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Butterfly
Studio album by Mariah Carey
Released	September 16, 1997 (U.S.)
Recorded	1996-1997
Genre	Pop, R&B
Label	Columbia
Producer	Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff, Puff Daddy, Q-Tip, Stevie J, The Trackmasters, Cory Rooney, David Morales
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Rolling Stone link Slant Magazine link
Mariah Carey chronology
Daydream (1995) Butterfly (1997) #1's (1998)
Singles from Butterfly
"Honey" "Butterfly" "Breakdown" "The Roof (Back in Time)" "My All" "Whenever You Call"

Butterfly is the seventh album and sixth studio album by American pop/R&B singer Mariah Carey, released on September 16, 1997 (see 1997 in music) in the United States on Columbia Records.

The album was Carey's first to be released following the ending of her marriage to Sony Music executive Tommy Mottola, and it includes contributions from producers such as The Trackmasters, Puff Daddy, Stevie J and Walter Afanasieff. In a 2006 interview with MTV Overdrive Carey referred to the album as "ahead of its time", and she said she considers "Babydoll", "Breakdown" and "The Roof" as "still some of my favourites".^[1]

Carey had visualized the title track, "Butterfly", as a house record; the legacy of this is in the David Morales-produced "Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)" (based on the Elton John song "Skyline Pigeon"). The song was made instead into a ballad, which she co-wrote with Walter Afanasieff. According to Carey, women who have suffered abuse during childhood or in relationships have told her that "Close My Eyes" saved their lives.^[2] She has said the album's closing track, "Outside", is "about being multi-racial and feeling like I was from another planet".^{[citation needed]} She referred to Butterfly in a 1997 MTV televised interview as one of her closest albums, because it was the first to really begin to express her personality.

When asked which among her albums is her favorite, Carey insists that Butterfly would be at the top of the list.^[3]

Rolling Stone described Butterfly as "a transitional album" for Carey, who placed herself firmly in the "milieu of hip-hop-inflected R&B" and give it three stars, while the All Music Guide gave it four stars, stating that "it is one of her best albums, illustrating that Carey continues to improve and refine her music which makes her a rarity among her '90s peers".^[4] Billboard magazine called it "a milestone record for one of the most successful and visible artist of the nineties",^{[cite this quote]} while Slant included it in the feature "Vital Pop — 50 Essential Pop Albums" giving it four and a half stars. An entire episode was dedicated to Butterfly on VH1's Ultimate Albums series.^[5] The 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die referred to Butterfly as "astonishing", "stunning", and "an album on which bitterness becomes beauty and glumness becomes gold".^{[cite this quote]}

Butterfly debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with 236,000 copies sold in its first week; it remained there for one week, in the top twenty for twenty-one weeks and on the chart for fifty-five weeks (making one re-entry). The album sold more in both its fourteenth week and fifteenth week of release than in its opening week, peaking at 283,000 copies in its fifteenth (when it was at number eight). It has been certified five times platinum by the RIAA and produced two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100: "Honey" and "My All". "Honey" became the sixth single (and the third by Carey) to debut at number one on the Hot 100. The album also yielded the airplay-only singles "Butterfly" and "Breakdown". "The Roof" and "Whenever You Call" received limited release in some countries. By 2005, the album had sold over 3.7 million copies in the U.S. and over 15 million copies worldwide.

"Honey" was nominated for the 1998 Grammy Awards for "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" and "Best R&B Song", while "Butterfly" was nominated for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance". The album won International Pop Album of the Year at the Gold Disc Awards in Japan, and also won at the IFPI Platinum Europe Awards. For Butterfly, Carey won the "Favorite Female Artist, Soul/R&B" award at the American Music Awards of 1998. The album also helped Carey win the BMI Pop Awards for "Songwriter of the Year" and the "Songwriter" awards for "Honey", "Butterfly" and "My All". Additionally, Carey won the Top Female Artist Blockbuster Entertainment Award.

In Asia, it is the only album of Carey to have released six singles, four of which went to number one, with the two other singles reaching the Top 20. This is the most successful album in terms of single release, as the songs went to maintain in the charts for a long period, from late 1997 until mid-1998.

U.S. editions

1. "Honey" (Mariah Carey, Sean Combs, Kamaal Fareed, Steven Jordan, Stephen Hague, Bobby Robinson, Ronald Larkins, Larry Price, Malcolm McLaren) – 5:00

   Samples the Treacherous Three's "The Body Rock"; replays the World Famous Supreme Team's "Hey DJ"

2. "Butterfly" (Carey, Walter Afanasieff) – 4:35
3. "My All" (Carey, Afanasieff) – 3:52
4. "The Roof" (Carey, Jean Claude Oliver, Samuel Barnes, Cory Rooney, Albert Johnson, Kejuan Waliek Muchita) – 5:14

   Replays Mobb Deep's "Shook Ones"

5. "Fourth of July" (Carey, Afanasieff) – 4:22
6. "Breakdown" (Carey, Anthony Henderson, Charles Scruggs, Stevie J.) – 4:44
   • performed by Mariah Carey, Krayzie Bone (of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony), & Wish Bone (of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony)
7. "Babydoll" (Carey, Missy Elliott, Rooney, Stevie J.) – 5:07
8. "Close My Eyes" (Carey, Afanasieff) – 4:21
9. "Whenever You Call" (Carey, Afanasieff) – 4:21
10. "Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)" (Carey, Elton John, Bernie Taupin, David Morales) – 3:49
11. "The Beautiful Ones" featuring Dru Hill (Prince) – 6:59
12. "Outside" (Carey, Afanasieff) – 4:46

Non-U.S. editions

13. "Honey" (So So Def radio remix) (Carey, Robinson, Hague, Larkins, Price, McLaren, Freddie Perren, Alphonzo Mizell, Berry Gordy, Dennis Lussier) featuring Da Brat & JD - 3:59

14. "Honey" (Def Club mix) (Carey, Robinson) - 6:17

15. "Mi Todo" ("My All" in Spanish) - 3:52

¹ This figure only includes Soundscan sales.

1. ^ http://www.mcarchives.com/news.asp?id=5489 MCarchives.com
2. ^ Gardner, Elysa. "Hot again, Carey launches a summer tour". USA Today. May 22, 2006. June 11, 2006.
3. ^ http://www.mariahcarey.com Mariahcarey.com
4. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:8c881va1zzpa~T1 Allmusic.com
5. ^ http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/ultimate_albums/65093/episode.jhtml Vh1.com
6. ^ ^{a b c d e} MariahJournal
7. ^ http://www.mariahjournal.com/infozone/charts/archives/mariahsoundscan123106.html Mariahjournal.com
8. ^ mahasz.hu Top 40 Albums; archive