{"id":284534,"date":"2026-02-06T21:03:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T21:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/284534\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T21:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T21:03:11","slug":"taylor-momsen-passed-the-mariah-carey-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/284534\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Momsen Passed the Mariah Carey Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n \u201cFrom what I\u2019ve been told, this is something Mariah is very proud of. Why not bring some rock and roll to this event?\u201d
\n Photo: Kevin Mazur\/Getty Images\n <\/p>\n

Twenty-six years ago, Taylor Momsen sang \u201cWhere Are You Christmas?\u201d, a song written by Mariah Carey, in one of the strangest and most endearing holiday films<\/a> ever committed to screen. But you by no means need to know this trivia in order to enjoy the fantastic tribute Cindy Lou Who \u2014 excuse us, Momsen \u2014 did for Carey at this past weekend\u2019s MusiCares Person of the Year gala. Accompanied by the Foo Fighters as her backing band, Momsen performed two songs from Carey\u2019s secret alternative-rock album<\/a>, Someone\u2019s Ugly Daughter, for the very first time on a public stage. Released under the name Chick in 1995, Carey wrote and produced the album as an escape during the Daydream sessions with the help of a friend. (\u201cI wanted to break free, let loose, and express my misery,\u201d she wrote in her memoir. \u201cBut I also wanted to laugh.\u201d) Momsen lent the grit of her voice to \u201cHermit\u201d and \u201cLove Is a Scam,\u201d achieving the impossible by the time the first verse of \u201cHermit\u201d hit: Carey was beaming with appreciation and glee. Trust us, Mimi generally prefers to not endure<\/a> such a torture.<\/p>\n

This is the second time Momsen, the front woman of the hard-rock band the Pretty Reckless, has put her stamp on such an impressive tribute. She was also on hand to induct Soundgarden into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last November<\/a>, performing \u201cRusty Cage\u201d with all of its members. (Her relationship with the band started in 2017, when the Pretty Reckless opened for what became Chris Cornell\u2019s final tour.) Doing covers wasn\u2019t something that Momsen necessarily thought much about prior to this one-two grunge punch, but the experience taught her a few things. \u201cAt the end of the day,\u201d she says, \u201cit\u2019s friends playing music together, and that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

I feel like the Mariah and Soundgarden tributes have solidified a transition in your career to where you\u2019re on an equal, respected footing with the artists you grew up admiring. Have you thought about it in similar terms?
I don\u2019t know if I think that deeply about it, but, yes, it\u2019s quite cool and I\u2019ve done some reflecting. Playing with musicians that I respect never gets old. To be able to call both Soundgarden and the Foo Fighters friends of mine at this point in my life is a little surreal if I step back from it. I\u2019m honored that those bands have asked me to play with them and to be a part of such amazing events. The reality of it is covers aren\u2019t something that I generally gravitate towards. I like writing my own songs and singing my own music. That\u2019s why I do this.<\/p>\n

What made these the exception to your covers rule?
First off, it\u2019s easy when friends call you and ask for a favor. It\u2019s a simple yes. Covers aren\u2019t exactly a struggle for me, but I don\u2019t love doing them in general. In order to sing something honestly and truely, I have to believe what I\u2019m saying. It has to feel like a piece of myself. Soundgarden always does that. They\u2019re such an influence to me and my favorite band in the world. And with the Mariah tribute, the whole situation was kind of kismet. Pat Smear left me a voicemail and said, \u201cI have the weirdest request and it involves Mariah Carey. You have to call me.\u201d He filled me in on the whole situation and also knew I had just put out Taylor Momsen\u2019s Pretty Reckless Christmas. Mariah has a strong connection to Christmas, of course, and she also has this secret grunge record. The whole thing seemed aligned and the songs were very fun in an opposite way of what I\u2019ve done for Soundgarden. It was a complete 180 degree turn from the Rock Hall. I loved it.<\/p>\n

Did you know about Mariah\u2019s grunge background before Pat called you?
I actually did know about it because she had mentioned it a few times in the press. But I hadn\u2019t listened to the songs or looked into them further. So Pat tells me, \u201cLet me send you what we want to do and get back to me. We should do this.\u201d I listened and I was like, Oh yeah, I can totally rock these. From what I\u2019ve been told, this is something Mariah is very proud of. Why not bring some rock and roll to this event?<\/p>\n

This is a unique situation for tribute. Both the audience and Mariah herself had never heard these songs performed live before, and there\u2019s such strong mystique surrounding Someone\u2019s Ugly Daughter. How did that influence your approach to the material?
My approach is always the same: Listen to the original and take its quality. My big thing is trying to get inside the head of the artists that wrote it, find the intent behind the song, and capture that in my own way. I don\u2019t want to change it, because I don\u2019t think it works if you do a full reimagining. But that\u2019s not what either of these events were meant to be \u2014 it\u2019s honoring the legacy of an artist. So I want to be as pure and true to the original as possible, but with my own feeling behind it. I find something in the song that relates to me and equate it to myself to really believe what I\u2019m singing. In my opinion, that\u2019s the only way to do a cover well.<\/p>\n

