Mariah Carey Had a Big Hit With This 1993 Song, Which Almost Went to Gloria Estefan

In 1993, Mariah Carey released “Hero“, a song that remains one of her biggest hits. Written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff, “Hero” is on Carey’s third studio album, Music Box.

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Although it’s hard to imagine anyone but Carey singing “Hero”, it almost went to another pop star first: Gloria Estefan. Afanasieff first wrote “Hero” for the 1992 Dustin Hoffman film of the same name, with Estefan planning on singing it. Unfortunately for Afanasieff, another song was used in its place. Ironically, he was with Carey when he began what became “Hero”, although he did not imagine Carey would record the song.

“It was never meant for Mariah to sing,” he reveals (via Songfacts). “In her mind, we were writing a song for Gloria Estefan for this movie. And we went into an area that Mariah didn’t really go into—in her words, it was a little bit too schmaltzy or too pop ballady or too old-fashioned as far as melody and lyrics.”

Both Afansieff and Carey have Tommy Mottola, her former label head, and her ex-husband, to thank for Carey recording the song. Mottola, engaged to Carey at the time, reportedly said, “Are you kidding me? You can’t give this song to this movie. This is too good. Mariah, you have to take this song. You have to do it.”

Mariah Carey Releases “Hero” Again in 2001

“Hero” begins with, “There’s a hero / If you look inside your heart / You don’t have to be afraid / Of what you are / There’s an answer / If you reach into your soul / And the sorrow that you know / Will melt away.” In 2001, Carey released a medley of another song, “Never Too Far” and “Hero”, for her Greatest Hits album. Proceeds from the song went to help victims impacted by the September 11 terrorist attacks.

“We made it into a medley and kinda put them both in the same key, and just made it work,” Carey shares. “And people responded really well to it. It’s been interesting for me, since the events of September 11, the way people have been playing ‘Hero’ and talking to me about ‘Never Too Far’, ’cause that song is also about loss. I figured that it would be a nice thing to do. … I feel like it’s our responsibility to do what we can right now in terms of music, just being artists and being human beings.”

Even after all these years, Carey says it remains her favorite song to perform.

“I’m like, ‘How many times have I done this song?’” Carey reflects. “But there’s always a specific person out there that has a specific memory associated with the song. And I wrote it, so it makes me proud.”

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