Kelly Price Recounts Quitting As Mariah Carey’s Background Singer, Says It Was The ‘Hardest Conversation’

Before Kelly Price established herself as an R&B queen, she was a popular background vocalist, working with artists like George Michael, 112, JAY-Z, The Notorious B.I.G. and Mariah Carey.

Price left working with the latter when she pursued her career center stage in 1996. Almost 30 years later, Price recounts her tough conversation with Carey when she quit.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of her debut album, Soul of a Woman, Price talked to Rated R&B about her life and career, from singing in a choir with her family to achieving international acclaim, Vibe reported. She also spoke about leaving Carey’s Daydream World Tour and realizing that it was her time to branch out.

She explained that Carey was performing “Hero” when it hit her.

“I know when I hear God speaking to me, and I knew it was time for me to make a move,” she told Rated R&B. “We would exit the stage when she sang ‘Hero.’ I started thinking about the fact that I was going to have a conversation with her to tell her that I would be moving on.”

But it wasn’t an easy decision.

“I didn’t want to leave my job. It was paying well. I loved what I was doing. I was traveling the world. I had a boss that — I loved her gift. It was one of the hardest conversations I ever had. There was no reason for me to go, but it was time for elevation,” she said.

Several of Carey’s biggest hits, including “Always Be My Baby,” “Fantasy,” “The Roof” and “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” feature Price’s background vocals.

Price shared insight into how she and Carey would develop harmonies and ad-libs.

“She fell in love with my ability to just be able to fall in,” she said of Carey. “A lot of times it would just be me and Mariah in the studio without the other ladies, and it would be for those kinds of creative brainstorm sessions for vocal arrangements. When you go back and listen to ‘Fantasy,’ that’s just me and Mariah. We did a lot of things like that together.”

Price added that after leaving the Daydream World Tour, she secured a record deal with The Isley Brothers’ T-Neck Records and, later, “full creative independence” on Soul of a Woman. The project debuted at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum in April 1999. Later that year, she won the Soul Train Award for best R&B/soul new artist.