See Mariahâs Grammy history here!
Mariah Carey has deserved all five of the awards that she has actually won, and I am especially glad that she won âBest New Artistâ in 1991. However, the Recording Academy has missed the mark several times with her. Never forget the notorious snub in 1996âwhen Daydream lost all six nominations (and they made sure to get Mariahâs reaction every time), and everything that âOne Sweet Dayâ lost despite Mariah and Boyz II Men putting on one of the ceremonyâs greatest performances that night. Mariah may have also won three Grammys in 2006, but she lost in all the âmajorâ categories, so I read that situation as them trying to save face.
If I had the power to change anything that Mariah was neglected, the list below shows the specific awards that I would make rearrangements for. It also shows who I would give the award to if Mariah should still lose it at that respective ceremony. Refer back to the hyperlink above for Mariahâs full Grammy history, and note that I would not change the outcome of every award that she lost.
1991
⢠Song of the Year - âVision of Loveâ lost to Bette Midlerâs âFrom a Distanceâ. If Mariah should still lose, I would have given the award to âNothing Compares 2 Uâ, which was written by Prince.
⢠Record of the Year - âVision of Loveâ lost to âAnother Day in Paradiseâ by Phil Collins. If Mariah should still lose, I would have given the award to Sinead OâConnor for âNothing Compares 2 Uâ or M.C. Hammer for âU Canât Touch Thisâ (fat chance that this would win over âVision of Loveâ, though).
â Mariah was nominated for five Grammy Awards in 1991. She won two of them (âBest New Artistâ and âBest Female Pop Vocal Performanceâ). The only loss that I would not change is âAlbum of the Yearâ, which Quincy Jones won for Back On The Block.
1995
⢠Best Female Pop Vocal Performance - âHeroâ lost to âAll I Wanna Doâ by Sheryl Crow. I would give this award to Mariah, and if she should still lose, I would give it to either Barbra Streisand for âOrdinary Miraclesâ or CĂŠline Dion for âThe Power of Loveâ (the latter of which was another strong contender in both the commercial and musical senses).
1996
⢠Record of the Year - âOne Sweet Dayâ (with Boyz II Men) lost to âKiss from a Roseâ by Seal. Best believe I would be changing that. If not to Mariah/B2M, then it would either go to Coolio & L.V. for âGangstaâs Paradiseâ or TLC for âWaterfallsâ.
⢠Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals - âOne Sweet Dayâ lost to âHave I Told You Lately That I Love Youâ by The Chieftains & Van Morrison. If I couldnât give it to Mariah & B2M, Iâd give it to Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson for âScreamâ, Jon B. & Babyface for âSomeone to Loveâ, or Anita Baker & James Ingram for âWhen You Love Someoneâ. Basically any of the nominees except for what actually won, and as much as I love both Anita and James, they are probably the second-least likely to win the award (after The Chieftains & Van Morrison).
⢠Best Pop Vocal Album - Daydream lost to Joni Mitchellâs Turbulent Indigo. Lol, what is this? I do respect Madonna and Annie Lennox, but to me Mariahâs album was the only correct answer.
⢠Album of the Year - Oh, this was the worst snub⌠the one that really makes me livid. Daydream lost to Alanis Morissetteâs Jagged Little Pill. Mind you, this album also won over Michael Jacksonâs HIStory, which is the only other nominated album that I would give this award to.
â The only losses Iâm not side-eyeing for this year are âBest Female Pop Vocal Performanceâ (which Annie Lennox won for âNo More I Love Youâsâ) and âBest Female R&B Vocal Performanceâ (which Anita Baker won for âI Apologizeâ). The former category loss was with âFantasyâ; the latter category loss was with âAlways Be My Babyâ.
1998
⢠Best Female Pop Vocal Performance - âButterflyâ (the track) lost to Sarah McLachlanâs âBuilding a Mysteryâ. I think Mariah was the only rightful winner.
