Mariah Carey (album)

## Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released on November 6, 1989 by Columbia Records. Its music incorporates a range of contemporary genres with a mix of slow ballads and up-tempo tracks. Originally, Carey wrote four songs with Ben Margulies, which solely constituted her demo tape. After Carey was signed to Columbia, all four songs, after being altered and partially re-recorded, made the final cut for the album. Aside from Margulies, Carey worked with a range of professional writers and producers, all of whom were hired by Columbia CEO, Tommy Mottola. Mariah Carey featured production and writing from Rhett Lawrence, Ric Wake and Narada Michael Walden, all of whom were top record producers at the time. Together with Carey, they conceived the album and reconstructed her original demo tape.

Mariah Carey generally received positive reviews, with critics praising Carey's vocal performance and technique, but were ambivalent towards the songwriting. It became a commercial success, topping the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart for 3 non consecutive weeks. Mariah Carey was certified **Diamond** by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of ten million copies in the United States.

Five singles were released from the album, and ALL of them became number-one hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, making Mariah the first female artist to have five number one hits from the same album. In 1991, she was awarded at the Billboard Music Awards with the Billboard Spotlight Award.

## Background

In 1988, an 18-year-old Carey moved out of her mother's house in Long Island, and into a small apartment in Manhattan. She had a demo tape consisting of four songs, which she had written during her high school years with Ben Margulies. As 1988 unfolded, Carey, still without a record deal, struggled to draw the attention of record executives in New York. While working several jobs, she continued writing and producing music with Margulies, making changes and additions to the demo. After months of difficulty, Carey met with singer Brenda K. Starr, and soon began singing back-up for her. Eventually, Starr began hearing what she described as "glimpses" of Carey's voice throughout sessions, and noticed her "gifted voice". She realized Carey was capable of achieving success, but only needed help to break through into mainstream music.

One night, Starr took Carey to a record industry gala, attempting to convince a record label executive to listen her demo. Jerry L. Greenberg, president of Atlantic Records took notice of her. As Carey handed him the record, Tommy Mottola quickly grabbed the tape, insisting that he would deal with "the project". As Mottola got into his limousine later that evening, he played Carey's demo and quickly realized the talent that he had just discovered. He quickly returned to the event, but a discouraged Carey had already left.

After a week of tracking her down through Starr's management, Mottola got in touch with Carey and brought her over to Columbia Records. After meeting with Carey and her mother Patricia for the first time, Mottola said, "When I heard and saw Mariah, there was absolutely no doubt that she was in every way destined for super-stardom." After a few brief meetings, Carey was signed to Columbia in December 1988.

Mottola had assumed the top position at Sony, the parent label of Columbia, and began taking the company through various stages of change. One he felt was very important for the label's success was to discover a young and very talented female vocalist, to rival Whitney Houston from Arista Records, or a pop star to match Madonna, who was signed to Sire Records at the time. He felt that Carey represented both. Mottola's confidence in Carey led him to hire a range of talented and well-known musicians and songwriters to assist with Carey's demo, as well as to create new material. Among them were Ric Wake, Narada Michael Walden and Rhett Lawrence.

## Promotion

Carey appeared on Good Morning America where she performed an a cappella version of "Vision of Love" alongside the Billy T. Scott Ensemble. "Vision of Love" was performed on various other American television shows such as Saturday Night Live, Showtime at the Apollo, The Oprah Winfrey Show and the 1991 Grammy Awards, as well as European programs such as The Veronica Countdown (the Netherlands), Le monde est la vous (France), Kulan (Sweden) and Wogan (United Kingdom)

## Legacy

Since its release, Mariah Carey has been hailed as being a pop and R&B classic, with Trevor Anderson of Billboard describing it as jumpstarting "one of the most successful stories in pop music history". Commenting on the success of the album in the "particularly saturated female pop landscape in 1990", Anderson further states that the record helped Carey carve a place as the foremost musician of her generation.

The widespread influence of Carey's vocal delivery on the album, particularly "Vision of Love", has also been noted by critics. Writing for Complex, Elena Bergeron described the record as "the album that launched a million runs", stating that it "gave an entire generation of would-be divas something to sing into their hairbrushes". R&B singer Beyoncé said that she began doing vocal "runs" after listening to "Vision of Love" for the first time, stating that it inspired her to follow a path into the music industry. Pop singer Christina Aguilera has also stated how Carey's album had the biggest influence on her vocal stylings and delivery. According to the Pier Dominguez, author of Christina Aguilera: A Star is Made, Carey's carefully choreographed image of a grown woman struck a chord with Aguilera, whose influence also stemmed from the fact that both were of mixed heritage.

## Tracklisting

1. Vision of Love
2. Prisoner
3. All In Your Mind
4. Vanishing
5. Someday
6. Sent From Up Above
7. Alone In Love
8. You Need Me
9. I Don't Wanna Cry
10. The Wind

## Accolades and Awards

##### 1990

* American Music Awards - Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist
* American Music Awards - Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist
* Kids Choice Awards - Favorite Song (Vision of Love)
* People's Choice Awards - Favorite New Artist
* People's Choice Awards - Favorite Pop Artist
* Soul Train Awards - Album of the Year, Female
* Soul Train Awards - Song of the Year, Female (Vision of Love)
* Billboard Music Awards - Top Billboard 200 Album (Mariah Carey)
* Billboard Music Awards - Top Pop Album (Mariah Carey)
* Billboard Music Awards - Top Pop Song (Vision of Love)
* Billboard Music Awards - Top R&B Album (Mariah Carey)
* Billboard Music Awards - Top Adult Contemporary Song (Vision of Love)
* Billboard Music Awards - Top Adult Contemporary Album (Mariah Carey)
* NAACP Image Awards - Outstanding Album (Mariah Carey)
* NAACP Image Awards - Outstanding Single (Vision of Love)

##### 1991

* Grammy Awards - Best New Artist
* Grammy Awards - Best R&B Female Performance (Vision of Love)
* People's Choice Awards - Favorite Single (You Need Me)
* People's Choice Awards - Favorite Pop Artist