Songfacts®:

• In 1992, 22 years after The Jackson 5 had a #1 hit with the original version of "I'll Be There," Mariah Carey returned the song to the top of the chart with her cover, recorded as a live duet with R&B singer Trey Lorenz, with Walter Afanasieff (producer of Michael Bolton's hits) on piano.
  
  Carey was born in 1970, the same year the original version was released.
• Mariah Carey's "I'll Be There" is from her episode of MTV Unplugged, recorded March 16, 1992, and aired on May 20 in the third season of the show. It was the first song from the series to become a hit, proving that the format translated to radio as well. Soon after, Eric Clapton's Unplugged version of "Layla" was also released as a single and went to #12.
  
  Leading the way in acoustic hit covers, though, was the rock band Tesla, who in 1990 released an acoustic cover of the song "Signs" that reached #8 (this wasn't part of the MTV series - their version came from a concert they staged themselves). Interestingly, all three of these acoustic hits came from songs originally released in 1970.
• Mariah Carey might be the only singer who can convincingly cover a song with a lead vocal by Michael Jackson, which requires extraordinary range. Carey is a big Michael Jackson fan and listened to a lot of early work with The Jackson 5. "When he was a little boy (Jackson was 11 when he sang the original), his singing was so angelic," she told USA Today. "It was unbelievable that such a voice could come from a child. He was a big influence on me."
• "I'll Be There" is the only cover song from Mariah's Unplugged performance; she decided to add it to her repertoire two days before the show. For many singers, this would be a challenge, but Carey has a preternatural ability to know how to sing a song just from hearing it.
• Trey Lorenz was a backup singer for Mariah Carey when he got to step into the spotlight on this song. Later in 1992 he released his first solo album, with six songs produced by Carey, including "Someone to Hold," which she also co-wrote. That song went to #19 to become Lorenz' biggest hit.
• "I'll Be There" was Mariah Carey's sixth #1 hit in the US. She had two studio albums out, released in 1990 (Mariah Carey) and 1991 (Emotions). The song kept her on the charts for much of 1992, holding fans over until she released her album Music Box in 1993.
• Carey's record company, Columbia, had no plans to release this as a single, figuring most fans would buy the album of her full set, but overwhelming demand prompted its May 28, 1992 release just eight days after the show aired.
• "I'll Be There" was the eighth song to hit #1 on the Hot 100 for two different artists, and the first with a female singer covering an original with a male lead vocal. The first seven were:
  
  "Go Away Little Girl" - Steve Lawrence (1962), Donny Osmond (1971)
  "The Loco-Motion" - Little Eva (1962), Grand Funk (1974)
  "Please Mr. Postman" The Marvelettes (1961), The Carpenters (1975)
  "Venus" - The Shocking Blue (1969), Bananarama (1986)
  "Lean On Me" - Bill Withers (1972), Club Nouveau (1987)
  "You Keep Me Hangin' On" - The Supremes (1966), Kim Wilde (1987)
  "When A Man Loves A Woman" - Percy Sledge (1966), Michael Bolton (1991)
• Carey and Lorenz sang this at Michael Jackson's memorial service in 2009.