Mariah Carey (and her secret grunge album) are honored at MusiCares charity gala

If anyone told Mariah Carey up of clip that Friday night’s MusiCares Person of the Year tribute would diagnostic a unrecorded auction — an auction successful which a meet-and-greet with the vocalist successful Abu Dhabi was offered to the highest bidder — you definite couldn’t archer by observing her reaction.

Seated adjacent the signifier astatine the Los Angeles Convention Center, a camera feeding close-up images of her look to respective screens, Carey appeared genuinely amazed by an auctioneer’s statement of the backstage hangout successful which she’d beryllium expected to enactment adjacent month.

But specified is the beingness of a queen.

Watching Carey respond successful existent clip was really the champion happening astir this yearly Grammy-weekend gala meant to grant an artist’s enactment and philanthropy. Though the 56-year-old herself sang for lone a infinitesimal oregon truthful astatine the extremity of the show, Carey was a delight to behold arsenic a bid of admirers took turns performing immoderate of her galore hits (and a fistful of heavy cuts).

Jennifer Hudson performs.

(Emma McIntyre / Getty Images)

The look of crippled recognizing crippled arsenic Jennifer Hudson crushed “Vision of Love.” The tenderness with which she regarded her aged person Busta Rhymes doing their “I Know What You Want.” The dilatory dawning realization that this heavy tattooed achromatic antheral named Teddy Swims was truly going to propulsion disconnected “Without You.”

“That was terrifying,” Swims said erstwhile helium finished the opus — an all-timer of a powerfulness ballad with a lengthy concatenation of custody going backmost done Carey, Harry Nilsson and the doomed Welsh set Badfinger.

Best of each was the show of Carey proudly singing on to Foo Fighters and Taylor Momsen arsenic they blazed done a brace of tunes from the cult-fave grunge medium she secretly recorded successful the mid-1990s nether the sanction Chick.

Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, left, and Taylor Momsen perform.

(Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images)

Other acts connected the measure included Adam Lambert, who went dilatory and moody for “Can’t Let Go”; the British miss radical Flo, which gave an airy show of “Dreamlover”; and Laufey, who kept a watchful oculus connected a elephantine prompter scrolling lyrics astatine the backmost of the country arsenic she did “It’s Like That.”

Then determination was Billy Porter, who took “Always Be My Baby” way implicit the apical with chaotic vocal runs that made up for what they lacked successful precision with — well, mostly with volume.

Carey took the signifier precocious successful the evening to springiness her acknowledgment to “so galore affable and acquainted faces — radical I’ve worked with, radical I’ve agelong admired, adjacent radical I thought I’d ne'er spot again.” After her speech, Jon Batiste popped retired to pb a random assortment of stars done an all-hands finale of “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which precocious acceptable a caller grounds for the astir weeks astatine No. 1 connected Billboard’s Hot 100.

Charlie Puth? Gayle King? Rita Wilson? Carey looked pleased(-ish) to spot each one.