Mariah Carey has had an assortment of high-profile romances over the years – such as with Nick Cannon and Eminem – with her most recent relationship being with dancer Bryan Tanaka.
However, after seven years together, the couple have reportedly split – with a source telling Page Six that the pair called it quits due to Tanaka’s desire to start a family of his own.
The We Belong Together songstress, 54 – who is mother to twins Moroccan and Monroe, 12 – has been brushing aside the separation by spending time in Aspen to embrace the holiday season after concluding her Merry Christmas One and All! tour.
But Bryan is notably absent from the trip – even though he has previously accompanied the performer on the winter vacation in the past.
As news of the separation came to light, DailyMail.com takes a look back at the icon’s previous romances…
Tommy Mottola (1993-1998)
Mariah Carey tied the knot with Sony Music executive, Tommy Mottola, in June of 1993 in New York City.
The pair – who notably had a 21-year age gap – had first begun dating when the songstress was recording her album titled Mariah Carey (1990).
The two held the lavish nuptials in New York City at Saint Thomas Church and the beauty had worn a stunning, white Vera Wang gown that is estimated to have been worth around $25k, per Brides.
However, their marriage only last five years, with the former couple announcing their separation in 1997. The following year, Mariah and Tommy’s divorce was finalized.
During a past interview with Cosmopolitan in 2019, Carey had revealed that her marriage to Mottola had felt like ‘being a prisoner.’
‘There was no freedom for me as a human being,’ she told the outlet. ‘You might want to picture a child bride.’
‘There was a conscious effort to keep me as this all-American – whatever that means – girl. There was no freedom for me as a human being. It was almost like being a prisoner.’
Derek Jeter (1997-1998)
The Fantasy singer was then romantically linked to former professional baseball player Derek Jeter shortly after her separation from Tommy Mottola.
During an interview with Vulture in 2020 – while promoting her memoir titled The Meaning Of Mariah Carey – she opened up about their short-lived relationship.
The two had first crossed paths at a dinner party and had ‘secretly’ began communicating with each other at the very end of her marriage to Tommy.
Mariah also revealed that two of her songs from 1997: The Roof and My All, were actually written about her fling with the sports player.
However, after Carey and Jeter began dating in 1997, their romance came to an end the following year.
Marcus Schenkenberg (1998)
After her split from the Jeter, Mariah reportedly had a brief romance with Dutch model, Marcus Schenkenberg.
However, the relationship only lasted for the span of four months in 1998.
The pair had been spotted mingling at a birthday party in New York City in November of that year.
Luis Miguel (1998-2001)
The Obsessed songstress later dated fellow singer, Luis Miguel, from 1998 until their split in 2001.
The two stars first met in Aspen, Colorado after reportedly being set up on a blind date. In her memoir, Carey recalled their first date together.
‘After we had both had a few drinks and an awkward dinner, I still couldn’t get rid of him… I had just met this guy and he was drunk off his a**,’ she had written, per People.
The beauty then revealed that Miguel had gifted her with a lavish, Bulgari necklace the next day. ‘I soon learned that was his way; he was an authentic, over-the-top Latin lover, for real.’
During the course of their relationship, Mariah and Luis were able to connect through working in the music industry and dealing with fame.
However, she had also written, ‘He’d been through a lot and lost his mother at a very young age. From what I’d been told, his father was very difficult and controlling.’
‘I tried my best to support him emotionally, but I was going through my own s**t and it got to a point where I could no longer deal with it. We were not helping each other heal.’
She added that Miguel was ‘generous’ as well as ‘passionate’ but could also be ‘erratic’ and ‘had a dark cloud hanging over his head.’
Eminem (2001)
Mariah and rapper, Eminem, were in an alleged romance in 2001. However, while the Not Afraid hitmaker has stated the pair had dated for six months, the songstress has denied that such a romance had existed.
During an interview with Rolling Stone back in 2002, he commented on the reported relationship and stated, ‘There’s truth to that.’
‘But on the whole personal level, I’m not really feeling it. I just don’t like her as a person,’ Eminem added.
The Grammy-winning rapper and the songstress have in the past exchanged barbs through their work, as Eminem cited Carey in two tracks on his 2002 album The Eminem Show, Superman and When The Music Stops.
For a retort, Carey claimed she was never involved with The Real Slim Shady artist and dissed him on her 2002 song Clown.
The vitriolic exchange kicked up seven years later when Eminem dissed both Carey and her former husband Nick Cannon, 39, on his song Bagpipes From Bagdad, and she struck back with her song Obsessed, to which he released a track called The Warning, referring to the One Sweet Day singer as a s*** b***h c***.’
He also referred to Carey in lyrics in the 2019 Fat Joe track Lord Above.
‘I know me and Mariah didn’t end on a high note/But that other dude’s whipped, that p***& got him neutered/Tried to tell him this chick’s a nut job before he got his jewels clipped/Almost got my caboose kicked, fool, quit, you not gon’ do s***/I let her chop my b***s off, too ‘fore I lost to you, Nick.’
Eric Benet (2000 – 2003)
The pop megastar dated her Glitter co-star Eric Benet over multiple years in the early aughts.
Not much was known about their relationship as they starred in the 2001 movie together – which was Mariah’s feature film debut – but the on-screen lovers reportedly had a fling off-screen as well.
