Mariah Carey's Glitter soundtrack got an unexpected bump on iTunes this week, coming in at No. 1 on the Top 10 albums chart 17 years after its release.
The Grammy-winning singer expressed her surprise to Jimmy Fallon on Friday, during The Tonight Show. She also touched on why exactly Glitter was a flop. The film “almost ruined my life,” she said. “It was a tough time when it came out. It was a whole thing; it was a drama.”
Upon its arrival, Glitter was a critical and commercial bust, earning only $5.3 million worldwide, according to IMDB. Other factors impacted the movie, including its release date on Sept. 21, 2001, ten days after 9/11 (the soundtrack dropped on 9/11, too).
According to People, at that point, Carey had gone through a public meltdown on MTV’s Total Request Live in July 2001 and subsequently checked herself into a hospital for medical and psychiatric care. The stint caused her to have to cancel a number of engagements, including MTV’s 20th-anniversary concert and a press run for Glitter. This year, Carey revealed to People that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder around that time.
By Wednesday, the Glitter soundtrack entered the Top 10, surpassing new releases by Lil Wayne, Ariana Grande, Travis Scott, John Legend, Drake, and Eminem. The soundtrack then landed the No. 1 spot on Thursday.
Carey added, “I had nothing to do with it. The Lambily got behind it … it’s a movement, it’s bigger than me.”
The surprise came ahead of Carey’s 15th studio album Caution, which dropped on Friday. The album arrived four years after her last, Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse.
