Mariah Carey

Mariah Angela Carey (born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, philanthropist, author and businesswoman. She is recognized as the Queen of Christmas and Songbird Supreme by the Guinness World Records with her five-octave coloratura 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.
Early life
Mariah Angela Carey was born on March 27, 1969, in Huntington, New York, the daughter of an African American and Afro-Venezuelan father and an Irish mother. She is the youngest of three children. 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 young 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 9x 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 4x 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 98deg), 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 and a whistle register.
She lists Aretha Franklin, Minnie Riperton, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan Al Green, Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight as her musical influences.
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.
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
Discography
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
Notes
References
Books
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.
Other websites
1969 births
People from New York (state)
Living people
Actors from New York (state)
African American actors
African-American singers
Philanthropists from New York (state)
Grammy Award winners
American singer-songwriters
American contemporary R&B singers
American R&B singers
American pop musicians
American pop singers
American hip hop singers
American soul musicians
American dance musicians
Singers from New York (state)