Mariah Carey Plans To Release The Secret Alt-Rock Album She Made In The ’90s

September 20, 2022

More than 27 years after it was recorded, Mariah Carey has said she’s planning to release a secret alt-rock album she made in the mid-’90s. Word of the album first came to light in late 2020 when Carey shared an excerpt from her then-upcoming memoir, The Meaning Of Mariah Carey.

As she explained, the record was made during the sessions for 1995’s Daydream album, with Carey eschewing her usual chart-topping pop and R&B in favour of the contemporaneous grunge sound. “I’d bring my little alt-rock song to the band and hum a silly guitar riff,” Carey recalled. “It was irreverent, raw, and urgent, and the band got into it. I actually started to love some of the songs.”

Mariah Carey Has Found Her Lost Rock Album

The album was ultimately released under the name Someone’s Ugly Daughter by the artist Chick. Carey’s close friend Clarissa Dane was enlisted to record the vocals following pressure from Carey’s record label to bury the album. But when news broke of the album’s existence in 2020, Carey expressed a desire to release the original version – if she could find the recordings.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone’s Music Now podcast, Carey explained to host Brian Hiatt that her “quest for that version” has reached an end. “We actually have it,” she said. During the interview, Carey explained that the album was her outlet, something into which she channelled her energy after 16-hour days in the studio.

“There was a fear [of releasing it] because some of the lyrical content was not what people [were expecting],” Carey said. “I honestly wanted to put the record out back then […] and let them discover that it was me, but that idea was stomped and squashed.”

Chick – ‘Malibu’

Referring to the album as being “like a girls’ Green Day”, Carey said that the original version of Someone’s Ugly Daughter with her lead vocals “will become something we should hear”. She also hinted towards an additional project alongside the long-sought after album.

“I’m working on a version where there will be another artist working with me,” she said, remaining coy about the exact nature of this separate version, or who the other artist is. “Possibly something built around the album,” she said.

Carey is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of 1997’s multi-platinum Butterfly. You can hear her comments regarding the original version of Someone’s Ugly Daughter around the 55-minute mark of the latest episode of Rolling Stone Music Now.