Mariah Carey Reissues 'Glitter' Soundtrack for 25th Anniversary With First-Ever Vinyl Pressing
Mariah Carey is reissuing her 2001 Glitter soundtrack for its 25th anniversary, giving the album its first-ever vinyl pressing and a digital edition featuring unreleased recordings. The announcement was confirmed by Carey in a statement reported by Rolling Stone on 20 August 2026, and separately in an interview with Variety. The reissue is available for preorder now.
"If someone had told me back in 2001 that I'd one day be unironically celebrating Glitter's 25th anniversary, I never would have believed them," Carey said in her statement. She added: "I made this album with so much love and care, so it was devastating to watch it become a punchline. I'm endlessly grateful to my fans who kept championing it all these years."
The Glitter film opened in cinemas in September 2001, starring Carey as a young singer chasing stardom in 1980s New York. It drew harsh reviews and a weak box office performance. The soundtrack, released to coincide with the film, sold modestly at the time — a commercial shadow that hung over Carey's career for years.
The 25th anniversary reissue aims to reframe that legacy. The package includes a newly reimagined version of "Didn't Mean to Turn You On" featuring Rochelle Jordan, alongside previously unreleased recordings in the digital edition. Vinyl formats include limited-edition "Glittering Pink" and "Midnight Purple" 2-LP sets, with a numbered glittering pink double-vinyl pressing also confirmed by Complex.
Carey's fans have been working toward a Glitter reappraisal for nearly a decade. In 2018, a grassroots campaign under the banner #JusticeforGlitter pushed the soundtrack toward the top of the iTunes charts, signalling that the album had built a second life long after its initial release. Carey's official website now hosts a first-party post titled "The Glitter Anniversary Era begins!!!" featuring sound bites from the soundtrack, and her official shop already carries a separate 25th anniversary reissue of her 1999 album Rainbow as a limited-edition 2-LP picture disc priced at $58.98.
What makes this reissue resonate beyond the catalogue is the journey the album has taken to get here. Glitter arrived at a low point in Carey's public standing — panned by critics, overshadowed by its film's failure, and treated for years as a cautionary tale rather than a record. A quarter-century later, the same material is being pressed on coloured vinyl, expanded with unreleased tracks, and promoted by the artist herself without apology. The fans who ran the 2018 campaign and the label now pressing the pink vinyl are, in a sense, doing the same thing: insisting the album deserves another hearing.
For listeners who never owned Glitter the first time around — or who only knew it as a punchline — the reissue offers a chance to hear it on its own terms. The vinyl and digital editions do not yet have a confirmed release date beyond the preorder window.
