Live Performances
Due to fan requests and its personal lyrical content, Carey has performed "Hero" on several occasions throughout her career. She first performed the song in July 1993 at the Proctor's Theater, later to be released as Here Is Mariah Carey. Later, she performed the song live on The Arsenio Hall Show in November 1993, appearing on stage after a short interview wearing a mid-length black gown and sporting long brown locks. She was joined by three back-up vocalists, Trey Lorenz, Cindi Mizelle and Melodie Daniels. Carey continued stateside promotion of the song with a performance on The Jay Leno Show the following week. Throughout Europe and Australasia, Carey made appearances on Sacr e Soir e in France, Platendaagse in the Netherlands, Sale El Dia in Spain, Sontagsoppet in Sweden, and Hey Hey It's Saturday in Australia. On May 19, 1996, a memorial service was held for a sheriff sergeant who was killed while on duty. A televised funeral was held outside United States Capitol building, where Carey paid homage to him through a recital of "Hero". Following the release of her sixth studio album Butterfly, Carey performed it alongside "Butterfly" on The Oprah Winfrey Show on September 22, 1997. In between both performances, Winfrey interviewed Carey over her failed marriage to Mottola, as well as the several negative rumors that followed their divorce. Two years later, she performed "Hero" together with Luciano Pavarotti in Modena, Italy during the summer of 1999. Carey appeared on stage alongside him, wearing a long pink evening gown and sporting a long straightened hairstyle. The performance was filmed and released on VHS as Pavarotti and Friends.
Carey sang "Hero" in Korea in September of that year during the Michael Jackson & friends benefit concert, which raised money for several charitable organizations. On September 21, 2001, following the September 11 attacks, Carey sang "Hero" as part of the America: A Tribute to Heroes telethon. Her appearance on the telethon was her first public appearance since her publicized breakdown and hospitalization, prior to the release of Glitter. In 2003, Carey performed a medley of songs from her album, Charmbracelet (2002), during Michael Jordan's farewell NBA game. Following the medley, she included "Hero" onto the short set-list, followed by Jordan's final game. On July 2, 2005, a benefit concert was held in Hyde Park, London titled Live 8. The televised event was watched by over 9.6 million British citizens, and held a live audience of over 200,000. Carey performed a three song set-list, opening with "We Belong Together" and "Make It Happen", and followed by "Hero", which featured a live choir of African children. During a promotional tour for her eleventh studio effort E=MC2 in 2008, the song was re-recorded by the 2008 UK X Factor finalists and released as a single. Prior to its release, Carey appeared on the program, where she performed her single at the time "I Stay in Love", followed by a duet of "Hero" in between her and the finalists. In 2009, during the inaugural ball for Barack Obama, Carey opened the televised event with a live rendition of "Hero", wearing a long black evening gown while sporting a long wavy hairstyle. On June 5, 2010, Carey performed the song alongside "We Belong Together" at the Walmart shareholders meeting. Following the performance, Carey gained heavy media coverage for her apparent weight gain, leading many to suspect her pregnancy with husband Nick Cannon.
Aside from the several live televised performances, Carey included "Hero" on the set-lists on all of her tours, usually serving as one of the closing numbers. In an interview, Carey said that although it is not one of her favorite songs, she tries to perform it on each of her shows due to its powerful message, fearing that if she doesn't, she might miss out on the opportunity to help someone. She first performed the song in concert during her stateside Music Box Tour. During the song's recital, Carey donned a black gown and matching sandals, while sporting her signature golden locks of the time. During her performances at the Tokyo Dome on her Daydream World Tour (1996), Carey performed the song as one of the closing numbers. Prior to the song, Carey introduced Afanasieff, who played the organ throughout the tour. Carey appeared on stage with a straightened hairstyle, and a long black evening gown. On her Butterfly World Tour in 1998, Carey performed "Hero" as the eighth song on the set-list. Unlike her previous tour, Afanasieff was not present, due to the pair's continued personal dispute. During the song, Carey was backed up by three vocalists, and wore a long sequined black gown. In 2000, during her Rainbow World Tour, Carey used "Hero" as the tour's closing number, leaving the stage to meet and greet fans during the song's performance. Similarly, "Hero" served as the closing number on her Charmbracelet World Tour (2002–03), where she wore a long beige gown and feathered frock tail. In 2006, during The Adventures of Mimi Tour, Carey performed "Hero" as the penultimate song on the set-list. She wore a blue floor-length mid-bearing gown, and received vocal back up from four background singers. Following the release of her twelfth studio effort, Carey embarked on the Angels Advocate Tour. After performing the regular set-list, Carey exited the arena, only to make one re-entry for "Hero" as the encore performance.
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