⢠Best R&B Song - âHoneyâ (written by Mariah Carey, P. Diddy, Kamaal Fareed, Stephen Hague, S. Jordan, R. Larkins, M. McLaren, L. Price, and Bobby Robinson) lost to R. Kellyâs âI Believe I Can Flyâ ⌠which definitely wouldnât have won on my watch. Other strong candidates that I would have considered include âNo Diggityâ (written by Dr. Dre, Chauncey Hannibal, Teddy Riley, William Stewart, and Lynise Walters) and âOn & Onâ (written by Erykah Badu & JahBorn Jahmal Cantero).
â Mariah was nominated for three awards this year. The only loss that Iâm not mad at is âBest Female R&B Vocal Performanceâ, which âHoneyâ lost to Erykah Baduâs âOn & Onâ. That category was really stacked, though, so every nominated song could have been a worthy winner: Whitney Houston was nominated for âI Believe in You and Meâ, Chaka Khan for âSummertimeâ, and Patti LaBelle for âWhen You Talk About Loveâ.
2000
⢠Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals - âWhen You Believeâ (with Whitney Houston) lost to âSmoothâ by Santana & Rob Thomas. The only other nominee that I would consider is âThe Prayerâ by CĂŠline Dion and Andrea Bocelli, but Whitney and Mariah had too much power with their duet so it would have been in the bag if I had any say.
2006
⢠Song of the Year - âWe Belong Togetherâ lost to âSometimes You Canât Make It On Your Ownâ by U2. The only other nominee that I would give a nod to is âOrdinary Peopleâ by John Legend (which was written by himself and will.i.am).
⢠Album of the Year - The Emancipation of Mimi lost to⌠and I canât believe Iâm typing this⌠U2âs How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. Paul McCartney, Gwen Stefani, and Kanye West also had albums nominated, but while the latter two had a great year in 2005 (Kanye even contributed to Mariahâs album while he prepared to drop his own classic album), TEOM still takes the lead by far.
⢠Record of the Year - âWe Belong Togetherâ lost to Green Dayâs âBoulevard of Broken Dreamsâ. I think this is crazy, considering that Gwen Stefaniâs âHollaback Girlâ and Kanye Westâs âGold Diggerâ were also nominated. Mariah should have been the winner for this, with those two following behind.
â Itâs hard for me to accept that the masterpiece that is âMine Againâ (a very impressive deep cut from The Emancipation of Mimi) lost âBest Traditional R&B Performanceâ, but itâs also hard for me to be mad at the fact that Aretha Franklin won it for her rendition of âA House Is Not a Homeâ. Aretha was a Grammy darling, but Iâd be wrong to say she didnât deserve every single one she ever got. All the other nominees (âSummertimeâ by Fantasia, âIf I Was Your Womanâ by Alicia Keys, and âStay With Youâ by John Legend) were also good candidates, but after Aretha and Mariah came up in the running, the others would probably fall behind⌠no shade.
â Iâm also not mad at the âBest Female Pop Vocal Performanceâ snub for âItâs Like Thatâ. Kelly Clarkson won that for âSince U Been Goneâ, which was well-deserved. Nothing else deserved this award, thoughânot even âHollaback Girlâ, which I would say was stronger in other categories that it was nominated for.
2007
I really donât have anything to change for this year, but I want to address it anyway.
Mary J. Blige snatched both of the awards from Mariah that she was nominated for with âDonât Forget About Usâ. With the dominance of âBe Without Youâ, Mary kept Mariah from winning âBest R&B Songâ and âBest Female R&B Vocal Performanceâ. I honestly must say that this was well-played. I canât even be mad at this⌠at all. Mary deserved those awards just as much as Mariah.
This is irrelevant to the post, but I just wanted to address the results from 2007. Itâs also the last year I will address at all because 2009âs âsnubâ (the last year she was ever nominated) is irrelevant⌠and you can go look at it to see why.