Mariah Carey has checked herself into a hospital for “extreme exhaustion,” her spokeswoman said Thursday.
Cindi Berger would not say what Carey’s symptoms were or where she was, but said Carey’s busy schedule contributed to her illness and hospitalization Wednesday night.
“She’s been working around the clock,” Berger told The Associated Press.
In a separate statement, Berger said: “Carey has been hospitalized for extreme exhaustion after completing two movies, ‘Glitter’ and ‘Wise Girls,’ and simultaneously writing, recording and producing her album, the soundtrack ‘Glitter.”‘
Before going to the hospital, the Grammy-winning singer posted a message on her official Web site.
“What I’d like to do is just a take a little break or at least get one night of sleep without someone popping up about a video,” Carey said. “All I really want is to just be me and that’s what I should have done in the first place… I don’t say this much but guess what, I don’t take care of myself.”
The message was removed from her own site, and Berger said: “She was obviously very tired and not thinking clearly.” (Parts of the message remained posted on MTV’s site.)
The 31-year-old singer has canceled all public appearances, including her performance at next week’s MTV 20th anniversary party in New York.
Last week, Carey made an impromptu appearance on MTV’s “Total Request Live,” dressed in little more than a lavender T-shirt with the word “Loverboy” across it – the title of her new single. She was pushing an ice cream cart filled with popsicles, which she brought for members of the studio audience.
“TRL” host Carson Daly kept trying to go into a commercial break, but the singer’s talking prevented him. Carey then took off the T-shirt, saying it was a gift for Daly, revealing a tight tank top and skimpy shorts.
She also brought with her a framed photograph of her mother, who she said was a huge fan of “TRL,” and a handwritten letter from her mother to Daly, which she read aloud.
When asked about the MTV appearance, Berger cited Carey’s exhaustion and said: “She just hasn’t been herself for a little while, and it just caught up with her.”
Carey came up with the story for “Glitter,” about an aspiring pop star. The film, in which she has her first starring role, is scheduled for release next month, along with the album – which will mark Carey’s debut for Virgin Records after signing a multimillion-dollar contract.
“I’m trying to understand things in life right now and so I really don’t feel that I should be doing music right now,” Carey said in an audio message on her site.
Carey, who’s sold tens of millions of records, made her debut on Columbia Records in 1990 after being signed by Tommy Mottola, then Columbia Records president, now chairman of Columbia’s parent company, Sony Music.
The pair wed in 1993, and split up after four years. In her last year at Columbia, Carey had expressed dissatisfaction with the promotion of her music at Columbia.
She has returned to the top of the charts with Virgin. “Loverboy” will be No. 2 on next week’s Billboard Top 100 singles chart. Among her past hits: “Fantasy,” “Vision of Love,” “Honey,” and “Dream Lover.”
