Mariah Carey is unrecognizable in never-before-seen throwback

Mariah Carey was virtually unrecognizable in a rare throwback photo she shared on social media on Monday, which featured her late mother, Patricia Carey, who passed away in August 2024 at the age of 87.

In the photo, Mariah was just a young girl as she sat in her mom’s lap while putting food in her mouth. She was adorable in an orange top, with her brunette tresses pinned back by white clips. Patricia smiled in the background, dressed in a patterned green turtleneck with her long brunette locks flowing down past her shoulders.

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“Missing you,” Mariah captioned the old photo, alongside a red heart emoji. Her legion of fans took to the comment section of the post to share their love, with one writing: “Nothing like a mama,” while another added: “Sending you all of the love, Mariah.”

A third chimed in: “Your beautiful mother is with you every step of the way,” while another said: “She’s with you always.”

Mariah’s double tragedy

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The Grammy winner’s post commemorated the second anniversary of Patricia’s death, which fell on the same day as Mariah’s sister Alison’s passing. The pop superstar shared a statement in the wake of their unexpected deaths. “My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend. Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day,” her statement read.

“I feel blessed that I was able to spend the last week with my mom before she passed. I appreciate everyone’s love and support and respect for my privacy during this impossible time.”

A fraught mother-daughter relationship

Mariah was born in 1969 to Patricia and her husband, Alfred Roy Carey; they also welcomed kids Alison and Morgan together. The pair split when Mariah was just three years old, and she largely lived with her mother in the wake of their divorce.

The Grammy winner has written extensively about her rocky relationship with Patricia, particularly in her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey.

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She dedicated the book in part to Patricia, writing: “To Pat, my mother, who, through it all, I do believe actually did the best she could. I will love you the best I can, always.” Patricia trained at The Juilliard School as an opera singer, but had to give up her dreams when she had kids, and held it over Mariah’s head during her teen years.

“There was a distinct shift: she made me feel like the competition, like a threat. In place of our previous bond grew a different tie, a rope tethering us through shared biology and social obligation,” Mariah wrote in the memoir.

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“Having people you love be jealous of you professionally comes with the territory of success, but when the person is your mother and the jealousy is revealed at such a tender age, it’s particularly painful.”

Despite their ups and downs, the mother of two confirmed that she made peace with Patricia before her death. “She said a lot of things that were very healing for what I needed. And I felt like that was the right thing to do,” Mariah said on CBS Mornings.