Charmbracelet

Charmbracelet, released on December 3, 2002, debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart after selling 241,000 copies and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on January 9, 2003. The album features collaborations with producers Jermaine Dupri, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Just Blaze, Damizza and Dre & Vidal, among others, as well as guest appearances by Jay-Z, Cam'ron, Freeway, Joe and Mariah's former back-up singer Kelly Price.

Mariah started working on Charmbracelet right after the release of Glitter and parting ways with record label Virgin. “I could not have written this album — which I truly love — without having gone through those hard times. That was the case with my first album, and Butterfly, and a few of my other albums. Sometimes, the greatest art comes from pain. It would be nice to not have to go through that, but I'm growing to accept that life is full of bumps in the road. The gratifying part is when you can come out on the other side tougher and wiser — and with some great songs,” she explained. “I started writing and recording the songs that would later go on this album before I had a deal. I needed to be absorbed in the process of making music purely for the sake of expressing myself for a while. There were no deadlines, no pressures. I made music as a means of centering myself after all of the drama I'd endured. I found incredible inner peace and clarity in the creation of these songs.”

As she did with the Rainbow album, most of Charmbracelet was recorded in Capri, Italy. “I basically moved into the studio in Italy,” Mariah told MTV. “I was writing songs in my little apartment upstairs, then I would go downstairs and record them at night. I had so much to say — this was the perfect outlet for me to do that.”

Charmbracelet is dedicated to Mariah's father, Alfred Roy Carey, who passed away in 2002. “My father got sick just as we were learning to understand each other more,” she told Elysa Gardner. “It was really intense, but it brought the family closer together. One cousin told me that my father's mother had also had a charm bracelet. She was a very spiritual person, and spirituality has always been a big theme in my music. Some of the songs that may seem like love songs on this album, like I'm singing about a guy, are actually more spiritual songs.” The album contains the song “Sunflowers for Alfred Roy,” written with Lionel Cole. “What you hear on the album is the only time I ever sang it straight through. It was too emotional an experience to revisit. I can't even listen to it in front of other people.”

“Through The Rain” was sent to US radio as the lead single on September 30, 2002. “I've always tried to insert positivity into my songs wherever I can, to inspire other people who go through stuff,” Mariah told MTV. “The stuff they talked about in tabloids and the things that were so overly exaggerated, that's one aspect. I also went through a lot of personal stuff, a lot of family stuff this year. Losing a parent is an intense thing for anybody. It's brought me to another place. People are going to read into it as, ‘This is Mariah and her struggle.’ But the way I try to word it is, ‘It's OK once you say I can make it through the rain.’ Not just me going, ‘I can make it through the rain,’ it's me telling people that if you believe you can get through whatever you're going through, you can get to the other side.” “Through The Rain” became Mariah's twenty-seventh entry on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number eighty-one during the week of December 28, 2002

Mariah decided to close the album with the remix of “Through The Rain,” which she produced with Just Blaze. “The remix of ‘Through The Rain’ was really important to me because the album starts out with the original ‘Through The Rain’ and it tells a story and it ends with the same message of hope,” she explained. “Doing it with Kelly Price and Joe was great because they're two of my favorite singers, they're two incredibly amazing singers. The track has more of a Gospel feel, definitely more than the original. When I listen to it, it's really inspirational to me.”

After initially planning on releasing “The One” as the second single, “Boy (I Need You)” was chosen instead. The song, which features rapper Cam'ron, was released on March 24, 2003. “‘Boy (I Need You)’ was obviously based on the original Cam'ron record called ‘Oh Boy,’ which Just Blaze had produced,” Mariah explained. “Just Blaze is one of my favorite producers, he has a unique style and I really wanted to work with him. I wanted to do something similar to ‘Oh Boy’ and we got in the studio and we did a couple of songs together and then he was like, ‘Why don't you just do the original ‘Oh Boy’ and you do an R&B record on top of it?’ So many people have been wanting to do that, so it might as well be the original producer and me. I had a great time because Cam'ron came to Capri to do his vocals, it was a lot of fun making that record.”

Charmbracelet includes a cover of Def Leppard's “Bringin' On The Heartbreak” that was sent to radios as the album's third and final single on November 24, 2002. “I love going from showing my Minnie Riperton influences to hip-hop to rock. It's all me,” Mariah told Billboard in 2002. “For ‘Heartbreak,’ it was fun to go back to a song that I loved singing when I was in school. I think we bring some fresh elements to it.”

The album also saw Mariah working with Dre and Vidal (“Clown” and “Lullaby”), 7 Aurelius (“Subtle Invitation” and “There Goes My Heart”) and Randy Jackson (“I Only Wanted” and “My Saving Grace,” among others). “These are songs that just brought me such joy to sing,” she explained. “They're not punched in a million times. It's just me in front of the mic, performing from the heart.”

