Mariah Carey Revives Original ‘Loverboy’ Firecracker Version for Glitter’s 25th Anniversary

Thee Glitter Is Sparkling Again as Mariah Revisits Her Original Loverboy

Direct from its 25th anniversary, another restored and polished Glitter gem is shining! Mariah Carey brings the original “Loverboy (Firecracker – Original Version)” back into focus with a visualizer, and thee Glitter is sparkling for 2026!

There is more to this particular Loverboy than a nostalgic trip around the racetrack. Before the 2001 single arrived in its familiar form, Carey had recorded a version built around “Firecracker,” the instrumental associated with Japanese electronic pioneers Yellow Magic Orchestra. The sample plan changed, and the commercial single instead drew on Cameo’s “Candy.” Two very different musical ingredients, one famously complicated chapter in Mariah history.

That first version was not entirely locked in the vault until now: Carey officially shared it on her 2020 collection The Rarities, alongside the release of her memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey. What makes its 2026 return notable is the occasion. The Glitter 25th-anniversary edition brings the Firecracker recording back into the soundtrack’s story, where its original concept can be appreciated alongside the version audiences came to know.

And what a second life Glitter has enjoyed. Once saddled with the reception surrounding its 2001 release, the soundtrack became a fan-championed favorite, with the #JusticeForGlitter campaign helping send it to the top of the iTunes albums chart in 2018. Twenty-five years on, the expanded anniversary treatment is a reminder that the music has a longer shelf life than the headlines that initially surrounded it.

The 2026 celebration also includes an expanded digital edition and new vinyl editions, while the separate “Loverboy Remix” music video has received a painstaking 4K restoration from its original film elements. That restoration is distinct from the Firecracker original-version visualizer featured here; the two should not be confused.

For longtime Lambs, this is an especially satisfying look at the musical what-might-have-been that eventually found its rightful place in the catalog. Thee Glitter keeps on glittering.

Mariah Carey — Loverboy (Firecracker – Original Version) Visualizer

The original “Firecracker” recording returns to the Glitter conversation during the soundtrack’s 25th-anniversary celebration.

Sources: Mariah Carey official website; The Mariah Network — Glitter discography; uDiscover Music — Glitter 25th-anniversary coverage.