True Mariah Carey fans are no strangers to the name Walter Afanasieff.
The celebrated songwriter, famous for his work with the likes of Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, and more, is probably most known for helping pen some of Carey’s biggest hits including ‘Hero,’ ‘Anytime You Need a Friend,’ and one of the most well-known holiday songs of all time, ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You.’
The latter, which reached its Hot 100 peak this week (24 years after its release), has become a staple during the yuletide season – a bittersweet fact for Afanasieff as he and the diva have not spoken for over 20 years and she (according to him) continues to take sole credit for its creation.
Recently taking to press to not only outline the status of his relationship with the pop icon but also dish on what led to their fall out and how he believes she is trying to erase him from the historic holiday hit. Look inside for some jaw-dropping quotes:
On the demise of their friendship:
“The reason we stopped working together was primarily because she and her husband, who was the chairman of Sony Music, got a divorce. And I was under an exclusive contract with him. So, she left the building, she wasn’t even on the label anymore, but I couldn’t go and work with her because he wouldn’t let me. So she found that to be a little bit of a slap in the face.”
“We had a falling out. I would have hoped that in 20 years, she would have knocked on my door – but she hasn’t, so…”
On her alleged insecurities and jealousy:
“Singers like Mariah, Celine, Whitney [Houston], Barbra [Streisand],” he says, “they’re all very insecure creatures. If you start working on a song with another singer, the jealousy comes out. They’re very, very jealous people. So, I was working to put food on my table. I can’t only work with Mariah, I have to work with other people, and I think that was a bit of a problem ‘cause I was working, at that time, with Celine [Dion]…”
On refusing to acknowledge his contributions to her catalog:
“It doesn’t matter how many interviews she’s done or when she’s on stage, she’ll never ever say ‘here’s the song that I wrote with Walter’. We wrote the song together, my name is 50%, her name is 50%, we have equal shares.
She came up with some crazy, crazy story over the last couple years that she wrote All I Want For Christmas Is You when she was a kid on her Casio [keyboard],” he says. “And I go, that’s crazy, I wasn’t with you when you were a kid writing that song on the Casio, so why am I 50% owner of the song?” [source]
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I still don’t know him.
That’s your ignorance. The industry knows very well who he is and what’s he’s done for Mariah’s career, and so does she. This isn’t the first story about all the shady & underhanded dealings Sony did to boost Mariah’s career in the beginning. Get out of your feelings lambs, Mariah is no innocent little victim.
You are a dumb a** to not realize the remix of Mariah’s catchphrase as a kii. It’s time to change your diaper, sis.
He is still collecting the royalty checks. He should just shut up and keep that bag secured.
We live in a society where women are supported by media to speak on EVERYTHING. Why can’t men speak their minds too? Let’s not be biased. Him speaking up lets Mariah fans get to know more about her and what goes on behind the scenes to PROPS to him.
You really hate other women don’t you?
Of course NOT. I just believe in fairness.
He hates Black women.
Maybe he should talk about STEALING her songs and giving them to Tommy for Other singers. Tommy Owned his SOUL and Mariah Chose to leave that Situtation. Why this OLD queen still-but hurt? BIsh BYE
Walter Alker Stalzer knows darn well he gets credit based co producing not actually helping write lyrics. He is just upset because MC is still thriving and he is just existing he has worked with other artists yet I don’t see him bashing them. I also don’t see many people interested in working with him either something in the water is not clean. Walter is a snake in grass and MC cut the lawn.
leave nippy outta this… however he doesn’t get enough credit in her legacy for co writing with her.
Get out of here. Does he get any more credit for completely writing all the other hits he wrote for Celine or Whitney? Why should Mariah give him anymore validation? She is a songwriter herself and people barely recognize her for that.
EXACTLY! SOOO many songs have been written FOR THE GREATS. And those writers have gone unnoticed. This song one is no different.
I disagree with that. Mariah is a highly respected songwriter in the music industry. That has been proven over and over with songwriter awards. The reason you may feel she does not “get enough credits” is because she has NEVER written a HIT song totally by herself! There are also rumors that songs are written for her and she changes things around lyrically to get her name added to the songwriting credits.
I posted my RECEIPT below which shows the songwriting credits for every single song on every single Mariah Carey album. You will NOT find one HIT she wrote by herself. Interestingly, I learned today from my RECEIPT that Mariah often takes producer credits as well on her songs despite claiming to NOT play any instruments.
RECEIPTS / SOURCE:
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mariah-carey-mn0000262255/discography
Thats a lie, Mariah wrote the lyrics for some of her hits herself.. the link you gave show composer credits aka the musician. She wrote these hits by herself… Forever, Always Be My Baby, honey, my all, roof, butterfly, whenever you call, hero, dreamlover, anytime you need a friend, emotions, make it happen, cant let go.
Chile please, as producer he gets his composition credit for the music, she wrote the lyrics.
