent an entire night applauding exactly that, and seemed, at least in this context, to have made peace with it.
Why this tribute hit differently
Part of what made the MusiCares performances land for Carey appears to be the intention behind them. In a separate conversation about covers, she acknowledged that while she is not always comfortable with others taking on her material, she can appreciate it when an artist approaches a song as a genuine tribute and sign of respect, a nuance she spelled out when Mariah Carey talked through her mixed feelings. The MusiCares stage was built on exactly that premise, with performers framing their versions as love letters to the songwriter who shaped so much of modern pop and R&B.
She has also been candid about the rare times fan performances have rubbed her the wrong way, recalling at least one moment when she felt annoyed by how a rendition landed, even as she praised other interpretations, including how Maggie Rogers handled “Honey,” details that surfaced in a piece that contrasted those reactions and noted how Some artists embrace covers more easily than she does. Against that backdrop, the MusiCares gala functioned as a kind of curated safe space for reinterpretation, with handpicked singers, careful arrangements and a charitable mission that made it easier for her to relax into the idea of letting go.
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