This June, E! turns 30! To celebrate we're looking back at the most monumental moments in pop culture.
Looking back, it's relatively easy to recognize what sort of sounds, musical styles and genres defined each decade. Even throughout the broad-stroked 1990s—an era in which hip-hop thrived, grunge went mainstream and country artists such as Garth Brooks saw success—there's no ignoring the rise of iconic divas like Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.
In honor of E!'s 30th anniversary, we're looking back at some of the iconic divas' earliest E! News interviews, where along with Mariah and Whitney, Gloria Estefan, TLC's Tionne Watkins, Lisa Lopes and Rozonda Thomas, Céline Dion and Aaliyah, talked about making their first albums, their dreams for the future and much more.
First, we're introduced to Whitney as she discusses her experience starring in the 1992 film The Bodyguard.
"I think it was intense—never quite overwhelmed me, you know?" the "I Will Always Love You" songstress explained. "I just felt like, I'm gonna do this job. I'm gonna give it the best thing I got; I'm gonna give it all I got. And let's see what happens."
The Kevin Costner-led movie marked Whitney's film debut.
"I tried not to be overwhelmed because then it becomes hard to do what you have to do, and to do a really good job at it," she added. "If I ever tripped on, 'God, I'm doing a movie with Kevin Costner...' I didn't want to get into that. I just wanted to do the best that I could and be as comfortable as possible. And Kev was good about it, and Mick Jackson, the director, was great about it. So everybody was kind of like, had a nice, down home feeling about them."
Whitney's music career had already taken off, but Mariah's was just about to.
In the clip, Mimi recalls being a waitress and backup singer for Brenda K. Starr.
"And she became my really good friend and she helped me out, helped me get my record deal," the singer told E! News. "All the while I was singing with her, I felt that much closer to the business—you know, being there and having her be so helpful and playing my tape for different people."
Mariah continued, "Then when things started coming through for me with my deal and stuff, that was like, a major, important step for me. You know, you have to get there, and just getting there was like, 'Woo! I got my deal!' and everything. But then...you're like, wait a minute, you have to make an album now. And it might flop!"
Thankfully, that wasn't the case. The next diva in the clip even said she was a fan of Mariah's!
"I'm enjoying myself very much because today I have the chance to travel, to meet a lot of people, to do my dreams—you know, for me it's a dream come true," a 22-year-old Celine expressed. "I sing and I do what I love to do. It's wonderful."
In addition to listing Mariah as one of the artists she "admires very much," Celine also gave shout-outs to Prince, AC/DC and Melissa Etheridge.
Meanwhile, back in 1990 Gloria Estefan told E! of her passion, "I was very shy and singing was my release, my emotional escape. Like, I wouldn't cry. I'd go and sing to myself in my room and things like that. But I never really thought of it as a career because I was petrified when I'd get on stage, or when my mother would make me sing for her friends. I'd stare down at the floor...It just happened by accident. As I started realizing it could be a career, I realized it's what really made me happy. And that's when I said, 'Well, I'll do this.'
Check out the E! News rewind video above to hear TLC talk about the making of their "Waterfalls" music video, Aaliyah opening up about her budding music career and more from the incomparable '90s divas above!