Long Island’s Mariah Carey wows fans in West Babylon at Looney Tunes

The sun went down Tuesday evening and the wait for fans stretched an hour past Mariah Carey’s advertised 6 p.m. arrival but the excitement outside Looney Tunes Record Store in West Babylon never faltered.

“We expect fashionably late,” said Carlos Moreno, 35, who flew from his Los Angeles home to New York to catch Carey first signing for her new record on Saturday in Manhattan before hitting then at Looney Tunes on Tuesday.

“If Mariah’s not late,” Moreno said, “you’re not getting the Mariah experience.”

Carey’s flock started lining up outside Looney Tunes about 3 p.m. All 650 fans allowed entry to the limited-capacity event purchased a CD copy of the Huntington-native’s latest album, “Here For It All,” which dropped on Friday. The West Babylon record store announced Monday Carey would appear in-person to sign CDs and within “five minutes” the 650 tickets had been sold, Looney Tunes owner Karl Groeger Jr. told Newsday. His shop regularly hosts icons for autograph or photo opportunities, most recently Cardi B.

“It’s a little special when it’s … a Long Island icon,” Groeger said. “I’ve tried to get [Carey] for 30 years.”

“Here For It All” marks Carey’s first full-length release since she opened up in her 2020 memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey.” While fans outside the record shop said the “diva” has always been transparent in her lyrics, the book added more depth to their connection to the singer.

“I wasn’t totally surprised at all the things that had happened,” Kimberly Smalley, 44, of Brooklyn, said of the childhood trauma Carey details in her autobiography. “But it was sad to read what she went through growing up … It’s terrible that she never had family that she felt she could count on.”

In her book, Carey also outlined her experiences with racism and a childhood spent on the move, according to a Newsday story when she released her memoir.

“All her music has always spoken to me because I know she’s always felt like an outsider on some level and so have I,” Smalley added. “It draws me in and she like me feel like she really understands how I feel.”

Several Long Islanders outside Looney Tunes Tuesday pointed to “Nothing Is Impossible,” a vulnerable ballad track, as their favorite off Carey’s new release. One fan, Destiny Holliday, cited “Confetti & Champagne” as the album’s standout track, a midtempo celebration of Carey herself, a theme fans hear in other tracks throughout the release.

“She’s been through a lot and she’s a staple of the community,” Holliday, 32, of Huntington, said. “Mariah Carey inspires me so much. I can go as high as I want to. There’s no limits.”