Mariah Carey feared she would be "haunting the house dead" during her marriage to Tommy Mottola.
Mariah Carey
The 'Hero' singer - who was married to the music executive from 1993 to 1997 - claims she was "not encouraged to go on tour" and instead advised to "make records" during the early part of the career, claiming her relationship with her record label boss saw her lose "control" over her own life.
She said: "I was with someone at the time that had a lot of control over my life. He was older than me by a lot and had a lot of power and they wanted me to remain away from most people, like sequestered."
"It was seriously...I had to get permission to leave."
Asked on her E! show 'Mariah's World' what it was like to be "locked in a house" like that, she admitted she felt she would be in there "haunting the house dead."
She added: "I never thought I would get out of there."
And record producer Jermaine Dupri compared the situation to that of fictional princess Rapunzel, who was kept captive in a high tower.
He said: "I've been around her when she was Rapunzel, when she was in this big ass castle."
But the 46-year-old singer eventually had the "courage to move on" and wrote her song 'Butterfly', which helped her come to terms with the damaging relationship.
Elsewhere during the show, Mariah admitted she feels "guilty" when she has to work away from her and ex-husband Nick Cannon's twins, five-year-old Moroccan and Monroe.
She admitted: "When we're away from them for this many hours it's not even that long but it still feels like forever. And I feel guilty if I'm not there. I want them to have memories that are not just lost.
"I feel guilty if they're like, 'I want you to stay with me.' I don't want to leave."
But the 'Fantasy' singer feels reassured by knowing "everything" she does is for her kids.
She added: "It's ultimately for them. Everything I'm doing is for them."
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