Gwen Stefani Once Shared That Her Fantasy Was to Be Mariah Carey
Gwen Stefani became a famous and accomplished artist in her own right. But even after her huge success, she still had aspirations of becoming another popular singer in one specific way.
Why Gwen Stefani was inspired by Mariah Carey
Carey has a long list of popular songs and records to her name. But perhaps one of Carey’s most famous songs is “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” The record came out in 1994, and has been a staple in pop culture ever since. The Holiday themed song originally came about after Carey asked herself a simple question.
“I was working on it by myself … on this little Casio keyboard and writing down words and thinking about, ‘What do I think of at Christmas? What do I love? What do I want? What do I dream of?’ And that’s what started it,” Carey once told ABC.
Carey also asserted that she wanted to write a timeless song, which it seems she accomplished. The song continues to play in commercials and movies, with new generations of music fans discovering the track.
Not many artists have been able to duplicate this kind of longevity. Stefani would also take a crack at her own Christmas-themed record You Make It Feel Like Christmas. It was an album almost completely dedicated to Christmas, with her recording six songs for the holidays. She hoped to achieve the same kind of success that Carey did with the record.
“I love the idea of being a part of the joy of Christmas,” Stefani once told Entertainment Weekly. “And I love the idea of having a record that will be an annual thing. I really hope we hit on something that people want to hear every year. That would be the fantasy: to be Mariah Carey.”
Gwen Stefani didn’t think she’d make another record after ‘You Make It Feel Like Christmas’
Stefani had a bit of writer’s block prior to making You Make It Feel Like Christmas. She had a tumultuous break-up with ex-husband Gavin Rossdale, which started affecting her creativity. But soon she was able to channel her heartache the way she did in past songs to craft another hit tune. She credited the record This Is What The Truth Feels Like for showing her she could still make music.
“That last record, I didn’t make that to share it. I made that record to save my life. I didn’t think I could write anymore and then it just flew out of me — and thank God,” Stefani said.
After proving to herself she was still capable of making songs, she thought she’d take a hiatus from music.
“So after, I honestly didn’t think I’d make another record. I was like, ‘There’s nothing left to say,'” she said.
But that was when she got the idea for You Make It Feel Like Christmas.
“When I pray, I pray for guidance, and when those little sparks of ideas come out of nowhere, I just have to believe that is what it is. And when it came to me, I texted my managers and was like, ‘I’m going to make a Christmas record, by the way!’ Within a week I had a session,” she said.
Stefani also asserted that staying with her husband Blake Shelton helped find the inspiration she needed to write a few original Christmas songs.
“I was at Blake’s ranch in Oklahoma [this year] and there are all these exotic animals — like wildebeests! It’s like Jurassic Park,” she said. “I decided to go for a run and, you know some people meditate, but I pray, so I was like ‘I’m going to do my physical exercise and also my mental and spiritual exercise all at the same time!’ So I was out there thinking to myself, ‘If I wrote a Christmas song, what would it be?’ And, literally, this whole chorus comes out of my mouth! I was just singing out loud, by myself, with the wildebeests, this song called ‘Christmas Eve.’“
