Mariah Carey Finally Reacts to Muni Long’s ‘We Belong Together’ Cover

Mariah Carey shared her “emotions” about Muni Long covering one of her songs.

In an interview with interview with GQ published on Tuesday, Sept. 23, the R&B icon opened up about her viral reaction to the “Made for Me” singer’s cover of her 2005 hit “We Belong Together” during a tribute performance at the iHeartRadio Music Awards 2025.

When asked what Carey, 56, thought of Long’s take on her classic song, she replied, “I didn’t even hear the cover. I didn’t know it happened. No one told me.”

The interviewer appeared perplexed and asked, “Muni Long, at iHeartRadio?”

“I love Muni Long! I just didn’t know that she had done ‘We Belong Together’ [as a cover] ‘cause her song was so similar to ‘We Belong Together.’ I had no idea that she did ‘We Belong Together,'” said Carey.

When the interviewer noted she had “changed it up and “made it her own,” the “Sugar Sweet” musician said how “honored and flattered” she was that she covered it.

“I love Muni Long, she’s a great person, umm, but I just don’t like people doing my songs,” Carey admitted.

She also noted how Prince didn’t like people covering his songs either.

“I love ‘The Beautiful Ones’ so much. And I remember Prince, he didn’t like people to redo his songs,” said Carey.

However, he told her that he loved “Honey.”

It’s like, ‘Prince likes ‘Honey’!’ But about [my cover of] ‘The Beautiful Ones,’ he said he didn’t like when people did covers of his songs. And I was like, ‘Oh no, he doesn’t like it.’ But then he told me that he liked ‘Honey.'” Carey recalled.

In March, Long, 37, took the stage at the iHeartRadio Music Awards 2025 to perform Carey’s hit “We Belong Together.” That evening, the “Fantasy” hitmaker was honored with the Icon Award.

However, Carey appeared unimpressed and looked to the side in a viral, cutaway clip of Long’s performance, which some fans interpreted as Carey side-eyeing Long’s vocals.

However, two days later, Long addressed Carey’s reaction on The Shade Room, revealing Carey asked her to sing during the tribute and was pleased by her set.

“The people that’s got a lot to say, you don’t understand how this paying homage and having respect for people…” she began.

Long added: “She asked me to do it,” Long said of the night’s honoree. “You thought I chose to get on TV and sing a Mariah Carey song? You thought that was my choice? Why would I do that? Nobody can sing Mariah’s songs like Mariah. Nobody.”

“I did my best, and that’s all I can do,” the Grammy winner said.

Long then claimed that she had “footage” of Carey praising her performance.

“She told me I did a great job, she appreciated it. And that’s it. Once again, if she pushed me down the stairs, if she told me she hated it, I would say thank you. That’s what I would say,” she said.