Mariah Carey - singing diva to author

Mariah Carey is writing her autobiography.

The 48-year-old singer stunned fans at her concert in New York City on Monday (March 25) when she revealed she'll be putting pen to paper to share her life story.

After singing 'Fantasy', Mariah asked the audience if they knew she'd once attended beauty school, and while some cheered, others were left baffled.

She then said: "Well, my book's coming out, you can read all about it!"

The 'We Belong Together' hitmaker - who has twins Moroccan and Monroe, seven, with ex-husband Nick Cannon - previously claimed in November she was writing a tome.

The 'Butterfly' hitmaker was asked on 'Watch What Happens Live' about performing with the late Aretha Franklin on the VH1 'Divas Live' show in 1998 but claimed she didn't want to spoil the story.

She said: "I don't want to tell the whole story, because I'm working on my memoirs."

However, Mariah did admit that she felt "very intimidated" by the Queen of Soul.

She said: "That was the only time we performed together, for that event. We saw each other many times, we spoke with each other a lot of times.

"I was very intimidated and I didn't want to perform with her ... that's the Queen of Soul! Patti LaBelle actually told me, 'You did the right thing. If you would have participated in that situation I woulda had to ...'"

Meanwhile, the 'Touch My Body' singer admitted ahead of the tour she was looking forward to getting "intimate and close" with her fans.

She said: "I'm going to be touring again and it's going to be more intimate and close with the fans this time. I'm looking forward to it. I really am.

"I get to do the new material and hopefully some songs I haven't done in a while - maybe some of the 'Glitter' songs for the nostalgia.

"I want to put together a tour that the fans will feel is a new moment - as well as a chance to hear some of their favourite Mariah songs."