LOS ANGELES – Mariah Carey was honored as MusiCares Person of the Year at the organization’s annual charity gala held in Los Angeles ahead of the Grammy Awards.
The MusiCares event is the group’s largest fundraiser of the year, supporting year-round programs that provide disaster relief and essential services to music professionals in need, according to a press release. In an industry where employment is frequently project-based and income can be volatile across touring, recording, and session work, MusiCares’ positioning as a standing safety net has made the gala a high-profile institutional fixture on the awards-week calendar.
Carey previewed the night on social media in a post dated Jan. 21.
“So excited for next week’s gala @musicares and deeply honored by these incredible performers bringing their artistry to my music. What a dream, thank you all!!”
A catalog tribute built for a room of peers
The gala program was structured around performances drawn from Carey’s catalog, a format that has become central to Person of the Year ceremonies by aligning celebration with repertoire familiarity for both the room and the broader Grammy-week ecosystem. Staged two nights before the Grammy telecast, the show effectively served as a summit of artists, executives, and industry advocates gathered under a charitable mandate rather than a competitive one.
Foo Fighters performed with Taylor Momsen on lead vocals for “Someone’s Ugly Daughter,” described during the event as a song from Carey’s previously undisclosed 1995 grunge project recorded under the name Chick. The band followed with “Love Is a Scam,” while Carey sang along from her table, underscoring how the tribute leaned into deep cuts as well as radio staples.
Carey publicly revealed her involvement in the Chick project in her 2020 memoir, saying she sang background vocals while her friend Clarissa Dane handled lead vocals, a disclosure that has since broadened critical conversations around her authorship, genre range, and control over her own catalog.
Jennifer Hudson opened with “I Don’t Wanna Cry” and transitioned into “Vision of Love,” framing Carey’s early-1990s breakthrough. Billy Porter performed “Always Be My Baby.” Teddy Swims performed “Without You,” the Harry Nilsson ballad Carey took to No. 1 in 1994, highlighting the global reach of her reinterpretations as well as her original hits.
Additional performers during the evening included Adam Lambert, Charlie Puth, Kesha, Maggie Rogers, Laufey, and Jermaine Dupri, reflecting a cross-generational lineup that drew from pop, rock, and R&B and positioned Carey as a common reference point across formats.
MusiCares’ institutional role, and why the gala remains central
While award-season attention typically concentrates on broadcast outcomes and label marketing cycles, MusiCares operates on a different mandate: direct services to working music professionals, including disaster relief and other essential support. The Person of the Year gala functions as the organization’s principal annual fundraising engine, according to the press release, placing it less in the category of a typical entertainment showcase and more in line with a mission-driven convening tied to year-round operations.
As the charitable arm of the Recording Academy, MusiCares sits within the same ecosystem that oversees the Grammy Awards but answers to a distinct support mission, one that intersects with broader U.S. nonprofit law under the Section 501(c)(3) framework for charitable organizations. That status places formal obligations on governance, transparency, and use of funds, giving added weight to the gala’s fundraising totals and to the organization’s public positioning as a safety net for an often-union-adjacent but largely freelance workforce.
The stakes around that safety net have risen in recent years as touring economics, pandemic-era shutdowns, and work stoppages have exposed how fragile many music careers can be. MusiCares’ grants and emergency assistance programs are designed to sit alongside, rather than replace, traditional labor protections and social insurance, effectively filling gaps for artists, crew members, and studio workers who may move in and out of formal employment or across borders.
Notable attendees included SZA, Rita Wilson, Gayle King, and Richard Marx, reinforcing the gala’s role as a convening point for artists, advocates, and media figures who shape public narratives around creator rights and cultural funding.
MusiCares described the gala as its largest fundraiser of the year, with proceeds supporting year-round programs that provide disaster relief and essential services to music professionals in need. Those programs range from mental health and addiction recovery services to housing and medical assistance, and they operate in parallel with the Recording Academy’s own advocacy arm, which regularly engages with policymakers on issues such as copyright, royalty structures, and touring visas – a reminder that a red-carpet night in Los Angeles also plugs into a broader policy and support infrastructure for the global music workforce.