Mariah Carey is not holding back when it comes to the Grammys.The 56-year-old superstar — who has sold millions of records worldwide — has only five Grammy wins out of 34 nominations, and her last nod came way back in 2009.
According to Daily Mail, during her appearance on Pitchfork’s Over/Under YouTube series, Mariah was asked about the award show and didn’t mince words. “Ha, I think the Grammys are overrated,” she said. She then doubled down, clarifying that both the ceremony and the award itself were “overrated.”
Still, the singer softened the blow slightly by adding, “But we love everybody.”
This isn’t the first time she’s expressed frustration over the lack of recognition. On the Las Culturistas podcast last October, Carey addressed her Grammy history when hosts Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers said she doesn’t “have enough” wins. Mariah laughed and responded, “They scammed me. They toy with me.”
Her history with the Grammys stretches back to 1991 when she won Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for Vision of Love. In 2006, she scored three major wins for her album The Emancipation of Mimi and the chart-topping single We Belong Together.
But since her 2009 nomination for I Understand alongside Kim Burrell, Rance Allen, and Bebe Winans, the Recording Academy hasn’t recognized her music.
Even when she was honored in February 2024 with the Recording Academy’s Global Impact Award at the Black Music Collective event, Carey used the moment to poke fun at the situation. Holding the plaque on stage, she quipped, “Is this a real Grammy? I haven’t seen one in soooooo long. It’s weird. I don’t know. We’ll figure out what this is later.”
