Celebrity
25 Years Later, Mariah Carey Re-Releases Butterfly With 8 New Songs
As usual, Carey chose not to acknowledge how many years have passed since her sixth album.
Mariah Carey fans are about to experience a Mariah-ssance of sorts. The Grammy winner just announced a new 25th anniversary edition of her sixth studio album Butterfly, which was released on Sept. 16, 1997. In an Instagram post, Carey announced that the #Butterfly25 celebrations would kick off exactly 25 years after Butterfly came out, while also refusing to acknowledge the passing of time, in typical Mariah fashion. “Celebrating 25… minutes… since the release of my favorite and probably most personal album,” she captioned the post.
Carey’s Instagram video, which features clips from the Butterfly era, teases several new and nostalgic things to come, including eight new unreleased bonus tracks on the 25th anniversary edition. The videos for her Butterfly hits “Honey” and “The Roof” will be released in 4K, and there will be a new documentary about the creation of the “Honey” music video. Additionally, Carey has promised new vinyl and cassette formats for Butterfly, the resurfacing of classic ’90s performances, a new merch line, and “more surprises to come.”
The announcement of Carey’s anniversary celebrations was not only huge for fans, but for some stars as well. Kerry Washington commented on Carey’s post, calling Butterfly “The BEST” with three butterfly emojis. Andy Cohen declared it “my favorite,” and noted Lamb Dan Levy left a simple exclamation mark. Carey’s boyfriend Bryan Tanaka also gave his support, commenting with the hashtag #Butterfly25.
Butterfly was both a critical and commercial success, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and garnering three Grammy nominations, but for the “We Belong Together” singer, the album is deeply personal. Carey considers Butterfly a major turning point in her life and career, pushing her into the R&B sphere and marking one of her first records with full creative control following her marriage to music mogul Tommy Mottola.
For its 20th anniversary in 2016, Carey reflected on writing Butterfly in a letter to fans.
“Each song has a deeply significant meaning to me — some because of the experiences that led me to write them and others because of the freedom to finally explore new musical directions and spread my reach as an artist and songwriter,” she wrote. “There are special moments that occur in one’s life that we never let go of and creating Butterfly is one of them for me.”