Christian Monson (2005-2006)
Mariah and model Christian Monson met on the set of her music video for Don’t Forget About Us which was released in 2005.
Their chemistry in front of the camera resulted in a brief relationship over a few months into 2006.
Nick Cannon (2008 – 2014)
Nick Cannon, 43, began dating Carey in 2008 when Cannon appeared in the video for her single Bye Bye, with the couple getting married later in the year in the Bahamas.
Cannon – who is now a father of 12 – and the Vision of Love songstress welcomed their children, twins Moroccan and Monroe in 2011.
The pair wound up separating in 2014, with Carey later filing divorce papers. Amid the finalization of their split in 2016, the pair agreed on joint custody of their children, who are now 11.
Since his breakup with Carey, the entertainer has welcomed 10 more kids with five different women.
He is father to son Golden, six, daughter Powerful, two, and son Rise, 15-months, with Brittany Bell; as well as 18-month-old twin boys Zion and Zillion, and 13-month-old daughter Beautiful with Abby De La Rosa.
Cannon and Alyssa Scott are parents to late son Zen (who tragically died at five-months-old in December of 2021) and four-month-old daughter Halo.
Cannon is father of 15-month-old son Legendary with Bre Tiesi and 14-month-old daughter Onyx with LaNisha Cole.
James Packer (2015 – 2016)
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Mariah and twice-divorced billionaire James Packer were introduced to one another by Hollywood producer Brett Ratner in late 2013 but did not have a romantic relationship until after her split with Cannon in 2015 as they were engaged only to split in 2016; they are seen in May 2016
Mariah and twice-divorced billionaire James Packer were introduced to one another by Hollywood producer Brett Ratner in late 2013 at Packer’s Aspen, Colorado, home.
They next met up in July 2014 at a Los Angeles film premiere, again with Ratner, and hit it off immediately.
Before the relationship became public Carey and her twins Monroe and Moroccan joined Packer in May 2015 on his yacht Arctic P for a Mediterranean cruise.
They were not photographed together until June 2015 when they were seen holding hands on the Italian island of Capri.
Packer proposed on January 21, 2016 at a New York restaurant, getting down on one knee to present a 35-carat engagement ring with plans to marry in Bora Bora on March 1 of that year.
According to Packer there were ‘problems’ negotiating a pre-nuptial agreement which it has been reported could have benefited Carey up to $30million.
In 2017 Packer made his first public comments on the breakdown of his relationship with Carey, telling The Australian: I was at a low point in my personal life.
‘She was kind, exciting and fun. Mariah is a woman of substance. She is very bright. But it was a mistake for her and a mistake for me.’
When Carey was questioned over Packer’s whereabouts in early 2017 she said: ‘I don’t know where the motherf***er is’.
In March 2018 she told People magazine: ‘I wonder what I was thinking… The whole situation was a whirlwind. But I wish him the best.’
Packer had a similar message for Carey when he spoke to Australia’s Nine Entertainment late last month. ‘I wish her well,’ he said.
Bryan Tanaka (2016 – 2023)
Mariah Carey and Bryan Tanaka called it quits on their seven-year romance due to his desire to start a family of his own, according to a report on December 20.
Just hours after it was reported that they had split, the alleged reasoning behind the decision has been revealed by an insider for Page Six.
According to their sources that their age gap of 14 years did play a role between Mariah, 54, and Bryan, 40, as they wanted different things.
The insider explained: ‘He wants to have a family. That’s not where she is at.’
Carey shares 12-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe with ex-husband Nick Cannon.
Speculation of the split began as the Fantasy hitmaker kicked off her Merry Christmas One and All! tour in November, but the dancer has been absent from her shows, prompting speculation that they have split.
The superstar is also currently celebrating the holidays in Aspen without Tanaka, who usually accompanied her on the trips in the past, according to a source who spoke with People.
It marks the first time in years that the pair — who began dating in 2016 — have not been traveling together during the Christmas season.
The couple were last seen together in March, while celebrating Mariah’s birthday. At the time Bryan posted a photo of him and the superstar to Instagram with a gushing caption.
‘This is one of my favorite pictures. Ever. Happy Anniversary my Beautiful Queen. 3/27
.’
In November fans began speculating about the pair’s split after her concert at the Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland, California.
Bryan regularly shows off his dance moves at her shows going back more than a decade, but audience members shared on social media that they had noticed he was nowhere to be seen.
Others were of the opinion that Mariah looked downbeat, and some complained about her alleged low-energy performance.
Adding to concerns about a potential breakup was Bryan’s total absence on the hitmaker’s Instagram profile since December 2022.
Mariah’s last Instagram post featuring Bryan appears to be from a December 26, when the two beaming lovebirds posed cheek to cheek to mark Boxing Day.
So far neither Mariah nor Bryan have publicly addressed the split rumors.
Carey and Tanka initially met in the mid-2000s and he accompanied her as a backup dancer during her Adventures of Mimi tour, which occurred in 2006.
‘Something connected with us back in the day and there was just a mutual admiration,’ he told E! News in 2016. ‘She saw something in me that I actually didn’t recognize at first, from that it was over. It was set in history that we were gonna be connected some way, some how.’
In 2016, Mariah ended her engagement to James Packer, and she and Bryan began a new relationship shortly afterward.
