Claim: Mariah Carey signed contracts with two different record companies.

Mariah Carey -LRB- born March 27 , 1969 or 1970 -RRB- is an American singer , songwriter , record producer , and actress . In 1990 , she rose to fame with the release of `` Vision of Love '' from her eponymous debut album . The album produced four chart-topping singles in the US and began what would become a string of commercially successful albums which solidified the singer as Columbias highest selling act . Carey and Boyz II Men spent a record sixteen weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in 1995 -- 96 with `` One Sweet Day , '' which remains the longest-running number-one song in US chart history . Following a contentious divorce from Sony Music head Tommy Mottola , Carey adopted a new image and traversed towards hip hop with the release of Butterfly -LRB- 1997 -RRB- . In 1998 , she was honored as the world 's best-selling recording artist of the 1990s at the World Music Awards and subsequently named the best-selling female artist of the millennium in 2000 .   Carey parted with Columbia in 2000 , and signed a record-breaking $ 100 million recording contract with Virgin Records America . In the weeks prior to the release of her film Glitter and its accompanying soundtrack in 2001 , she suffered a physical and emotional breakdown and was hospitalized for severe exhaustion . The project was poorly received and led to a general decline in the singer 's career . Carey 's recording contract was bought out for $ 50 million by Virgin and she signed a multi-million dollar deal with Island Records the following year . After a relatively unsuccessful period , she returned to the top of music charts with The Emancipation of Mimi -LRB- 2005 -RRB- . The album became the best-selling album in the US and the second best-seller worldwide in 2005 and produced `` We Belong Together , '' which became her most successful single of the 2000s , and was later named `` Song of the Decade '' by Billboard . Carey once again ventured into film with a well-received supporting role in Precious -LRB- 2009 -RRB- , and was awarded the `` Breakthrough Performance Award '' at the Palm Springs International Film Festival .   Throughout her career , Carey has sold more than 200 million records worldwide , making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time . According to the RIAA , she is the third-best-selling female artist in the United States , with 63.5 million certified albums . With the release of `` Touch My Body '' -LRB- 2008 -RRB- , Carey gained her 18th number-one single in the United States , more than any other solo artist . In 2012 , the singer was ranked second on VH1 's list of the `` 100 Greatest Women in Music . '' Aside from her commercial accomplishments , Carey has won 5 Grammy Awards , 19 World Music Awards , 11 American Music Awards , and 14 Billboard Music Awards and has been consistently credited with inspiring a generation of singers . Referred to as the `` songbird supreme '' by the Guinness World Records , she has a five-octave vocal range , power , melismatic style and signature use of the whistle register .