The top-selling female artist of all time is heaping some big praise on to the new host of “The Tonight Show.”
“I feel like he’s legendary,” Mariah Carey said of Jimmy Fallon to “The Ralphie Show.” The interview was taped just after Carey filmed her cameo on Fallon’s first night. “He’s just such a good person.”
Fallon’s demeanor probably explains why so many big names were in attendance not just for the inaugural show, but throughout the week.
“After you’ve been interviewed by so many different types of people, different types of shows,” Carey continued. “And I’m sure as someone who interviews celebrities, you have your favorites and you feel a connection with. He’s one of those people. He really does it all.”
Carey is multi-talented herself, although at the moment her main professional focus is on her yet-to-be-titled 14th studio LP. It is due out May 6, and the singer revealed that the track listing is complete.
“I added three new songs,” she said. “I felt like the journey was not yet complete as a songwriter.”
The “We Belong Together” songstress says collaborators include Nas and Wale on the artist side, and Jermiane Dupri, Rodney Jerkins, and Hit-Boy for songwriting and producing credits.
“There’s a lot of up-tempo, fun, happy moments,” she said, “and yet, there are those moments of complete and total misery.”
Carey dealt with a bit of her own misery in the process, thus the album’s delay. In June Carey dislocated her shoulder while shooting a music video. She is feeling better but is still recovering from the injury.
“Well, if we’re pushing the date anyways, I can sing,” Carey explained of her reasoning to add the new tracks a few months ago. With those songs, the artist feels she is now ending the album on a proper note. “Thank goodness I can move my arms now… it’s been rough.”
The singer last released an album prior to the birth of her twins, Moroccan and Monroe. The affectionately titled “Dem Babies” turn three in April, a month in which Carey will also celebrate her five-year wedding anniversary with Nick Cannon.
“I would say it’s very busy yet festive,” she described of this time of year. Carey also celebrates a birthday in March, although she exclusively refers to them as “anniversaries.” “The week of my anniversary, which would be the day that people might celebrate me being born, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Diana Ross…”
All of those singers, along with Celine Dion and Chaka Khan, share a birthday week. Carey didn’t even realize it until she taped the first ever VH1 “Divas” special with Franklin, who said, “Like the sense of humor; typical Aries.”
Carey was in shock and awe. “The Queen of Soul” knew this little girl from Long Island’s birthday. You could say it’s the stuff that legends are made of.
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