Two Decades Later, Mariah Carey Finally Admits Two Of Her Songs Are About Derek Jeter

Mariah Carey’s upcoming memoir is making headlines a month out from its release, both for what it includes and what it doesn’t, like words about Eminem. As far of things that did make it into the book, though, there are plenty of goodies there. For example, Carey has confirmed that, as has been rumored, a pair of her classic songs are about her romance with Derek Jeter.

When Carey met Jeter at a dinner party, she was near the end of her rocky marriage with music mogul Tommy Mottola. She said in a Vulture interview that “The Roof,” from her 1997 album Butterfly, is about her first kiss with Jeter on the roof of his apartment building. When asked if she remembers the moment, she responded, “Of course I do! I can never forget that moment. I mean, it’s not like it was some intensely deep, intellectually stimulating — again, it was a great moment, and it happened in a divine way because it helped me get past living there, in Sing Sing, under those rules and regulations.”

She also admitted that another song from the same album, “My All,” is about “risking her life to have a night with Jeter in Puerto Rico,” as Vulture cites the singer as saying.

Carey sings on the chorus of “The Roof,” “Every time I feel the need / I envision you caressing me / And go back in time / To relive the splendor of you and I / On the rooftop that rainy night.” She also sings in the opening verse of “My All,” “I am thinking of you / In my sleepless solitude tonight / If it’s wrong to love you / Then my heart just won’t let me be right / ‘Cause I’ve drowned in you / And I won’t pull through / Without you by my side.”

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