Mariah Carey Sweeps Vibe Awards

Mariah Carey was the top winner at the third annual Vibe Awards. The Grammy-winning singer walked away with four honors: Artist of the Year, R&B Voice of the Year, Best R&B Song for "We Belong Together," and Album of the Year for the multiplatinum The Emancipation of Mimi.

"Whatever you're going through in your life, don't ever give up," Carey said at Saturday's event, which took place at Sony Studios in Culver City, California.

Other winners included Kanye West (Best Rapper), Ciara featuring Ludacris (Coolest Collaboration for "Oh"), T.I. (Best Street Anthem for "U Don't Know Me"), the Game featuring now-nemesis 50 Cent (Hottest Hook for "Hate It or Love It"), and R. Kelly (Reelest Video for "Trapped in the Closet: Chapters 1-5").

Newcomers Keyshia Cole and Young Jeezy tied for the Next Award, while Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley won the Caribbean music Boomshot Award for "Welcome to Jamrock." Amerie took home the award for Club Banger for her "1 Thing," the Diplomats won Best Group and music mogul Quincy Jones presented the VLegend Award to R&B singer Mary J. Blige, in honor of her fifteen-year career.

This year's ceremony was markedly more peaceful than last year's, when an audience member, Jimmy James Johnson, approached rapper/producer Dr. Dre under the pretext of asking for an autograph and then punched him. Johnson was then stabbed in the melee -- allegedly by rapper Young Buck, of 50 Cent's G Unit -- and hospitalized with a collapsed lung. Johnson was sentenced to a year in jail last fall, while Young Buck (David Darnell Brown) pleaded not guilty last January and is free on bail awaiting trial.

The taped event, featuring performances by Pharrell, David Banner, Paul Wall and others, will air Tuesday night on UPN.

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Great Gatsby' Is a Crushing Disappointment
• 
  TV Why You Should Watch 'Happy Endings'
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“Oh Sherrie”

Steve Perry | 1984

Steve Perry's girlfriend Sherrie Swafford was actually in the studio when Perry began writing this song--his lone Top Ten hit as a solo act--with two co-writers. The trio began at midnight one night with just "Oh, Sherrie!" and "hold on, hold on." Three hours later, they had a complete song. Swafford, however, had to wait until the next day to hear it. "Sherrie actually got tired and went to bed," Perry said. She also appeared in the video, but their relationship did not hold on for long.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter