Music
Nick Cannon almost appeared in the music video for Mariah Carey’s “Touch My Body.” However, he was replaced with another actor for artistic reasons.
Mariah Carey‘s “Touch My Body” is a great song, but it’s not one of Carey’s more personal offerings. Her future husband, Nick Cannon, almost appeared in the song’s music video. However, he was replaced with a sitcom star for artistic reasons.
Mariah Carey’s ‘Touch My Body’ music video features a star of the show ’30 Rock’
In her 2020 book The Meaning of Mariah Carey, the “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” singer discussed her mindset circa 2008. “I was feeling stronger, and I hadn’t felt good about myself in a while,” she wrote. “We were going to cast my new friend Nick in the ‘Touch My Body’ video, since he was a comedian and we were taking a humorous twist with it. (I mean, c’mon, what other direction could I go with a lyric like, “Cause if you run your mouth / And brag about this secret rendezvous / I will hunt you down?’ Otherwise, it would’ve been a stalker movie.)”
Carey decided against having her future husband appear in the clip. “But the role in the video was for a computer geek, and while Nick was really funny, he wasn’t a convincing geek,” she opined. “Jack McBrayer, however, was a genius pick, and we had the absolute best time making the video.” McBrayer is a comic actor most known for his role in the sitcom 30 Rock.
Mariah Carey wanted her future husband to hear her new music before anyone else
Carey put in a lot of work to prepare for the music video shoot. “I was focusing on my physical self,” she recalled. “I was working intensely with an amazing trainer, Patricia. The first single for the new album was ‘Touch My Body,’ so I had to get ‘fit in the body’ in preparation.”
Carey was also getting closer to Cannon around the same time. “Touch My Body” appeared on the punningly titled album E=MC², which is a play on Carey’s initials. Cannon got to hear the album before anyone else. Carey was proud of the album and she wanted to watch him listen to it. Aside from “Touch My Body,” E=MC² is probably most notable for the minor hit “Bye Bye.”
How ‘Touch My Body’ performed on the pop charts in the United States
“Touch My Body” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, lasting on the chart for 20 weeks in total. Carey is such a chart juggernaut that “Touch My Body” was a middling hit by her standards. What an icon!
E=MC² reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for two weeks. It lasted on the Billboard 200 for 27 weeks. It was the last studio album by Carey to hit the pinnacle of the chart. Her later studio albums, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, Merry Christmas II You, Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse, and Caution made it to the top 10. However, another No. 1 album has eluded her.
“Touch My Body” is a great song even if the video doesn’t feature any Carey/Cannon PDA.
