{"id":449750,"date":"2026-01-31T15:11:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T15:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/449750\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T15:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T15:11:09","slug":"john-legend-kesha-foo-fighters-honor-mariah-carey-at-musicares-gala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/449750\/","title":{"rendered":"John Legend, Kesha, Foo Fighters Honor Mariah Carey at MusiCares Gala"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tButterfly d\u00e9cor and hints of Mariah Carey<\/a> lavender filled the Los Angeles Convention Center as the Queen of Christmas and R&B legend was celebrated on her big night. The star-studded MusiCares<\/a>-benefitting tribute brought together artists from across genres \u2014 Laufey<\/a>, Kesha<\/a>, John Legend<\/a>, Maggie Rogers, among them \u2014 who honored Carey\u2019s incomparable vocals and inimitable songwriting by reimagining her songs in their own styles. Throughout the evening, Carey seemed joyful and as she mouthed along to her own classics.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cTonight, it\u2019s been sublime to hear my songs reimagined by some of the world\u2019s greatest artists,\u201d Carey said as she accepted her Person of the Year award at the end of the evening. \u201cWhen I was a little girl scribbling lyrics in my notebook late at night, I could only dream of someone hearing those words and singing them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe continued, \u201cNever in my wildest dreams did I think I\u2019d be here with all these magnificent artists singing my songs back to me, infusing them with their own artistry and giving them all new life. This has given me life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe concert portion of the evening kicked off with a mini DJ set from Jermaine Dupri of Carey classics (and several unexpected B-sides), before the cascade of performances came in. Jennifer Hudson opened with a vocally driven performance of \u201cI Don\u2019t Wanna Cry,\u201d before continuing into \u201cMy All,\u201d and adding even more soul to \u201cVision of Love,\u201d Carey\u2019s 1990 debut single.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tDave Grohl of Foo Fighters<\/a> and Taylor Momsen perform onstage during 2026 MusiCares Person of the Year Honoring Mariah Carey on January 30, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty Images for The Recording Academy<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter Hudson, Taylor Momsen joined Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters and took things from R&B heaven to pure grunge as they played songs from her secret 1995 album Someone\u2019s Ugly Daughter, including \u201cLove Is a Scam\u201d and \u201cDemented.\u201d Carey was all smile as she sang along for what was by far the highlight of the night.<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tSo too was the participation of Laufey, who expertly reimaigined \u201cIt\u2019s Like That\u201d as a jazzy bossa nova song completely in her style. Kesha also delivered full pop star energy as she sang along to \u201cObsessed,\u201d and Maggie Rogers performed an unexpected rendition of \u201cHoney.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tLaufey performs onstage at 2026 MusiCares Person of the Year Honoring Mariah Carey on January 30, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKevin Mazur\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy<\/p>\n

\n\tAccompanied by Gayle King, Stevie Wonder took the stage at one point to speak on the importance of freedom, and how Carey did well in honoring the \u201cgift [she] was given by the most high:\u201d her voice. \u201cNever let anyone think they can take your freedom away,\u201d Wonder said. Along with Wonder\u2019s special appearance, Babyface called Carey \u201c1 of 1,\u201d Richard Marx sang acapella to \u201cCan\u2019t Let Go,\u201d and SZA thanked Carey for being a \u201cblueprint.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tR&B trio FLO delivered delectable harmonies on \u201cDreamlover,\u201d Teddy Swims vocals shined on ballad \u201cWithout You,\u201d Charlie Puth<\/a> and John Legend paired their falsettos with the piano with renditions of \u201cI Still Believe\u201d and \u201cHero,\u201d respectively, and Adam Lambert played \u201cCan\u2019t Let Go\u201d from a B-stage.<\/p>\n

\n\tBefore performing a rendition of \u201cbaby-making music\u201d classic \u201cI Know What You Want\u201d with Chant\u00e9 Moore, Busta Rhymes made a surprise appearance and celebrated the \u201croyal empress,\u201d thanking her for their longtime friendship.<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n

\n\tBilly Porter also performed \u201cAlways Be My Baby\u201d with plenty of hootin\u2019 and hollerin\u2019, bringing a playful, attention-grabbing energy that shifted the focus from honoring the Carey classic to making it his own.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe night was a fitting celebration of Carey\u2019s career but also a reminder of the work MusiCares did over the past year putting $15 million toward relief to help more than 3,000 musicians who were affected by the devastating fires that deeply affected the music community. The A-list, high net worth crowd took turns bidding on an Abu Dhabi trip to see Carey perform, tickets to the Grammys, and a glittery stage worn outfit by the star \u2014 all in the name of charity.<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tStella Quaresma of Flo, Jon Batiste, Ren\u00e9e Downer of Flo, Jennifer Hudson, Jorja Douglas of Flo, Laufey, Kesha, and Rita Wilson perform onstage during 2026 MusiCares Person of the Year Honoring Mariah Carey on January 30, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty Images for The Recording Academy<\/p>\n

\n\tTo end the night, and after Carey\u2019s acceptance speech, Jon Batiste served as the final surprise guest, leading a singalong with some of the performers of the evening \u2014 and even Gayle King \u2014 to \u201cAll I Want for Christmas Is You.\u201d As they all sang along, someone onstage (seemingly Porter) messed up a lyric as some performers paused and looked at each other confused on which verse of the song they were singing.<\/p>\n

\n\tThen Mariah emerged from backstage to save the song, adding her vocals and closing things out as she greeted everyone onstage. If the Queen of Christmas says it\u2019s Christmas in January\u2026 it\u2019s Christmas in January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Butterfly d\u00e9cor and hints of Mariah Carey lavender filled the Los Angeles Convention Center as the Queen of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,115199,134,31238,15575,29862,109727,29333,136,139029],"class_list":["post-449750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-charlie-puth","tag-entertainment","tag-foo-fighters","tag-john-legend","tag-kesha","tag-laufey","tag-mariah-carey","tag-music","tag-musicares"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}