She is coming for you Brighton: 8 moments that have got us ‘Obsessed’ with Mariah Carey

The pop diva herself, Mariah Carey, has officially defrosted for the gays this summer. With her new single ‘Type Dangerous’ out last month (6 June) and as Brighton Pride’s headliner this Saturday (2 August), she is landing with a whistle note powerful enough to cause a tidal wave over Brighton Pier – grab your Speedos.

So in honour of her upcoming performance and ahead of the release date for her 16th studio album in September, here are eight iconic Mariah Carey clips that had us living our full ‘Fantasy’.

1. Mariah is M.O.T.H.E.R.

@awardshowarchive When Mariah Carey won the 2016 Ally Award at the 27th annual GLAAD Awards! 🏆 ~She thanks the gay community for their unconditional love and cites what LGBTQ stands for 😂🏳️‍🌈❤️ vc:@WildCardColby #glaad #awardshow #mariahcarey #lgbtq #pridemonth #gay ♬ Obsessed – jinxknsaudios

M stands for Mother… Mariah! At the GLAAD Media Awards in 2016, Mariah was honoured with the Ally Award – and yes, we were glad to see her win!

Draped in a silver, diamanté-studded gown and sparkling like the star she is, Mariah took to the stage and, in true diva fashion, gave the LGBTQ+ acronym her own twist.

“If I have to memorise it, I might as well elaborate on it,” she said, before redefining each letter:
L – Legendary, G – Gorgeous, B – Beautiful (as in: “all of you beautiful people”), T – Tantalising and even Q for quality.”

O Mariah – and that’s not just us adding to the acronym – but oh we are Obsessed!

2. A woman of the people… ENOUGH OF THE OVER HEAD LIGHTING

@mattrogerstho MARIAH CAREY on LAS CULTURISTAS this Wednesday #mariahcarey ♬ original sound – Matt Rogers

Where Mariah goes overhead lighting shall not follow! Mariah has gone viral several times dragging the lighting industry more than she drags JLo. “Why do they do it to us?” she pleaded to co-hosts Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang on the LAS CULTURISTAS podcast, as if it were a curse by the homophobic gods.

“I am the one who gets the most tortured… in every elevator doorway, gym – not that I go to the gym, but…” (Mariah said you can have a week of training your summer bum gays).

“One more thing on overhead lighting – it makes me sick.” – Mariah and overhead lighting do not belong together.

3. Mariah has us screaming!

@mariah_carey002 Mariah Carey highest note. #mariahcarey #emotions #4upage #viral #fypppppppp #live #90s #queen #mariah #whistlenotes ♬ original sound – Mariah Careyxx

Known for her five octave range and spot-on whistle notes – hitting decibels higher than any gay could… without a little bit of help if you know what I mean. Every Mariah fan has tried to hit those ‘Emotions’-era notes – even if the only thing we were breaking was our vocal cords.

Since her 1990 classic Vision of Love, Mariah has kept us feeling all the feelings, right up to her recent single Type Dangerous, and will do ‘Till the End of Time’. She’s shared the mic with legends like Whitney Houston… ‘I Have Nothing’ left to say…. and she has also sung with Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson. But let’s be real – there’s always been one note that separates Mariah from the rest. 

4. Mariah throws more shade to JLo than any overhead lighting every could

She might not know Jennifer, but we definitely know Mariah: In an iconic 2003 interview moment, Mariah Carey cemented her place in the shade hall of fame with just four words: “I don’t know her.” In a response to an interview question about her thoughts on Jennifer Lopez Mariah made us drop dead laughing ‘On The Floor’, sparking one of pop culture’s longest lasting rumoured feuds.

Though this was just the beginning…

5. Mariah puts the shad(e) in Slim Shady

@falloutmusicc #fyp #fypシ゚viral #foryoupage #fypage #fypシ #fy #foryouu #throwback #nostalgia #nostalgic #throwbacksongs #mariahcarey #mariah #eminem #obsessed #summer2021 #summer2022 ♬ Obsessed – Mariah Carey

Eminem claimed they dated. Mariah denied it. He got petty. She got ‘Obsessed.’ Alas, a legendary feud was born. Eminem began claiming in interviews and lyrics that he and Mariah Carey had a brief relationship, which Mariah said was false.

In a lyrical spat of the low rise jeans ages, Mariah released ‘Obsessed’ in 2009, widely seen as a clap back to Eminem. The video featured her dressed as a hooded man with goatee and baggy clothes – strongly resembling Eminem. And just like that, the gay cult classic was born. So thank you, Slim Shady, without you, we might never have gotten the anthem we gays speed-walk through town to.

6. The Queen of Christmas

@mariahcarey It’s…… TIME!!! 🎃🧊🎄 #MariahSZN ♬ original sound – Mariah Carey

Mariah is the perfect way to break the ice – and the only woman us gays want under the mistletoe at Christmas. As soon as the clock strikes midnight on November 1st, defrosting faster than a twink can douche, Mariah returns from her year long slumber and whistle notes the start of Christmas! She hits notes higher than whenI ‘I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus’.

Let’s not forget her iconic 2001 jab at Jennifer Lopez’s rumoured eight hour sleep schedule: “If I had the luxury of not actually having to sing my own songs, I’d do that too.” Frostbite never came so fast. But Miss Mariah? She gets her beauty sleep all year long — 11 months of rest because come December she’s here to sleigh. After all, she knows exactly when the gays are being naughty or nice.

7. Living her full wheelchair ‘Fantasy’

When you’re THAT famous, who needs legs? Being wheeled to the stage at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas Mariah gave it her all to make her life ten times more camp. Pushed along by a bodyguard in a customised chair/trolley convertible… miss thing isn’t just a pretty face! The rest of Mariah’s team attempt to touch-up her make-up whilst she glided along the lobby dressed in a silver sparkly gown. I mean when you look like a diamond, you have got to be treated as precious cargo! With her, an assistant [holding Mariah’s] mug, with a straw and the microphone – this whole thing is giving Miranda Priestly and Andrea Sachs, full on Devil Wears Christmas!

8. Mariah’s latest viral moment

Mariah Carey on Jeff Bezos's wedding:

“I wasn't there 🤷🏼‍♀️.” pic.twitter.com/ZdedOSqDH5

— Fan | Mariah Carey Charts (@chartmariah) July 7, 2025

Last week, Miss Carey served up another viral moment when a member of the paparazzi asked her about Jeff Bezos’s wedding. “I wasn’t there.” Three words. Mariah doesn’t get F.O.M.O.

The clip, now racking up tens of thousands of views, immediately gave flashbacks to her legendary 2003 comment about la Lopez. When the same photographer asked if she wasn’t invited, Mariah shut it down like the unbothered queen she is: “Oh, don’t turn this into that.”

And just like that ‘It’s a wrap.’

@mariahcarey

Nothing beats going to Brighton Pride!! 🏳️‍🌈💋

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