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Pop and R&B sensation Mariah Carey is undeniably one of the best female voices of our era. She is recognized for her distinguished five-octave, melismatic vocal abilities and is greatly noted for communicating genuine emotion through her songs. She has also received much acclaim as a songwriter and producer. Her record breaking success in the 1990s earned her the title as the most successful artist of that decade in the United States by Billboard magazine.

Carey was born on March 27, 1970 in Huntington, Long Island, New York. Her mother, of Irish descent, was an o Continued...

pera singer and voice coach and her father an Afro-Venezuelan engineer. Mariah, her two older siblings and parents were often victims of bi-racial prejudice, enduring racial insults, aggression and violence causing them to relocate on numerous occasions. Her parents divorced when she was thirteen leading her to turn to music for comfort. By the time Mariah was in Junior High, she was busy writing her own songs. Her childhood influences include Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, and Al Green. She began recording a demo during her final years of high school. After graduation, she moved to New York City to pursue her dream. She found work as a backup singer for Brenda K. Starr who eventually handed her demo to big time Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola. An impressed Mottola eagerly signed the singer immediately.

Her self-titled debut album was released in 1990. Mariah Carey was an instant hit occupying the number one spot on the Billboard 200 for several weeks. The album generated four number one singles, “Vision of Love”, “Love Takes Time”, “Someday”, “I Don’t Wanna Cry” and was highly acclaimed in the US. Carey earned a Grammy Award for Best New Artist and Best New Pop Vocal Performance for the hit song “Vision of Love”. Her follow-up album Emotions, an homage to Motown Music, was issued in 1991 but was denied much commercial success, however the title track “Emotions” gained a number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100. Mariah is the only recording artist to have her first five singles reach number one on the charts. In 1992, she appeared on MTV Unplugged and performed Jackson 5’s hit “I’ll Be There” along with Trey Morenz earning once again a number one song. One year later, Mariah married her record executive, Tommy Mottola.

Music Box, her fourth album, was released in August 1993 and is her most successful to date. The album maintained a presence on the Billboard Hot 200 for a staggering 128 weeks with major chart toppers “Dreamlover” and “Hero”. In 1994, she released her fist Holiday album Merry Christmas which became the most successful Christmas album of all time. Despite the negative support from Columbia, Carey persisted and introduced a hip hop influence on her 1995 album Daydream which created new opportunities for the rising star. Her slightly different style was praised by fans and critics becoming the best selling LP in the US. The single “Fantasy” debuted at number one on the charts, “One Sweet Day” featuring Boyz II Men spent a record 16 weeks at number one, and hit “Always Be My Baby” peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Carey and Mottola split in 1996 due to what she claims was a controlling relationship. Hiring a new manager and a publicist, she worked on her new album Butterfly which was released in 1997. Her new found freedom led Mariah to present a more sexual and liberated pop image. Collaborating with rappers Sean “Puffy” Combs and Missy Elliott, Mariah was confident of her stronger hip hop oriented music. Singles “Honey” and “My All” peaked at number one on the charts, in which the latter officially recognized the artist for her record breaking most US number one singles by a female. In 1998, she released #1 her first greatest hits album which included all her number one singles as well as a new song collaboration with Whitney Houston “When You Believe” from The Prince Of Egypt soundtrack.

Sticking with her new R&B/hip hop feel, Carey released Rainbow in 1999. Jay-Z, 98 degrees, Usher, Da Brat, and others made feature appearances on the album. Hits “Heartbreaker” and “Thank God I Found You” contributed to her record of number one singles. In 2000 she received the World Music Award for World's Best-Selling Female Artist of the Millennium. Later, she departed from Colombia after many years yet managed to sign an $80 million contract with EMI’s Virgin Records. However, Mariah soon suffered from an emotional breakdown following several embarrassing public appearances, suicidal messages on her website and the very poorly received semi autobiographical film Glitter and its soundtrack. The singer was shortly bought out by Virgin for 28 million. She eventually signed a $20 million contract with Island Record’s Def Jam and launched her own label MonarC.

In 2002 she released the moderately successful Charmbracelet. The album was deemed much better than Glitter, however incomparable to the hits that Mariah used to create. Carey’s incredible comeback was with her 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi. Collaborations on the successful album included Jermaine Dupri, Kanye West and The Neptunes. The memorable single “We Belong Together” seized the number one spot for 14 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. Other recognizable hits on the album “Shake It Off” and “Don’t Forget About Us” also occupied the charts. Mariah was awarded three Grammys in 2006, Best Contemporary R&B album for The Emancipation of Mimi, Best R&B Song as well as Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for “We Belong Together”.

Aside form her phenomenal recording career, Carey a philanthropist has contributed to various organizations. She co-founded Camp Mariah for the Fresh Air Fund in the early 1990s which encourages inner city children to enjoy the outdoor environment. She has also donated her time and effort to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, volunteered for the New York City Police Athletic League and contributed to the obstetrics department of the New York Presbyterian Hospital. She has also been granted a Congressional Horizon Award for her charity work with children.