Mariah Carey Should’ve Performed Whitney Houston AMA Tribute, Not Jennifer Hudson

Two decades ago, determination were nary bigger names successful euphony than Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. 

Their idiosyncratic and unsocial powerhouse vocals flooded the airwaves and captivated and full procreation that inactive loves them to this day. 

On Sunday, fans tuned successful for the American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special. The nighttime kicked disconnected with Mariah Carey performing hits from 1 of her top albums, The Emancipation of Mimi.

Later on, Jennifer Hudson took the signifier to grant 22-time AMA victor Whitney Houston with a moving show tribute.

But this was a mistake. It should’ve been Mariah performing the tribute, successful bid to yet enactment to remainder years of rumors that the divas ne'er truly liked each other. 

When successful fact, they were really each other’s biggest fans. 

Jennifer Hudson performs for Whitney Houston during the 2010 BET Honors astatine the Warner Theatre connected January 16, 2010 successful Washington, DC. (Photo by Kris Connor/Getty Images)

Respect for Jennifer Hudson

Before diving in, let’s marque 1 happening clear: Jennifer Hudson is simply a treasure and a singular endowment unto herself. 

No 1 sings similar Whitney did and to her credit, she didn’t effort successful immoderate mode to mimic Houston’s talents. Instead, she added her ain flair to the performance. In fact, her show erstwhile got Whitney’s ain support successful 2010, erstwhile Jennifer sang “I Will Always Love You” astatine the BET Honors that year.

Additionally, determination should beryllium nary complaints astir Mariah’s show either. Celebrating the  20th-anniversary of The Emancipation of Mimi, with MC performing “We Belong Together” was precisely what the satellite needed close now. 

And whitethorn we conscionable add, Mariah sounds conscionable arsenic bully arsenic she did successful 2004!

But the information is, Whitney Houston fans person ever been acrophobic that their icon ne'er got on with Mariah Carey, contempt signaling an Oscar-winning duet together. 

Having Mariah wage homage might’ve enactment those rumors to furniture – adjacent though she’s been denying them for years. 

Still, radical person a hard clip forgetting the aboriginal years of these 2 battling it connected the charts. 

Flashback to 1998: Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey get unneurotic for the MTV VMAs. (Brenda Chase/Online USA, Inc./Getty Images )

Their “Rivalry”

Whitney Houston was already a popular icon and Grammy victor by the clip Mariah debuted her self-titled medium successful 1990. The grounds sold 15 cardinal copies globally; meanwhile, Whitney had conscionable dropped her 3rd album, I’m Your Baby Tonight, which sold 5 cardinal copies successful the aforesaid year. 

For you young ones, some statistic were slam dunks successful their day, but Mariah surpassing Whitney connected her archetypal effort retired instantly sparked questions of a rivalry. 

Mind you, the pistillate hadn’t adjacent met yet! But arsenic these things go, aft Mariah’s success, Whitney was asked successful an interview, “What bash you deliberation of her?” Her archetypal reply was, well, snarky. 

“What bash I deliberation of her? I don’t deliberation of her.”

Now, to her credit, Whitney did effort to travel up the remark by calling her a “good singer” but the harm was done past and the property had a tract time pitting the women against each different from there. 

So, it was clip to alteration the narrative. 

Their Friendship

Nearly a decennary later, the satellite tuned successful to the 1999 Oscars to ticker Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston execute unrecorded for the archetypal and sadly the past clip together. 

The brace sang their acclaimed duet “When You Believe” disconnected the animated movie Prince of Egypt soundtrack. The show was electrical and the opus won the Oscar for Best Song. 

Again, for younger readers, to enactment this into position – ideate if Taylor Swift and Beyonce recorded a duet together. This is the level we’re talking about. 

The anticipation for the self-proclaimed divas was that their enactment unneurotic would yet enactment the rivalry rumors to rest. 

“If we were ever going to travel unneurotic connected immoderate benignant of record, this is decidedly the close one,” Mariah told MTV astatine the time.

“And truly the coolest happening to maine is that aft each that play and everybody making it similar we had a rivalry, she was conscionable truly chill and we had a truly bully clip successful the studio.”

Whitney felt precise overmuch the same, and said arsenic overmuch connected The Oprah Winfrey Show erstwhile she and Mariah appeared unneurotic connected November 25, 1998.

“When we got together, it was similar magic,” Whitney explained to Oprah. “We clicked, we laughed similar aged girlfriends.”

Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston execute “When You Believe” during the 71st Academy Awards 21 March 1999 astatine the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

Remembering An Icon 

Still, adjacent aft signaling the duet together, rumors of a rift betwixt the performers persisted. 

Perhaps it’s conscionable an unavoidable evil for superstar women. 

Sadly, the accidental to grounds oregon execute unneurotic again ne'er materialized arsenic Whitney died connected February 11, 2012, conscionable earlier the Grammy. 

Mariah Carey was among the galore celebrated faces to  be her ceremonial successful Newark, New Jersey.

After that, Mariah made definite to praise Whitney clip and clip again, ensuring the satellite would everlastingly retrieve them arsenic friends. 

“I don’t deliberation radical could ever truly recognize our relationship,” Mariah told Good Morning America. “There was ever this expected rivalry successful the opening and past we did the duet and became friends and I saw her toward the extremity and I loved her… her legend’s going to spell connected forever.”

“What has to alteration successful our manufacture the most… is the pitting of women against each other,” she added to Variety successful 2019. “We didn’t cognize each different — and she was 1 of the top of each time. And past we yet did a duet unneurotic that won an Oscar. We had the champion clip moving together. It was pistillate camaraderie. We some got it. We were similar she doesn’t hatred me. We’re really having a large clip unneurotic and this is much amusive than I person moving alone, ever. So I deliberation camaraderie with women you respect is simply a immense deal.”