The Meaning of Mariah Carey

to sing gospel. She came and put her arm around me, and I blew out a few big “Jesus!”es because she invited me to. It’s like jazz: she was the bandleader; you followed her. So the dueling diva had gone too far before (in my humble opinion) and appeared to try and outsing Aretha. That. Happened. I couldn’t believe anyone would try to upstage Aretha Franklin on her tribute, while singing about Jesus, no less. Maybe it was a big culture gap, but it seemed like sheer lunacy to me, and I wanted no part of it. As it was happening, my body began to involuntarily back up out of the Diva lineup and I headed back to join the backup singers, most of whom I knew. It seemed like blasphemy to me, and I wanted to be out of striking distance should the lightning come.

I was mortified, but of course Aretha didn’t care. She had more skills, soul, and natural talent than all of us combined and then multiplied. She had so much fun that night and tore it down.

Later I told the story to Patti LaBelle—Godmother, as I call her. (One day she just started calling herself my godmother, after I had the sublime honor of singing “Got to Be Real” with her on her TV special Live! One Night Only. She truly is one of the realest singers ever.) She has given me good, seasoned advice and has literally held my hand through some tough situations. So when I called her and told her about the scene, she said, “Mariah, if you would’ve participated in that hoedown, I would’ve had to come slap you in the face.”

Hopefully the one lesson we all learned on that stage was: R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

Aretha Franklin will always have not only respect from me, but also an ocean of gratitude that will water me forever.

The year following the “hoedown,” VH1 Divas Live called me back to do a Diana Ross tribute. The Boss, Donna Summer, and I were supposed to do a Supremes kind of a moment. Of course I lived for the idea, because … Ms. Ross! However, it would be a bit of a stretch for me, because while I was very familiar with both Ms. Ross and Ms. Summer’s iconic disco-diva periods—I grew up with their dance hits—the Supremes era would require research. I loved Ms. Ross’s eighties dance anthems like “I’m Coming Out” and big ballads like “Endless Love” (which I so loved remaking with Luther); I could capture that feeling. Of course I knew some Supremes classics, like “Stop! In the Name of Love,” but I didn’t really know their specific performance styles and qualities, or all of the lyrics.

To prepare, I turned to my friend Trey for the Ms. Ross background and backstory. That’s when I put it together that Ms. Ross and I were born within the same week in March, a day apart from each other. (Aretha too—when I was with Ms. Franklin in her trailer, trying to learn “Chain of Fools” in a flash, I made some snarky comment (respectfully, of course), and she said, “Like the sense of humor. Typical Aries.” And Chaka Khan and Billie Holiday have birthdays in that week too!) As much as I loved Diana Ross growing up, Trey is the biggest Diana Ross fan there ever was. He lives for her.

Trey and I became friends before my first album came out. I was working in a studio, and he was doing backgrounds next door. I heard this voice going all up in the stratosphere, and I had to find out from whom that glorious sound was coming. It was an instant click with us, not only because of his dynamic vocal abilities that were so complementary to mine but because his spirit was light and full. We also got each other’s humor—particularly when it came to impersonating retro film and music stars and parodying great musical moments. And Ms. Ross was an endless reservoir of inspiration; a lot of our sayings—our “-isms”—were derivative of the Boss. Trey was an expert when it came to her mannerisms, her ad-libs, things he learned watching vintage Motown and Supremes clips, or little gems he picked up from movies and tapes. He just adored everything about her. The way I am with Marilyn, Trey is with Ms. Ross.

Once I was in London, where Ms. Ross and I were both doing the Top of the Pops TV show. At the time, and for a very long time, Top of the Pops was the most important show to debut a song and make it an international hit record. Your performance of the song on the show could literally make or break it. It wasn’t an awards show, it was a televised showcase, and after an appearance, a song could make it to the top of the pop charts. Almost all of the UK and most of Europe would watch. There really is no American equivalent. It was one of the very few places where you could pass superstars like Prince or the Rolling Stones in the hallway.

Ms. Ross was so wonderful to me on set, telling me, “I love you; my kids love you.” She was beyond lovely. She even came into my dressing room just to hang out! Instantly I thought, I’m here casually with Diana Ross; I gotta call Trey! I did, and she left him a really sweet message in that high-pitched but low-volume singsongy voice: “Oh, this is for Trey? This is for Trey. Happy birthday, Trey.”

When he heard it, he just about died, right on his birthday. He saved that voice message forever. He probably still has it to this day.

To prepare for the Divas Live Ms. Ross / Supremes tribute, Trey was schooling me on all these Motown moments, and I was getting into her feeling, but how to integrate with Donna Summer was not as clear. I have such a tender memory connected with Donna Summer. I