I Stay in Love

Album: E=MC2 (2008)
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Songfacts®:

  • This ballad was produced by Bryan-Michael Cox. The R&B producer and songwriter had previously collaborated with Carey on her 2005 The Emancipation of Mimi album including her hits "Don't Forget About Us," "Shake It Off" and "Get Your Number." He also produced "For The Record" on E=MC2.
  • A number of critics have compared the style of this ballad to Carey's smash hit "We Belong Together."
  • Carey told BET Access Granted this is "one of those sad love songs that everybody likes to sing when they're kinda like, still holding on to someone that they miss." She added: "It's just about someone who keeps coming back to that one person they can't let go of."
  • This is the fourth and final single from Carey's 11th studio album, E=MC2. When it debuted at #1 in the US, Carey proved her triumphant comeback with her previous album, The Emancipation Of Mimi, was not a fluke. "I think that having the success with the last record allowed me to have more freedom… and just make records that I like," she told the Associated Press. "It's kind of a really fun record."
  • This was a #1 hit on the US Dance chart.
  • Carey's then-husband Nick Cannon directed the music video, which casts Mariah as a Las Vegas showgirl who discovers her man (Andrew Karelis) has moved on with one of her fellow dancers. The heartbroken entertainer flees to the desert in her classic gold Corvette convertible, where she blows it up along with the gifts her ex gave her. She ends up hitchhiking, only to be picked up by her real-life love, Cannon. It was filmed at The Bank Nightclub in The Bellagio Hotel and Casino Resort and in the Mojave Desert. Cannon said they opted to shoot in black-and-white to keep the focus on the soulful song and allow the lyrics to tell the story.
  • Clips from the video were used in a commercial for Carey's Luscious Pink perfume.

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