Mariah Carey has been eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for almost a decade, but even after being nominated for the first time this past year, she still hasn’t received the recognition. Someone else, though, has: her lawyer.
That’s right — lawyer, Allen Grubman, was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2022 in the Ahmet Ertegun Award category for his history of representing artists like Carey, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Elton John, and, until this past July, P Diddy. Additionally, he also happens to be one of the Rock Hall’s founders.
Carey spoke about the circumstance in a new interview with The Los Angeles Times, in which she was asked if she had any thoughts on being nominated for the first time. She replied “My thoughts are: I didn’t get in,” and continued: “Everybody was calling me going, ‘I think you’re getting in!’ and so I was excited about it. But then it didn’t happen. My lawyer got into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before me.”
Carey became eligible for nomination in 2015, the 25th anniversary of her debut eponymous album. Grubman, meanwhile, has been involved in the Hall since he participated in it’s founding in 1983, but his induction was not without controversy. Before being booted from the Hall’s board of directors, fellow co-founder Jann Wenner criticized the decision, saying it was “about money and bending to the ego of a music-business power broker.”
In other news, Carey will hit the road this month for her 2024 Christmas tour, followed by dates in 2025 with her Las Vegas residency. Get tickets to her upcoming shows here.
For more on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, check out our coverage of the recent 2024 induction ceremony. Alternatively, browse our list of the 24 worst snubs in the Hall’s history.