Walter needs to sit down somewhere.
Please provide a RECEIPT to backup your claim that Walter did not write her lyrics as well. Here is mine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA8OuMoiEaE
Walter…. stfu! As long as the CHECKS clear! You are good! And she has mentioned you. I can’t remember which of the interviewS it was THIS ERA, i believe one of them was with Michael Strahan. She told him you were the co writer. So you were mentioned. You’re not about to get some type of church house praise for co writing with her. A lot of writers to songs don’t even get mentioned or glorified sometimes unless they’re a artist themselves. And even then, sometimes its months or years later when brought up… After all she still has you beat.. She’s the writer and VOCALIST behind the track. And I’m pretty sure your name was on the credits of the album when it came out. So STFU!
Why shoul d Walter STFU that is his resume.. Marih can’t sing
I.
Love Whitney
Really? ??♂️
I guarantee that Mariah had most of the lyrics and melody done. We know she writes her lyrics almost exclusively!!
How do we know that? Because she says so? Its a known fact that Walter was a co-writer on basically ALL of her songs while she was on Sony, he deserves to get the credit just like anybody else. This isn’t about “checks clearing”, this is about his reputation as a respected songwriter. He helped create her iconic hits, he deserves his proper credit bottom line.
Hell even Mariah claimed her and Walter wrote the songs together in the video clip above. Some Mariah fans want to paint a one-dimensional view of her that she is this powerhouse singer and songwriter that does everything all by herself and is generous to share all her writing credits and producing credits with NUMEROUS other songwriters. That is delusional bull sh|t. Mariah has many dimensions and she collaborates with numerous people on writing and producing. That is why she is liked in the music industry. I think Walter”s comments are great. It shows some of the other side to Mariah.
Ya’ll caping for Walter when all he does is contradict himself. This is what he said just two years before bitterness set it:
“The thing about Mariah is that she’s such a master melodist,” songwriter Walter Afanasieff told Billboard in 2016, reminiscing about working with Carey and Boyz II Men on “One Sweet Day.” “Today, that’s commonly referred to as a ‘top-line writer’…. someone who can start singing right off the bat. Mariah is such a gifted top-line writer that she can sing melodies and come up with lyric ideas on the spot
No one is claiming she does everything herself. Mariah has never claimed that she does either. Walter was a co-writer because he wrote the music to her early songs. Lyrics + Melody + Music =A song. Mariah is not an instrumentalist. So, she takes her melody ideas and fleshes them out further with someone that can actually write music.
I see The lambs are mad their fave got called out as a liar lol. This isn’t about money, it’s about respect. You’d think she’d acknowledge him after all these years but now she’s making up stories to make it seem like it was all her. If I were him I’d call her out too. Just because you’re “Mariah Carey “ doesn’t give u a pass to be a b**** to people.
Whhaaat. The b**** don’t write
And she can’t sing like me Whitney
Air ar air all the air in her voice..
Told y??ou a fraud why did she try to killerself h¿?? you abuse Whitney Career the fuc about mimi me me me selfish Carey
the real truth of Mariah carey on b**…
the drugs,, the tryna kill herself, the men that flee in a night she cant keep a man….the why she cant sing like me, whitney Houston… on b** tonite ….that billonaire dropped her too
sincerely whitney
What has he smoked? Why should she reference him more often?? Do any otehr singer talk about their hits mentioning other songwriters all the time or something? No they don´t. Mariah at least is a real songwriter. It´s obvious teh rrason why Mariah never called him back to work again 10 or 20 years later is because she has moved on and he represents somthing very paintful in her past now. Just that. Plus Mariah doesn´t make the music he does anymore (she is a way more diverse songwriter than him now that I think about it).
Shut up queen.
I’m a huge Mariah Carey fan… But I must admit I just don’t get a lot of her stans. ??♂️ They view her in a “woe is me” vain all the time. The truth is Mariah referred to Walter as her “Writing Partner”, for years in interview after interview. Case closed. I’m sure that he played more of a part in the actual music and as a producer, but Walter is also a world renowned writer. To think that he didn’t play a part in some of her lyrical content would be dumb. The truth is he has had a hand in some of her most beautiful records and I personally believe she lost a certain luster when they stopped working together. Kinda off topic but it’s ironic that a lot of the things Mariah resented Tommy for he actually turned out he spot on about. She complained that Sony wanted her to be dressed in long gowns and Just stand and sing, she hated it but thats exactly what she does now. I feel like the last time we’ve seen Mariah the artist was with the “Butterfly” album. She has become a parody of exactly what she hated and complained about. I do like them new album tho.
hahaha! Tell it man! I like this guy.
#2 Sides To Every Story
I knew she didn’t write that song by herself
Mariah has never claimed to write solely alone. She loves writing in collaboration, and folks who read credits have always known who he was. Truth is, he played on the side of Tommy when Mariah was fighting to keep her career alive. Why now 20 yrs later?