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Mariah Carey reveals secret '90s grunge past in new memoir

<p>But once upon a time, it turns out, <a href="https://news.sky.com/topic/mariah-carey-8081" target="_blank"><strong>Mariah Carey</strong></a> was partial to a bit of grunge.</p><p>Posting an extract from her new memoir, The Meaning Of Mariah Carey, on Twitter, the star revealed she worked on an alternative album during the era of Daydream - the multiplatinum-selling record that saw her shifting towards hip hop and RnB, with hits such as Fantasy, One Sweet Day and Always Be My Baby, in the mid-1990s.</p><p>The singer worked with the band Chick, and said she relished playing her "alter-ego" at a time when every move she made "was so calculated and manicured".</p><p>"I'd bring my little alt-rock song to the band and hum a silly guitar riff," Carey writes in her memoir. "They would pick it up and we would record it immediately.</p><p>"It was irreverent, raw and urgent, and the band got into it. I actually started to love some of the songs. I would fully commit to my character.</p><p>"I was playing with the style of the breezy-grunge, punk-light white female singers who were popular at the time. You know the ones who seemed to be so carefree with their feelings and their image.</p><p>"They could be angry, angsty and messy, with old shoes, wrinkled slips and unruly eyebrows, while every move I made was so calculated and manicured. I wanted to break free, let loose and express my misery - but I also wanted to laugh.</p><p>"I totally looked forward to doing my alter-ego band sessions after Daydream each night."</p> <p><strong>:: Subscribe to the Backstage podcast on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/backstage/id1449619878" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3ByZWFrZXIuY29tL3Nob3cvMzI4NzI1MS9lcGlzb2Rlcy9mZWVk" target="_blank">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5lUMl2swObUj56TGMibLzm" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://www.spreaker.com/show/backstage_17" target="_blank">Spreaker</a></strong></p><p>It's a far cry from the glossy mega star - a woman who was once filmed working out in heels - that we know and love today.</p><p>But she did wear a checked shirt, albeit in a very clean-cut style, in the Dreamlover video. Maybe the signs were there all along.</p>