Her Unplugged is iconic though. The live album went platinum, even.

Anyway, as hater-motivated as this thread seems, there is something true about Mariah overall not really having "iconic" performances that are widely known and instantly recognizable by references, although she has one of the most iconic voices and set of hits of all time.

Simply put, her style of performing isn't visually dynamic. She is a singer, not a dancer or mover, and most artists of that kind usually only have a small handful of iconic performances if that. I think Whitney is the only one with a truly iconic vocals-only performance: the National Anthem at the Super Bowl and that relies on several other iconic factors to multiple its iconic-ness.

There are points to me made for Adele having Someone Like You at the Brits but this was in her breakout, highly iconic era where her talents contrasted pretty much the entire pop industry. Celine Dion maybe has My Heart Will Go On at the Oscars, but I can't think of any really that are "iconic" (though many should be). Maybe Kely Clarkson has her American Idol-winning A Moment Like This performance, maybe. I think that's kind of pushing it. Others like Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, Barbra Streisand, etc. don't really have iconic performances either. Instead, they possess iconic TALENTS that makes any performance a powerhouse, iconic display of their skill.

You'll notice most "iconic" performances are visual based or reliant: Britney with the snake, Michael Jackson's Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever moonwalk, Madonna's Like A Virgin on MTV, Gaga's Paparazzi, Beyoncé's Formation at the Super Bowl, etc. It was not their iconic voices people are remembering and which represent the era and moment, but the staging, the choreography, the drama.

Edited February 3Feb 3 by swissman

The ignorance

10 minutes ago, Touchdown said:

The ignorance

That just confirms my point

2 hours ago, Kurt Hummel said:

Adele does not have an iconic performance in that way.

The VMAs performance of “Someone Like You” catapulted it to #1

2 hours ago, Ricardo1993 said:

I like Adele but come on this performance is not iconic. Many vocalists don't have iconic performances and that's fine. You can't expect Adele or Mariah Carey to kick down a chair and start doing cartwheels around the stage and dancers thrusting on them.

Just because something is not iconic to forum homosexuals doesn’t mean it’s not iconic

3 hours ago, Kurt Hummel said:

Adele does not have an iconic performance in that way. Nobody's gonna pinpoint a specific individual Adele performance unless they stan or it was the first/only performance of hers that they saw

Like Adele and many other vocal-focused artists (and basically 99% of artists outside of female pop), Mariah just isn't a theatrical performer. Her work doesn't really lend itself to high-concept shows with stunts and stuff.

Wasn't Adele's 2011 BRIT performance the most viewed performance ever until Gaga's Shallow Oscar performance?

but she does

D-tier trolling tbh.

There is also a notion of hidden racism in the downplaying of POC artists' performances. I don't know why it's demanded of Mariah or Whitney to have shocking performances such as aforementioned pop stars when their strength is in their voice.

30 minutes ago, supaspaz said:

The VMAs performance of "Someone Like You" catapulted it to #1

BRIT Awards send that song to the moon. VMAs were just ok.

3 hours ago, deGonzz said:

One of my fave Mariah songs and performances.

Even her first tv appearance is truly iconic and WOWED everyone back then

Mariah Carey, America the Beautiful - YouTube

Edited February 3Feb 3 by Marioland

Now that I think about it, yeah, pretty much. Her memorable performances are memorable for the wrong reasons. I guess this one with Whitney might be Iconic.

18 hours ago, Démodé said:

There is also a notion of hidden racism in the downplaying of POC artists' performances. I don't know why it's demanded of Mariah or Whitney to have shocking performances such as aforementioned pop stars when their strength is in their voice.

It's just stupid trolls being stupid. Imagine trying to come for one of the most legendary singer songwriters of all time for not parachuting onstage from a helicopter or something. Her strentgths are specific, she's not a dancer or performer really and that is fine. Now imagine trying to come for Mariah as a Swift fan.

Just now, Jay07 said:

It's just stupid trolls being stupid. Imagine trying to come for one of the most legendary singer songwriters of all time for not parachuting onstage from a helicopter or something. Her strentgths are specific, she's not a dancer or performer really and that is fine. Now imagine trying to come for Mariah as a Swift fan.

and Taylor's got her cultural moments as well in her own lane, I don't get why we should diminish a great singer's performances.

9 minutes ago, Démodé said:

and Taylor's got her cultural moments as well in her own lane, I don't get why we should diminish a great singer's performances.

Great gowns, beautiful gowns.

Not when the entirety of her MTV Unplugged special exists. It's one of the best selling MTV Unplugged albums for a reason.

On 2/3/2026 at 8:41 AM, HardBambi said:

Not on her worst day though that's an exaggeration, her worst performances are some of the worst I've ever seen, think that New Year's performance, it doesn't get worse than that

Mariah has never sounded THIS bad. And just because she's passed, doesn't mean she's exempt from the conversation.

This one always goes viral on twitter about how she had to sing cuz the playback wasn't gonna

On 2/3/2026 at 8:19 AM, D.M.F said:

Because she's not Whitney or Xtina.

hilarious

she's more known for her vocals and songwriting tbh, performances wasn't her niche

I'm surprised this ICONIC performance has been posted just once. Mariah is iconic even before nobody knew who she was. This is the kind of iconic performance all thanks to her own talent. look at the faces of those dudes. This is what we call awestruck. This is something someone gimmicky like Madonna or Katy Perry will never be able to duplicate not even in their next life.

Because even though she serves vocals her performances are usually giving