Billy Bush: Why are you shooting the video in the church?
Mariah Carey: We're in the church because everyone thought that the last part of the song was very inspirational and that I should wind up here. And it's kind of part of a narrative. I don't want to give too much away about the video, but the couple that we follow are kind of Romeo and Juliet heroes who wind up here at the end.

Billy: Is that Hollywood rain or real rain?
Mariah: It's Hollywood rain, but in New York when you transport it -- it loses something and it's just a little more raw.

Billy: I see Jamie-Lynn Sigler, the lovely Meadow Soprano, lingering around the church. Why is she here?
Mariah: She's here because she's playing the young version of the mom who winds up in the church at the end.

Billy: So it's been awhile since your last release. How much pressure are you feeling? Are you feeling nervous, excited?
Mariah: You know what, I'm excited about the music. If I were to be nervous then I wouldn't put a record out. I am making music for myself and my true fans. It's also a healing process for me. I just got back from Capri where I spent the past couple of months. I had to come back and forth for a bit for some family stuff. It was just really relaxing. I just totally immersed myself in the writing process -- because I write all my songs -- and producing.
I basically live in the studio upstairs in this little apartment in Capri. And what it did was it was really just a chance to be reflective and just focus on the music and realize like, 'Hello, it's not that deep to get so stressed out over. It's only the music business. It's only TV-land.' The things that really matter like human beings and people and family and friends -- real friends -- are the things that are important. It's great to have success, but I could retire tomorrow and already achieved far more than my goals ever were.

Billy: Can you believe you've been doing this since you were 19 years old?
Mariah: Yeah. I know. Well, it's only been a year. (laughs) Well, like you said earlier I started so young. I started as a demo singer at 14. I grew up without money.
I grew up having this intense determination and drive to make it, to kind of overcome the obstacles I was presented with, you know? Being interracial, being poor, feeling different, feeling inadequate. Then when everything happened for me and I became famous or whatever you want to call it -- I started working really hard, nonstop, an album a year plus promotion.. It's very draining, and people don't realize it because they see you on TV and you're like, 'Yeah! Here's my new record. This is this!' you know? But that requires a lot, to do that 20 times in a row in every country in the world, if you chose to go all over the world.

Billy: And you have a problem saying no.
Mariah: Exactly!

Billy: I am also one of those people, too.
Mariah: Were you in the caretakers club too? (laughs)
Billy: Yes!
Mariah: The problem is the caretakers sometimes don't get taken care of. You neglect yourself and what I realized is it's not a bad thing to say no sometimes, put yourself first. And I just sort of realized that's what I had to do.

Billy: Tell me about the album, the first single. Musically, is this album different from what you have done before? Mariah: The single is called "Through the Rain." It's kind of not dissimilar from songs like "Hero" or "Vision of Love." It's a ballad. And I had a lot of up-tempo records where I was like, 'I love this! It's gotta come out!' But when people heard the song, they were like this really has to be your first single. And I know people are going to associate it with, 'Oh that's about her and her life and stuff.' And of course everything you write comes from within you somewhere.
But I always feel that it's important to inspire other people who may be going through something -- whether it's losing a loved one or going through whatever. I just try to instill in people the fact -- which is what I believe -- that if you firmly believe and you have enough faith you can get through anything.

Billy: The ballad has been just a huge winner for you, right? I mean, it's the bread money, isn't it?
Mariah: It is but I've had really big up-tempo records, too. It depends on what you choose to focus on. I'll always sing ballads, but I'm not going to stop singing up-tempos because the world is like, 'Oh, we just want her to sing ballads.' That's not true. Most 12-year-old girls in the street come up to me and want to talk to me about "Heartbreaker." There are some songs in there that are just undeniable club records, too. I'm not a one-dimensional artist. I'm not a one-dimensional person. If someone said to me, 'Can you write a jingle for milk?' Yes! I can do that! I'm a multi-racial person. I grew up with different influences in my life. So I don't like to be pigeonholed and put into one thing.

Billy: Let me ask you a corny question. Do you sing in the shower or is that downtime for you?
Mariah: Well, I don't consider singing work.

Billy: We all sing in the shower, do you?
Mariah: Yeah, I do, but I like to take baths. (laughs)