Glitter is the soundtrack album to the film of the same name, and the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released on September 11, 2001 by Virgin Records. The album was a complete musical departure from any of Carey's previous releases, focusing heavily on recreating a 1980s disco era to accompany the film, set in 1982. Through covering or heavily sampling several older tunes and songs, Carey crafted Glitter as an album that would help viewers connect with the film, as well as incorporating newly written ballads that would "stand on their own as songs from a Mariah Carey album." Throughout the project, Carey reprised collaborations with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and DJ Clue, with whom she produced most of the album.
Musically, the album became one of Carey's most diverse bodies of work, structured to be a retro-influenced album, and more dance-oriented than any of her previous releases. On several songs, critics noted Carey to be more sexually suggestive lyrically than before, in part due to the inclusion of several guest hip hop musicians. Aside from the album's predominant feature of dance tracks, Glitter incorporated several lyrically meaningful and vocal ballads. On "Reflections (Care Enough)", Carey describes an abandoned girl, who in desperation, lashes out to her mother in song, while on "Twister", paying homage to a friend who had committed suicide. On Glitter, several musical talents were featured, such as Eric Benét, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Fabolous and Ja Rule.
Glitter and its accompanying film were met with generally mixed reviews from music critics, who while complimenting the album's ballads, felt Carey was overwhelmed by the amount of guest appearances, as well as the failed 1980s theme. Universally, Glitter was viewed as a critical and commercial failure, leading to the annulment of Carey's unprecedented $100 million five-album contract with Virgin. The album debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200, with the lowest-first week sales of Carey's career. Although it peaked outside the top-ten in many countries, Glitter debuted atop the album's chart in Japan, and achieved sales of over one million units. To date, Glitter remains one of Carey's lowest selling albums, and has sold over three million copies worldwide.
Several singles were officially released, although following their weak charting, Virgin halted promotion of Glitter. "Loverboy" served as the first single from the project, and quickly became Carey's lowest charting lead single throughout many countries globally. Although reaching number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 following the single's price reduction, "Loverboy" was unable to garner sufficient airplay to stay within the top-ten. Internationally, the song peaked outside the top-twenty in most music markets, while failing to achieve a long chart run. "Never Too Far", the album's second release, reached #81 in the United States, and performed weakly throughout Europe. However, the song did have some success in Asia, most notably in the Philippines where it became one of her most played singles. Subsequent singles failed to make much of an impact on prominent global charts.Glitter is the soundtrack album to the film of the same name, and the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released on September 11, 2001 by Virgin Records. The album was a complete musical departure from any of Carey's previous releases, focusing heavily on recreating a 1980s disco era to accompany the film, set in 1982. Through covering or heavily sampling several older tunes and songs, Carey crafted Glitter as an album that would help viewers connect with the film, as well as incorporating newly written ballads that would "stand on their own as songs from a Mariah Carey album." Throughout the project, Carey reprised collaborations with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and DJ Clue, with whom she produced most of the album.
Musically, the album became one of Carey's most diverse bodies of work, structured to be a retro-influenced album, and more dance-oriented than any of her previous releases. On several songs, critics noted Carey to be more sexually suggestive lyrically than before, in part due to the inclusion of several guest hip hop musicians. Aside from the album's predominant feature of dance tracks, Glitter incorporated several lyrically meaningful and vocal ballads. On "Reflections (Care Enough)", Carey describes an abandoned girl, who in desperation, lashes out to her mother in song, while on "Twister", paying homage to a friend who had committed suicide. On Glitter, several musical talents were featured, such as Eric Benét, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Fabolous and Ja Rule.
Glitter and its accompanying film were met with generally mixed reviews from music critics, who while complimenting the album's ballads, felt Carey was overwhelmed by the amount of guest appearances, as well as the failed 1980s theme. Universally, Glitter was viewed as a critical and commercial failure, leading to the annulment of Carey's unprecedented $100 million five-album contract with Virgin. The album debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200, with the lowest-first week sales of Carey's career. Although it peaked outside the top-ten in many countries, Glitter debuted atop the album's chart in Japan, and achieved sales of over one million units. To date, Glitter remains one of Carey's lowest selling albums, and has sold over three million copies worldwide.
Several singles were officially released, although following their weak charting, Virgin halted promotion of Glitter. "Loverboy" served as the first single from the project, and quickly became Carey's lowest charting lead single throughout many countries globally. Although reaching number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 following the single's price reduction, "Loverboy" was unable to garner sufficient airplay to stay within the top-ten. Internationally, the song peaked outside the top-twenty in most music markets, while failing to achieve a long chart run. "Never Too Far", the album's second release, reached #81 in the United States, and performed weakly throughout Europe. However, the song did have some success in Asia, most notably in the Philippines where it became one of her most played singles. Subsequent singles failed to make much of an impact on prominent global charts.false2025-11-07 22:45:52Glitter20012001-01-012001-01-0152BalladContemporary R&BDance-PopElectronicFunkHip HopPopR&B11126021975384da46e41-998b-42ed-b395-fc81d3668941494e8d09-f85b-4543-892f-a5096aed1cd43f3f3f3b-16c9-34ea-910e-eb63056892e8/media/data/media5/Music/Mariah Carey/Glitter (2001)/folder.jpgMariah CareyMariah CareyMariah Carey ( mə-RY-ə;: 0:01 born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Songbird Supreme" by Guinness World Records, Carey is known for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whistle register. An influential figure in music, she was ranked as the fifth greatest singer of all time by Rolling Stone in 2023.
Carey rose to fame in 1990 with her self-titled debut album and became the only artist to have their first five singles reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, from "Vision of Love" to "Emotions". She achieved international success with the best-selling albums Music Box (1993) and Daydream (1995), before adopting a new image with hip hop-inflected sounds, following the release of Butterfly (1997). The remix of her song "Fantasy", featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard, popularized the blend of pop and hip-hop into mainstream music. With eleven consecutive years of US number-one singles, Billboard named Carey the Artist of the Decade (1990s). Following the failure of her 2001 film Glitter and a career decline, she released one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century, The Emancipation of Mimi (2005).
Carey has also been dubbed the "Queen of Christmas" due to the enduring popularity of her holiday music, particularly Merry Christmas (1994), the best-selling holiday album, and its single "All I Want for Christmas Is You", which is the best selling holiday single by a female artist of all time. Outside of music, she has contributed to various charities, having co-founded Camp Mariah with the Fresh Air Fund in 1994; starred in the films Tennessee (2008), Precious (2009), The Butler (2013), A Christmas Melody (2015), and The Lego Batman Movie (2017); and served as a judge on American Idol (2013). Carey's public and personal life, including her diva persona, high-profile relationships and mental breakdown in 2001, has received widespread media coverage. She released a memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, in 2020.
Carey is one of the best-selling music artists, with over 200 million records sold worldwide. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Her accolades include 5 competitive Grammy Awards and a Grammy Global Impact Award, 10 American Music Awards, 19 World Music Awards and 14 Billboard Music Awards. She holds the record for the most Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles by a solo artist (19), a female songwriter (18), and a female producer (15), spending a record 97 weeks atop the chart. "One Sweet Day" and "We Belong Together" were ranked by Billboard as the most successful songs of the 1990s and 2000s, respectively. Carey is the highest-certified female artist in the United States and 10th overall, with 75 million certified album-equivalent units.