Mariah Carey Jokes About the Lighting While Accepting Icon Award at iHeartRadio Music Awards 2025
Mariah Carey takes the stage to accept her award at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards held at Dolby Theatre on Monday (March 17) in Hollywood.
The “Emotions” singer and songwriter was honored with the Icon Award – she’s only the sixth entertainer to receive this award, following Bon Jovi, Elton John, Jennifer Lopez, Pink and Cher.
Prior to her accepting the award, host LL Cool J shared some words to honor her, while Muni Long and Tori Kelly also performed “We Belong Together” and “Always Be My Baby,” respectively.
Mariah kicked off her acceptance speech by jokingly asking if the lighting was good. She also took the time to thank those who helped her throughout her career, and she also honored her late mother Patricia.
“I just want to ask you a question—is the lighting OK? Because I don’t like bad lighting,” she asked, with LL assuring her it was good. “Do you like the ensemble?” she added.
“As a kid, I used to listen to listen to my favorite artist on the radio, and dreamed of being on the airwaves myself,” she said. “For those of you who may not know what airwaves are, think of it as the non-WiFi version of streaming. Even now, I still get excited when I hear one of my songs playing on the radio. It never stops being magical.”
She then thanked the President of iHeartRadio, John Sykes, who she noted was actually her first manager early on in her career. “Some people think it was this other guy, but it wasn’t him, it was John.”
“I appreciate you all more than you know. And to my fans, my Lambily, you’ve been with me through every step of this journey. Your love and loyalty are the greatest gift, and I’m endlessly thankful for each one of you,” Mariah continued, before closing out her speech. “And on this St. Patrick’s day, I want to honor my mother, Patricia Carey, for giving me the gift of music. Thank you so much. Love you, love you, love you
