Meet Mariah Carey’s reported boyfriend Anderson .Paak — inside their relationship

While Anderson .Paak is a name familiar at this point even to the most mainstream of listeners, for those uninitiated, he is a singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer who has been releasing music since 2012. The 39-year-old made his professional debut with his mixtape O.B.E. Vol. 1, before releasing his debut studio album Venice in 2014.

His 2016 follow-up record Malibu earned him his very first Grammy nomination for (the now defunct) Best Urban Contemporary Album. His 2018 album Oxnard became his first to crack the Billboard 200’s top 40, while 2019’s Ventura became his first top five hit. It was then his critical acclaim really began to soar as well, winning four Grammys between 2019 and 2021.

In 2021, he formed the duo Silk Sonic with Bruno Mars, with their album An Evening with Silk Sonic becoming a worldwide success. Lead single “Leave the Door Open” was also a critical and commercial hit, going number one in the United States and winning four Grammys in 2022, including Song and Record of the Year. Anderson won a ninth Grammy this February for the NxWorries album Why Lawd?, his duo with producer Knxwledge.

The pair first sparked rumors of a budding friendship-turned-more when they were spotted together in December 2024 enjoying the winter in Aspen. Fans speculated whether they were actually growing close or they were working on a project together, given the sighting came less than a year after Anderson filed for divorce from his second wife Jae Lin Chang after 13 years of marriage and two kids.

A few months prior, in June of 2024, Anderson shared a TikTok clip in which he walked into the Electric Lady recording studio and was “starstruck” by Mariah. After a couple occasions in Aspen where they were seen holding hands, the “Smokin’ Out the Window” singer was seen escorting Mariah and her two kids at the iHeart Radio Music Awards this past March, walking her up onto the stage as well.

In May, while on the Track Star show, Anderson appeared wearing a Mariah Carey T-shirt, and began giggling and showing it off when her 1995 hit “Always Be My Baby” began playing. “This would be Mariah Carey. The Mariah Carey,” he said of the track. “I remember like, fifth grade or something, just watching the music video and having a huge crush.”

The “We Belong Together” singer then confirmed last month that they were in fact working together, dropping the track list for her album Here For It All (out September 26), and featuring Anderson on the second track “Play This Song.”