Mariah Carey dedicates 'Hero' to first responders as she and Tyler Perry join Joel Osteen for virtual Easter Sunday service

Pastor Joel Osteen’s special Easter Sunday service — held virtually this year — included both Mariah Carey and Tyler Perry, who videoed in to share messages of hope within isolation. Perry, who has spoken before at Osteen’s church and was a minister before working in Hollywood, beamed in for the virtual church service from his home.

“This is a moment in our country and our world that’s a reset for all of us to take a minute and realize how much we take for granted. How much just going for a walk with the dog we take for granted, how much just being able to hang out with people we take for granted, how much we’ve taken for granted the time that we spend with our loved ones, how much we take for granted even going to the house of worship,” Perry said between passages quoted from The Bible.

Perry also reflected on the reset he’s seeing all around himself in this moment. “I’ve never seen other people asking people to pray this much. I’ve never seen so many people praying, calling out to God, it’s a beautiful thing in all this tragedy,” he said. “In all of this our prayer and my hope is with the first responders and everything they’re doing to keep us safe.”

The media mogul also gave viewers a message of hope, sharing what he hopes people learn through this time of isolation. “After this thing is over, and it will come to end — after this moment has passed — my hope and my prayer is that we not return to being so busy that we don’t see God. So much to do that we don’t take the time to send love to people around us, that we don’t return vitriol and mean-speak of evil of each one and everybody. That we learn to love and embrace each other.”

Carey joined later in the service to honor those on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis with an emotional home-performance of her song “Hero,” accompanied by a video montage of first responders on the job. On her YouTube page the pop star said the song was dedicated to “the first responders, the doctors, the nurses, the midwives, the domestic workers, the store clerks, the janitors, the postal workers, the pharmacists, the delivery workers and so many more!”

“Thank you so much,” she said at the end of the special performance. “Love you.”

It was originally planned for Kanye West and his choir to perform recorded songs for the event, but due to social distancing they decided against their appearance at the last minute.

The entire service, which was given twice on Sunday morning, can be viewed online:

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