THANK YOU @MariahCarey<\/a> @MusiCares<\/a>!!! It was an honor performing “Hermit” & “Love Is A Scam” with @taylormomsen<\/a>. pic.twitter.com\/4xwk9vX0WV<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Foo Fighters (@foofighters) January 31, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

How did you relate to those two songs in particular?
In \u201cHermit\u201d there\u2019s this line: \u201cAntisocial \/ so unhopeful \/ antisocial.\u201d I definitely relate to that feeling. I\u2019m a New Yorker and every time I come to Los Angeles, it blows my mind a little bit with the world out here. I definitely relate to that mentality. And \u201cLove Is a Scam.\u201d I mean, what girl doesn\u2019t relate to that? You\u2019re in a relationship and it just feels like a fucking joke. There\u2019s a tongue-in-cheekness to Mariah\u2019s lyrics that are so enjoyable to sing. There\u2019s a coyness to what she wrote in both of those songs \u2014 a wink and a smile. That was a really fun side of her music to explore further.<\/p>\n

Have you rewatched your performance? It\u2019s pretty telling that Mariah was singing along and enjoying herself, which wasn\u2019t the case with all of the songs. I mean, this diva banned<\/a> \u201cWe Belong Together\u201d from being covered because of how much she disliked a certain take on it.
I sure have. I\u2019ve seen the snippets that have come out online. It was a relatively private event, so there\u2019s not a ton of official footage of it. It feels great to get her approval anytime. She\u2019s so fantastic and iconic. To have the blessing of someone who\u2019s so judgmental of covers feels great.<\/p>\n

Would you implore her to rerecord or rerelease the album?
She should. Any artist who\u2019s proud of something they\u2019ve made should see the light of day at some point. The world would really love it. I hope that she does. Maybe now that we\u2019ve debuted the songs and gotten them a little more visibility, it\u2019ll encourage her team to finally pull the trigger.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a passage in Mariah\u2019s memoir where she discusses the motivation for recording Someone\u2019s Ugly Daughter, which was to get out her rage amid the difficult process of recording Daydream. She writes: \u201cIt\u2019s always been a challenge for me to acknowledge and express anger.\u201d Do you relate to that sentiment when it comes to your own music?
Good for her. I don\u2019t think I struggle in expressing anger. I thrive in it. I think rock and roll is certainly an outlet for that. It\u2019s the main thing in my life that keeps me together, on track, and sane. I don\u2019t know where I\u2019d be without rock-and-roll music.<\/p>\n

I know people hold the Rock Hall in differing levels of esteem, but Soundgarden very much wanted that honor and made a big show of being there. Did you drop hints that you wanted to help celebrate them or was it a given?
We\u2019re past the point of dropping hints. I\u2019m very close with all of them and have been for a while now. I\u2019ve made it clear to all of them over the years that I love them so much. It\u2019s hard for me to even put into words how much their music means to me and how much I love those guys as people. They\u2019re just the absolute best. Anytime they need me, I\u2019m there for them, and I\u2019ll clear my schedule.<\/p>\n

Why was \u201cRusty Cage\u201d selected to represent one of the two songs at their induction? What does that song mean to you?
\u201cBlack Hole Sun\u201d is an obvious choice for the other song, obviously, because of its popularity. \u201cRusty Cage\u201d is the opposition to that, in a way. Soundgarden has such range in their music, and they wanted to capture both sides of the coin of their depth. \u201cRusty Cage\u201d accomplishes that. It\u2019s so, so complicated. The time signatures alone are mind-blowing. It makes them feel powerful to perform that song.<\/p>\n

How did you not get invited to perform at Back to the Beginning for Ozzy? You literally got<\/a> bit by a bat onstage. That\u2019s a prerequisite enough for me.
There were talks about doing it, but we were on tour with AC\/DC at the time and the schedule was slammed. It was one of those \u201ccouldn\u2019t make it work\u201d situations.<\/p>\n

You were so kind to the bat. It was inspiring.
I love animals and, particularly, macabre animals. He was very cute. So it was a surprise that he decided to bite me, but it was all fine. The only thing terrible about it was the rabies shots afterwards and trying to get that sorted in every country. We were on tour, so I had to continue this process over the course of six different countries. It\u2019s two weeks of a very, very strict regimen, and if you mess up or miss a time, they don\u2019t work and you still have rabies. So that part sucked, and they made me incredibly sick. But the bat was otherworldly. I don\u2019t know what that means yet, but it means something.<\/p>\n

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