Mariah Carey paid a moving tribute to her late father Alfred Roy Carey on Monday as she marked what would have been his 94th birthday.
The 53-year-old music sensation — who announced Christmas concert dates earlier this month — shared a photo of herself on Instagram with a heartfelt caption in honor of her father.
In the blink of an eye, she smiled softly with a single sunflower in hand as she stared out of the frame.
‘Sunflowers for Alfred Roy. Remembering my father on his birthday today,” she wrote under the snapshot.
Mariah looked stunning with her sandy blonde curls pinned up as she wore a black sequin top.
On her mind: Mariah Carey paid a moving tribute to her late father Alfred Roy Carey on Monday as she marked what would have been his 94th birthday
Her words: “Sunflowers for Alfred Roy.. I remember my father today on his birthday,” she wrote under the snapshot
Her father passed away 21 years ago on July 4, 2002 at the age of 72 after a battle with cancer.
“My father longed for discipline, culture, and freedom,” Carey wrote in her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey.
The singer described her father’s decision to join the military as “a logical choice for a man who had no say in the time or skin he was born into.”
In the book, she reminisced about his “austere quality” and shared that his home was “part military barracks, part Shaolin monastery.”
“There was no room in his house for extravagance or waste of any kind,” she recalled. ‘He thought snacking was frivolous. If I was hungry while waiting for dinner, he would give me a Ritz cracker. A.’
Roy Carey was an aeronautical engineer and was of African-American and Venezuelan descent.
He married Mariah’s mother Patricia in 1960, but their marriage, plagued by racism, ended in divorce in 1973.
Patricia, a white woman, was disowned by her parents for marrying a black man and racial tensions followed them in Huntington, New York, where they lived.
In memoriam: Mariah posted a birthday tribute to her father on Instagram after restoring his vintage sports car last year
Tribute: The Grammy-winning superstar beamed from behind the wheel as she shared a series of photos showing off the stunning restoration of her father’s red speedster
Relationship: After Mariah’s parents divorced when she was three years old, she only saw her father on Sundays
Mariah posted a birthday tribute to her father on Instagram after restoring his vintage sports car last year.
She shared photos of her and her children – fraternal twins Moroccan and Monroe, 12 – in the refurbished vehicle and added a warm caption.
“Happy birthday to my father Alfred Roy Carey,” the Hero singer wrote. “The car you never finished has been lovingly restored, complete with your spirit and my children. I’m sorry I never told you everything I wanted to say.”
The last line is a lyric from her 1995 single One Sweet Day, performed with Boyz II Men.