Mariah Carey

**Mariah Carey** (born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, philanthropist, author and businesswoman. She is best known for the songs “Hero”, “Vision of Love”, “Fantasy”, "We Belong Together", “My All”  and "All I Want for Christmas Is You".

She is recognized as the **Queen of Christmas** and **Songbird Supreme** by the Guinness World Records with her five-octave soprano voice, melismatic singing style and her signature use of the whistle register. She has sold over 200 million copies worldwide and is one of the best-selling artists of all time. She has sold over 71 million albums in the US alone, the most US albums sold for a female artist.

## Early life

Mariah Carey was born on March 27, 1969, in Huntington, New York, the daughter of Alfred Roy Carey, an aeronautical engineer of African American and Afro-Venezuelan ancestry and Patricia Hickey, an opera singer and a freelance vocal coach of Irish ancestry. She is the youngest of three children and her siblings are Morgan (born 1960) and Alison (born 1962). Her parents divorced when she was three years old. She practiced playing piano when she was a little girl.

## Music career

In December 1988, Carey started making her first album.

She released her self-titled debut studio album in 1990. It was released from Columbia Records. The album was certified multi-platinum by the RIAA. Four singles from the album all reached number one on the US _Billboard_ Hot 100 chart ("Vision of Love", "Love Takes Time", "Someday", and "I Don't Wanna Cry"). It reached number one on the US _Billboard_ 200. It was certified 9× platinum. This means that 9 million copies of the album were shipped in the US. Carey married Tommy Mottola, the head of Sony Music, in 1993. Mottola was the executive producer for Carey. Many critics believed that this helped Carey's musical career.

In 1991, her second album _Emotions_ reached number four on the _Billboard_ 200. It was certified 4× platinum and sold less than her previous album. Her songs "Emotions" (#1), "Can't Let Go" (#2), and "Make It Happen" (#5) were released as singles from the album. Carey released her first EP _MTV Unplugged_ (1992). It reached number three on the _Billboard_ 200. The songs "I'll Be There" (#1) and "If It's Over" were released as singles from the album. Carey's third album _Music Box_ (1993) reached number one on the _Billboard_ 200. As of 2012, the album has sold 10,000,000 copies in the US, according to Nielsen Soundcan, and was certified Diamond because of this. Worldwide, it sold 32 million copies and became one of the best-selling albums of all time. "Dreamlover" (#1), "Hero" (#1), "Without You" (#3), "Never Forget You" (#3), and "Anytime You Need a Friend" (#12) helped Carey to become more popular.

Her fourth studio album and first holiday album, _Merry Christmas_ (1994), reached number three on the _Billboard_ 200 chart. Two singles were released: "All I Want for Christmas Is You" and "Joy to the World". Carey's fifth album _Daydream_ became her third number-one album in the US. It was given a diamond award from the RIAA. This means that 10 million copies of the album were shipped in the US. There were six singles for the album. They include "Fantasy" (#1), "One Sweet Day" (#1), "Open Arms", "Always Be My Baby" (#1), "Forever" (#9) and "Underneath the Stars". On September 16, 1997, Carey released her sixth album _Butterfly_. The album reached number one on the _Billboard_ 200 chart. The album released five singles. They include "Honey" (#1), "Butterfly" (#16), "The Roof (Back in Time)", "Breakdown" (#53) and "My All" (#1).

On November 2, 1999, her seventh album _Rainbow_ was released. After selling 323,000 copies the first week, it debuted at number two on the _Billboard_ 200 chart. It featured her fifteenth number-one US single, "Thank God I Found You" (with R&B singer Joe and boy band 98°), along with a cover of singer Phil Collins' song "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)". The cover reached number one in the UK.

Carey starred in the movie _Glitter_ in 2001. It did not do so well and grossed $5,271,666 out of a $20,000,000 budget. It was released on the day of the September 11 attacks. It was nominated for several "worst movie" categories. The soundtrack did better than the movie. The single "Loverboy" reached number two on the _Billboard_ Hot 100.

In 2002, her album _Charmbracelet_ was released. Her 2005 album, _The Emancipation of Mimi_, became one of her most successful albums. Many music critics believed it was her "comeback album". It contained her sixteenth and seventeenth US number-one hits, "We Belong Together" and "Don't Forget About Us". "We Belong Together" was the number-one song of 2005 and of the 2000s decade in the US. Her following album, _E=MC²_ (2008), featured her eighteenth number-one song, "Touch My Body". With this, Carey holds the most US number-ones for a solo artist in history. However, this album, along with its followups _Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel_ (2009) and _Merry Christmas II You_ (2010), did not sell well. She played the role of a social worker, Ms. Weiss, in the 2009 movie _Precious_.

In 2013, she was a judge on the competition series _American Idol_. Carey's fourteenth album, _Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse_, was released in 2014 and reached number three on the _Billboard_ 200. The song "#Beautiful", featuring R&B singer Miguel, was released in May 2013 as the first single from the album. It reached the top fifteen in the US and was certified platinum. The next single, "The Art of Letting Go", was released on November 11, 2013. "You're Mine (Eternal)" was released in time for Valentine's Day in 2014 as the third single from the album.

Carey released a greatest hits collection, _#1 to Infinity_, in 2015. It features all eighteen of her US number-one songs along with a new song, "Infinity". She performed a Las Vegas residency show at Caesars Palace called _Mariah Carey #1 to Infinity_ and completed her Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour across Europe.

She performed at the New Year's Eve countdown show, _Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest_, on December 31, 2016. This performance was not received well by viewers. Her in-ear monitors were not working, which led her to walk around the stage and eventually lip-sync "We Belong Together".