Mariah Carey - Charmbracelet - Cover Art
Cover Art
Mariah Carey - Charmbracelet - Publicity Photos
Publicity Photos
Mariah Carey - Charmbracelet - Publicity Material
Publicity Material
Mariah Carey - Charmbracelet - Booklet
Booklet

Tracklist

Original Release

Track # Song Run time
1
Through The Rain
Written by: Mariah Carey, Lionel Cole.
Produced by: Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and Mariah Carey. Co-produced by James “Big Jim” Wright.
4:50
2
Boy (I Need You) [feat. Cam'ron]
Written by: Mariah Carey, Justin Smith, Norman Whitfield.
Produced by: Just Blaze and Mariah Carey.
5:16
3
The One
Written by: Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox.
Produced by: Mariah Carey and Jermaine Dupri. Co-produced by Bryan-Michael Cox.
4:10
4
Yours
Written by: Mariah Carey, James Harris III, Terry Lewis, James “Big Jim” Wright.
Produced by: Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and Mariah Carey. Co-produced by James “Big Jim” Wright.
5:08
5
You Got Me (feat. Jay-Z and Freeway)
Written by: Mariah Carey, Justin Smith, Shawn Carter, Leslie Pridgen.
Produced by: Just Blaze and Mariah Carey.
4:24
6
I Only Wanted
Written by: Mariah Carey, Lionel Cole.
Produced by: Mariah Carey and Randy Jackson.
3:40
7
Clown
Written by: Mariah Carey, Andre Harris, Vidal David, Mary Ann Tatum.
Produced by: Dre and Vidal and Mariah Carey.
3:19
8
My Saving Grace
Written by: Mariah Carey, Trevor Lawrence, Kenneth Crouch, Randy Jackson.
Produced by: Mariah Carey and Randy Jackson.
4:11
9
You Had Your Chance
Written by: Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox, Leon Haywood.
Produced by: Mariah Carey and Jermaine Dupri. Co-produced by Bryan-Michael Cox.
4:24
10
Lullaby
Written by: Mariah Carey, Andre Harris, Vidal Davis.
Produced by: Dre and Vidal and Mariah Carey.
4:58
11
Irresistible (West Side Connection)
Written by: Mariah Carey, Damion Young, O'Shea Jackson, Quincy Jones III, Theodore Life, Dexter Wansel.
Produced by: Mariah Carey and Damizza.
5:06
12
Subtle Invitation
Written by: Mariah Carey, 7 Aurelius, Lloyd Smith, Kenneth Crouch, Rob Bacon, Randy Jackson.
Produced by: Mariah Carey and 7 Aurelius. Co-produced by I.G.
4:29
13
Bringin' On The Heartbreak
Written by: Steven Maynard Clark, Joseph Elliot, Peter Andrew Willis.
Produced by: Mariah Carey and Randy Jackson.
4:36
14
Sunflowers For Alfred Roy
Written by: Mariah Carey, Lionel Cole.
Produced by: Mariah Carey and Randy Jackson.
3:01
15
Through The Rain (Remix feat. Kelly Price and Joe)
Written by: Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson, Kenneth Crouch.
Produced by: Just Blaze and Mariah Carey.
3:32

Bonus Tracks

Tour Edition Bonus Tracks

Releases

Original Release

Charmbracelet was originally available on CD, Vinyl and Cassette. In Japan, the albums contains sixteen songs, including the bonus track “Miss You.”

Mariah Carey - Charmbracelet - CD (United States)
CD
USA Edition
Mariah Carey - Charmbracelet - CD (Japan)
CD
Japan Edition
Mariah Carey - Charmbracelet - Cassette
Cassette

Special Editions

France and the United Kingdom got special editions of Charmbracelet including Mariah's collaboration with Busta Rhymes and The Flipmode Squad on “I Know What You Want.” The UK special edition also includes the previously-unreleased bonus track “Miss You.” A Tour Edition of Charmbracelet was released in Asia in June 2003 including four bonus tracks and the music videos for “Through The Rain” and “Boy (I Need You).”

In 2012, Universal Music Japan reissued the album on Super High Material CD (SHM-CD).

Mariah Carey - Charmbracelet - Special Edition CD (France)
Special Edition CD
France Exclusive
Mariah Carey - Charmbracelet - Special Edition CD (United Kingdom)
Special Edition CD
UK Exclusive
Mariah Carey - Charmbracelet - Tour Edition 2X CD (Japan)
Tour Edition 2X CD
Japan Edition
Mariah Carey - Charmbracelet - Super High Material CD (Japan)
SHM-CD
Japan Exclusive

Vinyl Editions

In January 2021, the album was re-issued on vinyl, including a limited edition bone-colored vinyl. A new variant was issued in 2024, when Amazon Music re-released Charmbracelet in translucent tan vinyl.

Mariah Carey - Charmbracelet - Black Vinyl
Black Vinyl
2002
Mariah Carey - Charmbracelet - Black Vinyl
Black Vinyl
2021
Mariah Carey - Charmbracelet - Bone Vinyl
Bone Vinyl
2021
Mariah Carey - Charmbracelet - Translucent Tan Vinyl
Translucent Tan Vinyl
2024

Singles

Mariah Carey - Through The Rain
Through The Rain
Mariah Carey - Boy (I Need You)
Boy
(I Need You)
Mariah Carey - Bringin' On The Heartbreak
Bringin' On The Heartbreak
Mariah Carey - The One
The One
Mariah Carey - I Only Wanted
I Only Wanted

Lyrics

Through The Rain

Boy (I Need You)

The One

Yours

You Got Me

I Only Wanted

Clown

My Saving Grace

You Had Your Chance

Lullaby

Irresistible

Subtle Invitation

Bringin' On The Heartbreak

Sunflowers For Alfred Roy

Through The Rain (Remix)

Miss You