Babyface has recalled how he once served as a mediator between Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston in the recording studio.
The superstars recorded a pop version of “When You Believe” from the 1998 animated movie “The Prince of Egypt,” with the ballad winning widespread acclaim.
But during an interview with Vulture, Babyface – real name Kenneth Edmonds – recounted how there was tension between the two women, and they ended up recording separately.
“Well, they did not record together. It was done separately. The one great thing that came out of that, more than anything, is that I was asked to be the producer because they both asked for me, and neither of them were going to do it, from what I understand, unless I was the producer,” the legendary R&B producer shared.
“Mariah’s producer was Walter Afanasieff at the time and did most of her stuff, and Whitney’s was David Foster. So neither one of them trusted those producers; Whitney wouldn’t have trusted Walter, and Mariah wouldn’t have trusted David.”
Before the collaboration, Houston had worked with Babyface on her album, My Love Is Your Love.
Accordingly, the singer-songwriter felt like he was the neutral voice on set.
“I was Switzerland, and I was able to go in there, and they both felt safe that I would do the best for them. It was a little bit of work to get to that point,” he added. “We had a photo op together where they were in the studio together, but they did not sing together that time.”
Houston died at the age of 48 in 2012.