Mariah Carey talks Derek Jeter in new memoir with Miami connection
There is just so much to unpack with Mariah Carey’s new memoir, but we got time today.
For starters, the book, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” does have a Miami connection, as most juicy gossip does, so that’s always a good jumping off point for us.
Think back long and hard to the late ‘90s when Carey was Miss Thing and Derek Jeter was a baseball star.
The pop singer, 50, and current Miami Marlins owner, 46, had a fling right around her 1997 divorce from first husband Tommy Mottola. Their sizzling hot romance even inspired her creatively and helped her move away from her controlling ex, she recently told Oprah Winfrey during a chat on The Oprah Conversation on Apple TV+.
“He got his own song. He got a few songs,” Carey admitted of the now married father of two. “He was a catalyst that helped me get out of that relationship because I believed that there was somebody else.”
Curious which songs? Because you know you’re scrolling YouTube.
Carey revealed to Vulture that indeed the 1997 track “The Roof,” was about a smooch she and Jeter shared atop the baseball star’s apartment building in New York City. “My All” is also apparently about the Yankees legend, and his, um, allure.
“I’d give my all to have, just one more night with you,” read the lyrics. “I’d risk my life to feel, your body next to mine.”
We can kind of get where she is coming from. We used to wear Jeter’s No. 2 jersey to sleep every night. Don’t tell anyone.
Carey admits even though lust may have gotten in the way of her brain, the dreamy shortstop helped her get over her former spouse and it was “beautiful.”
The affair did not last long, just a few months, but she still feels the impact.
“Though our relationship was just a moment in my time line, Derek served a very high purpose in my life,” wrote in an excerpt obtained by Hollywood Life. “He was the catalyst I needed to get out from under Tommy’s crippling control and get in touch with my sensuality. And the intimacy of our shared racial experience was major — to connect with a healthy family that looked like mine was very inspiring.”
What does Mottola have to say about all this tea? The mega producer, now married to Thalia with a house in South Florida, took the high road.
“I am deeply gratified to have played that role in Mariah’s well-deserved and remarkable success,” he told Page Six, “and continue to wish her and her family only the very best.”