Hero (Mariah Carey Song) - Music Videos and Re-recordings

Music Videos and Re-recordings

Prior to the song's release towards the end of 1993, Carey performed an intimate concert at Proctor Theatre, New York on July 15, 1993. Following its taping, the concert was released as the home video titled, Here Is Mariah Carey (1993). Carey's performance of the song that night was edited and commissioned as the official music video, directed by Larry Jordan. The video was included on Carey's DVD #1's (1998). The video features her in a long dark dress, sporting long curly hair. On few international versions of the album, a Spanish version of the song was included, such as on the Mexican and Argentinian versions. It was titled "Héroe", and featured translation by Jorge Luis Piloto, a Spanish musician who had come to briefly work with Carey.

In 2001, following the September 11 Attacks, Carey re-recorded the song as a medley with Never Too Far, her single at the time. Titled "Never Too Far/Hero Medley", it was released as a charity single throughout October of that year. In an interview with MTV, Carey described the idea behind the medley:

"I started at different charity events where I did a combination of 'Never Too Far' and 'Hero'. We made it into a medley and kinda put them both in the same key and just made it work, and people responded really well to it. It's been interesting for me, since the events of September 11, the way people have been playing 'Hero' and talking to me about 'Never Too Far,' 'cause that song is also about loss. I figured that it would be a nice thing to do, to put them both out for Christmas. ... I feel like it's our responsibility to do what we can right now in terms of music, just being artists and being human beings."

In 2008, prior to the release of Carey's compilation album The Ballads, Carey recorded a version of "Hero" with new vocals, releasing it on the stateside version of the album. Additionally, a music video was filmed and released for the 2008 version, featuring behind the scenes footage of the song's recording, as well as Carey's writing music in the studio.