On February 3, 2017, she released a new single, "I Don't", featuring rapper YG. Footage was shown of Carey recording the song on her docuseries, _Mariah's World_. In October 2017, a new song, "The Star", was released for the soundtrack of a film of the same name.

During Christmas 2017, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" reached a new high of #9 on the _Billboard_ Hot 100. Carey again performed at _Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest_ on New Year's Eve 2017. This performance was much more acclaimed than the one of the previous year. The song finally reached number one for the week ending December 19, 2019. It became Carey's nineteenth US number-one, continuing her record of the most number-ones in the US by a soloist.

Carey revealed that she had joined rapper Jay-Z's company, Roc Nation, for management.

In 2020, Carey announced that she would be releasing an autobiography, _The Meaning of Mariah Carey_, on September 29, 2020. She is also releasing a compilation album, _The Rarities_, on October 2, 2020.

## Artistry

Carey possesses a five-octave coloratura soprano vocal range.

She lists Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Luther Vandross, Michael Jackson, Deniece Williams, Minnie Riperton, Diana Ross, Natalie Cole, Whitney Houston, Donna Summer, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan Al Green, George Michael, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and her own mother, Patricia Carey as her musical influences.

She cited Minnie Riperton as one of her musical influences for the use of a whistle register.

## Personal life

During the release of _Glitter_, Carey suffered a breakdown and was put in the hospital for exhaustion.

Carey married Nick Cannon on April 30, 2008. On their 3rd wedding anniversary, she gave birth to her fraternal twins, a boy, Moroccan and a girl, Monroe. Cannon announced his separation from Carey in 2014. He filed for divorce the same year of their separation and it was finalized in 2016.

Carey became engaged to Australian billionaire James Packer in 2016. However, Carey's E! docuseries, _Mariah's World_, showed their breakup while she was on the Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour.

She dated her backup dancer, Bryan Tanaka, on and off from November 2016 until April 2017 before resuming their relationship later in 2017. He later became Carey's creative director. Tanaka announced their separation on social media in December 2023.

In November 2017, Carey was accused of sexual harassment by a former security official, Michael Anello. On April 18, 2018, Carey was accused of sexual harassment by a former manager Stella Stolper. Carey denies the allegations.

## Movies

|scope="col"|Year|scope="col"|Title|scope="col"|Role|scope="col" class="unsortable"|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1999||||||||
|Ilana||||||||
|2001||||||||
|Billie Frank|2001 Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress|||||||
|2002||||||||
|Raychel||||||||
|2003||||||||
|Herself|Cameo appearance|||||||
|2005||||||||
|Dame's Wifey||||||||
|2008||||||||
|Herself|Cameo appearance|||||||
|2009||||||||
|Krystal||||||||
|2009||||||||
|Mrs. Weiss|Palm Springs International Film Festival Breakthrough Performance Award Capri Hollywood International Film Festival Award for Supporting Actress of the Year Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Ensemble Cast Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated – Critics' Choice Awards for Best Acting Ensemble|||||||
|2017||||||||
|Mayor of Gotham City|Voice; post-production|||||||

|Year|Title|Role|class="unsortable"|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|2002|||||
|Candy Cushnip|"Playing with Matches" (Season 5, episode 8)||||
|2003|||||
|Herself|Voice role||||

### Albums

- _Mariah Carey_ (1990)
- _Emotions_ (1991)
- _Music Box_ (1993)
- _Merry Christmas_ (1994)
- _Daydream_ (1995)
- _Butterfly_ (1997)

- _Rainbow_ (1999)
- _Glitter_ (2001)
- _Charmbracelet_ (2002)
- _The Emancipation of Mimi_ (2005)
- _E=MC²_ (2008)
- _Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel_ (2009)
- _Merry Christmas II You_ (2010)
- _Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse_ (2014)
- _Caution_ (2018)

### Singles

|rowspan="2"|Year|rowspan="2"|Single|colspan="4"|Highest chart positions|Album|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="2"|1990|"Vision of Love"|||||rowspan="4"|_Mariah Carey_|||||
|"Love Takes Time"|||||||||||||
|rowspan="5"|1991|"Someday"|||||||||||
|"I Don't Wanna Cry"|||||||||||||
|"Emotions"|||||rowspan="3"|_Emotions_|||||||
|"Can't Let Go"|||||||||||||
|"Make It Happen"|||||||||||||
|1992|"I'll Be There"|||||_MTV Unplugged_|||||||
|rowspan="3"|1993|"Dreamlover"|||||rowspan="3"|_Music Box_|||||
|"Hero"|||||||||||||
|"Without You"|||||||||||||
||"Never Forget You"||||||||||||
|2026|_What's One" (featuring Kim Petras)||||||||||||

## Sources

- Hardy, Phil. _The Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music: Fully Revised Third Edition_ (2001). pg. 156–157. UK: Faber and Faber Limited. .
- Mulholland, Garry. _The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music_ (2003). pg. 57. UK: Flame Tree Publishing. .
- _Fred Bronson's Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, 5th Edition_ ()
- _Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Sixties_ ()
- _Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Nineties_ ()
- Additional information concerning Carey's chart history can be retrieved and verified in _Billboard's'' online archive services and print editions of the magazine.

## Infobox (musical artist)

- **embed**: yes
- **years active**: 1988–present
- **instruments**: Vocals


## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Mariah Carey
- **image**: MariahRAH270519-9 (49621367861) (cropped).jpg
- **caption**: Carey performing in her Caution World Tour at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, Netherlands, May 2019
- **birth place**: Huntington, New York, US
- **spouse**: Tommy Mottola ( 1993–1997)
Nick Cannon ( 2008–2016)
- **children**: 2