The 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' hitmaker has opened up on the way the industry has changed since she became a household name in the 1990s, and she isn't sure if she'd be able to navigate the current landscape.
Speaking to Trevor Nelson on BBC Radio 2's 'Rhythm Nation', she said: "It was steeped in music from the very beginning.
"So I think if you don't have that love of music or someone behind you, that is the force field of your career, then like you may get a good couple records, but it ain't gonna be, you know, it might [not] be a lifelong thing.
"So that's why, do I think I would have the same career if I started now? I have no idea. I really don't know. I really don't know."
Mariah noted that she "wouldn't want" to start out in the modern music business because it's so far removed from her own experience.
She added: "I wouldn't want to do [it], it's totally different. I would hate it.
"It's interesting because there are people that have started eight years ago, however long ago that have had, are having wonderful success right now. They could have a very long career.
"But you just have to be devoted to really go through all of it and a lot of it now, I think is much more, I know, in the beginning certainly in the beginning of my career, it was not about ‘Here’s a scandal.’
"It wasn't about ‘Here’s the, you know’. It turned into that ‘Well, here’s this sexy ensemble,’ or ‘Here’s this, that, whatever,’ but it really wasn’t based on that."
