We’re So ~Obsessed~ With Mariah Carey’s 15 Most Diva Moments

In June 1990, Mariah Carey released her first studio album. Since then, she has become one of the biggest names in Hollywood — and for good reason! Not only is the New York native talented, but she’s also a total diva … in the best way.

Mariah knows what she wants, and she isn’t afraid to go for it. In fact, over the years, the mother of two, who shares twins Moroccan and Monroe with ex-husband Nick Cannon, has fully leaned in to the “diva” narrative.

While speaking with Paper magazine in 2017, Mariah claimed she’s “never had a diva moment,” before ultimately retracting her statement. “No … actually, I have had diva moments, and then people can’t handle it. I guess it’s a little intense, because I come from a true diva: My mother is an opera singer. And that’s a real diva, you know … Juilliard diva. And so other people that are like, ‘I’m a diva,’ it’s like, ‘Honey, you don’t know what a diva is, you didn’t grow up with my mom,'” the Grammy Award-winner laughed.

“And I mean it as a compliment, or I wouldn’t be the person I am without experiencing that. And so, when people hear me say, like, ‘Dahling da da da da’ and talk that way, it’s kinda like I’m channeling my mother,” Mariah continued. “Not that she says ‘dahling’ all the time, but like that voice is … it’s like I inadvertently do it, and I don’t do it to be disrespectful, I just do it and it just happens and it’s like, [in diva voice] ‘I don’t even know why.'”

At the end of the day, the “Obsessed” artist believes she “can’t fight” being a diva — it’s in her blood! To date, Mariah has 15 studio albums under her belt, five Grammy Awards and countless other well-deserved accolades. Moreover, she’s the unofficial Queen of Christmas.

As of 2021, her holiday single “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has broken three (!!!) Guinness World Records, including the record for highest-charting holiday (Christmas/New Year) song on the Hot 100 by a solo artist.

Scroll through the gallery below to see Mariah Carey’s 15 most diva moments over the years.