Mariah Carey is coming back to Sony and Epic Records. Carey, I am told, is basically done at Universal Music Group and DefJam Records. The elusive chanteuse has never really equaled her DefJam hits “The Emancipation of Mimi†and “E=MC2.†And all of her loyalists from the DefJam days are gone, starting with former label chief L.A. Reid.
Reid left DefJam for Epic, where he had a slow and bumpy start after an unfortunate detour into “American Idol.†But now he’s on roll with mega hit Meghan Trainor, not to mention Sara Barielles, Bonnie McKee, Fifth Harmony, A Great Big World, The Fray, and Kongos. Reid is the only one in the biz who could relaunch Carey as an adult star– no more hip hop– and may be the only one wants to.
More importantly, Sony has incentive. Most of Mariah’s classic catalog of albums is still there from her Tommy Mottola days. Reid’s first move might be to do a Mariah-and-guests duets album of her hits like “Dreamlover†and “Vision of Love†a la Barbra Streisand.
One source tells me: “It’s in the works and should be done shortly.â€
UPDATE: I’m told that Carey dined last week in L.A. with Reid and Epic’s new Marketing/PR whiz Laura Swanson, who worked for Reid and Carey at DefJam previously. “The band is getting back together,†joked an insider. It’s a done deal.
Source: Showbiz 411