Mariah Carey has a message for fans: Call me Mimi!
The singer now joins the list of divas who've taken an alternative moniker, such as Jennifer Lopez (J.Lo) and Madonna (Esther). In fact, Carey's new name will appear in the title her forthcoming album: "The Emancipation of Mimi."
"Mimi is a very personal nickname only used by those closest to me... just one of those little things that I've kept for myself in an attempt to have some delineation between a public persona and a private life," Carey explains on her Web site.
By publicly adopting her private name, Carey explains, "I am letting my guard down and inviting my fans to be that much closer to me. Most importantly, I am celebrating the fact that I've grown into a person and artist who no longer feels imprisoned by my insecurities or compelled to try and live up to someone else's vision of "Mariah Carey." I now feel I can honestly say 'this is me, the real me, take it or leave it.'"
Some Carey fans found the Mimi revelation interesting for another reason: in "Bling," a dishy roman à clef about the music industry released earlier this year, one character was widely believed to be based on Carey. Author Erica Kennedy--an insider in the music business who is the godmother to Russell and Kimora Lee Simmons's daughter Ming--called the character "Mimi."
