Kelly Price Says She Hasn’t Earn The Title ‘Diva’ + How She Was Semi-Discovered By Mariah Carey

but when I think about the real divas and let’s talk about the real divas; Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, Lena Horne, Anita Baker, Gladys Knight, Celine Dion, when you think about the real divas and that’s what they want to talk about when they’ve had a conversation with me, I actually don’t feel I’ve earned that name yet because I’m not where those ladies are. I owe much respect to that generation for who they are, what they’ve done, what they’ve accomplished and what they’ve brought to music overall and so I’m not even there yet.

On being held in that regard:

You know I’m a diva in training, maybe.

On getting discovered by Mariah Carey:

Almost. Mariah and Grammy’s are in the story. I did a gig with a group, we backed up George Michael, that was my very first professional gig. He was here in New York, he did like 3 nights, the first group of people he had locally he wanted a more gospel sound behind them, he didn’t like them so he called the record company that day and was like ‘Find me some singers,’ so a friend of a friend called me to come and sing backup for George Michael at Madison Square Garden. The people at Sony remembered us and the next month Mariah had a performance for the Grammy Awards and they called us back to come and sing behind her and her regular singers for the Grammy Awards. I was 18, I was pregnant, 3 people knew it; Me, my baby daddy, and God, okay the doctor, 4 and too sick to go take a break to go eat when everybody else went to go eat so I sat at the piano and started singing and she walked in the room, she hadn’t been there , she walked in while I was at the piano singing. She heard me so I was…some say I was at the right place at the right time, I say it was a divine set-up because I would’ve never began to sing if I knew she was there. She wasn’t there actually, she came into the rehearsal hall when I was there and she overheard me… And by the end of that day I had a conversation with the Tommy Mottola who was then the President of Sony Music. He was not her husband at the time and her and even her background singers at the time, they did ask me if I wanted to come and hit the road with Mariah and I was like, ‘Sure’. I didn’t think they were telling the truth but weeks later, I got a call and I was asked to come and do MTV Unplugged, the now infamous MTV Unplugged. I was there…with the flip mushroom and big bright red lips.

On her relationship with R.Kelly:

Jokester, jokester, I’m about to put him out there…He really is like the brother that I didn’t had, I only have sisters. He would eat White Castle and lock the door while we were in the control room and his stomach would get the boiling. I’d go for the door and he would have security would hold the door so I wouldn’t get out.  And laughing at me because I’m in the corner [covers mouth and mimics earling sound].

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