Mariah Carey is one of the most recognizable faces in the music industry, so it’s hard to imagine her struggling, but the singer took a break from her current tour to talk to Page Six about her rocky road to success.
“I remember it not being easy getting a record deal. Making demos in the middle of the night, sleeping on the floor in the studio, being broke with no food. My go-to meal was [Newman’s Own] sauce,” she said. “Me and my friend would split the pasta and sauce for, like, a week. Or it was, like, a bagel and iced tea … The guy would give it to me at the deli for free.”
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Her financial (and presumably culinary) situation is significantly better today, but she said she still struggles with low self-esteem, even now. While fans might be surprised to hear this from the diva, Carey said she’s just like everyone else who struggles with doubt sometimes.
“I just feel like I am a regular human being and I deserve the same respect as anybody else. I have always had low self-esteem, and people do not recognize that,” she said. “I can’t measure what type of respect I deserve—I really can’t.”
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Even though she said she still struggles with low self-esteem, Carey acknowledged that she has come a long way.
“Growing up different, being biracial, having the whole thing where I did not know if I fit in … That is why music became such a big part of my life, because it helped me overcome those issues,” she said. “Sometimes it is hard to let your guard down.”
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Now, the singer is in the middle of a successful tour and is working on a new fragrance with Elizabeth Arden—”It smells like success,” she teased—and she’s got a “secret song” in the works.
We can’t wait to see what’s next.