Let’s go back to the future with one of the greatest LIVING vocalists of all time!
“As Mariah Carey prepares to release her newly announced 15th studio album Caution, which is set to drop Nov. 16, Billboard is taking a look back at the music video evolution of the icon, beginning with her debut 1990 video “Vision of Love” all the way through to her most recent “With You.”
The video kicks off with other early cuts from Carey’s career, including “Love Takes Time,” “Emotions” and the 1993 classic “Hero,” the latter of which was filmed during one of the singer’s concerts in New York.
In 1994, Carey teamed up with Luther Vandross for “Endless Love,” while she also released one of her most memorable visuals to date — the Christmas staple “All I Want for Christmas Is You” — which followed Carey as she played in the snow, trimmed her tree and cozied up with Santa (who was played by her then-husband Tommy Mottola).
Mariah took things into her own hands when it came to the video for 1995’s “Fantasy,” directing the visuals herself since she was said to have been unhappy with the videos she had released to date and Carey wanted to have more creative control. What resulted was an instantly unforgettable trip to the amusement park.
That year also marked the release of the singer’s Boyz II Men collaboration “One Sweet Day,” which served as a moving tribute to those who were lost to the AIDS epidemic.
“Always Be My Baby” came out the following year, while for 1997’s “Honey,” Carey went to Puerto Rico to film a secret agent-themed mini-film, playing “Agent M.” 1998 saw a handful of musical team-ups, including “The Roof” with Mobb Deep, “Sweetheart” with Jermaine Dupri and “When You Believe” with Whitney Houston, which was recorded for the animated film The Prince of Egypt.
Carey’s JAY-Z collaboration “Heartbreaker” came out in 1999, following the singer as she checked up on her boyfriend (played by Jerry O’Connell), who was cheating on her with another woman (also played by Carey in a wig) at the movie theater (which was screening an animated video of Carey, as well as a scene of her re-enacting the slumber party from Grease), ultimately leading to an epic showdown in the bathroom between the two Mariahs.
In 2000, Carey dropped “Against All Odds” and “Crybaby,” while in 2001, “Loverboy” and “Never Too Far” were released. 2003’s “I Know What You Want” saw her team up with Busta Rhymes and Flipmode Squad and 2004 marked her collaboration with Jadakiss for “U Make Me Wanna.”
In 2005’s “We Belong Together,” Carey played a runaway bride, leaving her fiancé (Eric Roberts) at the altar for another man (Wentworth Miller), while she appeared alongside Pharrell Williams and Snoop Dogg in 2006’s “Say Somethin.’”
Jack McBrayer starred in 2008’s “Touch My Body,” playing a “Compu Nerd” who stopped by Carey’s house to fix her computer, but really just spent the time imagining the two of them in love and having pillow fights, walking a unicorn, shooting laser guns, and playing Frisbee together.
Mariah had a different love interest in 2009’s “Love Story,” which followed the true love story of the singer and her then-husband Nick Cannon, while in “Obsessed,” she played her own stalker, donning an outfit that looked an awful lot like Emimen.
Mariah joined forces with John Legend for 2011’s “When Christmas Comes,” while she also teamed up with Justin Bieber for an updated version of her holiday classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”
In 2013, she shared the video for “Almost Home” and “#Beautiful,” while in 2015 she dropped “Infinity” and in 2017 she burned a wedding dress in the video for her YG collab “I Don’t.”
That brings Mariah Carey’s music video evolution to 2018’s “GTFO” and the glamorous black-and-white visuals for “With You” — both of which are set to appear on Caution.
You can watch all of these videos, and many more, below.” – Billboard.com
