How Mariah Carey unknowingly saved a fan's life on 9/11
Topics: Mariah Carey, Terrorism
Yasmeen Hamadeh
Featured Image Credit: Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images / WPXI-TV
Topics: Mariah Carey, Terrorism
Mariah Carey indirectly saved a fan's life during 9/11.
On September 11, 2001, two planes crashed into the North and South Towers — the Twin Towers — of the World Trade Center in New York after being hijacked by members of terrorist organization Al-Qaeda.
A third plane also crashed into the Pentagon and a fourth into a field in western Pennsylvania after passengers took control of the plane.
Excluding the hijackers, 2,977 people died in the attacks.
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While many survivors have horrifying recounts from what is largely considered to be one of the biggest tragedies in American history, one person has a chilling story on how Mariah Carey unknowingly saved her life that day - by releasing a new album.
On September 11, 2001, Carey released her eighth studio album Glitter, a soundtrack to a movie musical of the same name.
At the time of its release, Glitter was largely panned by critics, but has now come to be considered a cult classic by fans.
In a 2023 interview with The Messenger, one fan, Sara Botkin, revealed that Carey 'saved' her life on 9/11 after she'd decided to go out and buy Glitter before going to work at the World Trade Center's South Tower.
"I would probably tell [Mariah Carey], 'You saved my life'," Botkin told the outlet. "I believe it was mostly good luck, and I do think that album may have saved my life."
Botkin worked on the 105th floor of the South Tower, and by stopping to buy the album, she was late for work.
In another interview with WPXI, she explained that when the first plane hit, she was still on the concourse about to get on the building's elevator.
"New York is such a noisy city, I didn’t immediately think terrorist attack or airplane”, she said.
"I just sort of paused and looked around. In a few moments I started to see distinguished-looking men in suits start running and yelling, and thought, okay, something is happening."
Those in the lobby were instructed by building security to go up to their offices as they thought it would be safer.
"That was the tragic thing about that day is that we were being told that our building was secure," Botkin said, before explaining how she instead decided to follow her instinct and escape with a few other men who had pushed past security to get out.
"When I looked outside it was a stunning scene, it looked like New Years Eve, just all the debris in the air, papers flying," she added.
Botkin also told The Messenger that she'd got a signed Glitter CD from Carey after she heard about her story.
"Shortly after 9/11, about a week later, I received a signed CD and a photo in the mail with a message that said, 'God bless.' That meant a lot to me. I remember thinking how everyone was calling and emailing me," Botkin said.
"I love her self-titled album. I thought Glitter was great. I know it was not popular. It was a throwback to the 80s."
On how buying Carey's album saved her, she told WPXI: "I think it’s got to be luck.
"So many people said God was watching out for me that day. And I believe in God, but I can’t think that He would be a God that would watch out for all those people who lost their lives. Fathers and daughters and mothers and sons.
"So, I just think I was really lucky."