The best-selling female artist of all time - whose seventeen #1 singles rival all
but Elvis Presley and The Beatles - Mariah Carey has made an indelible impact on
the global music industry and audiences everywhere. Blessed with a stunning five-octave
range and signature vocal abilities, the singularly talented superstar continues to reach
new heights of artistic growth and popularity. As a singer and songwriter, she has
been recognized with five Grammy Awards, nine American Music Awards, Billboard's
"Artist of the Decade" Award and the World Music Award for "World's Best Selling
Female Artist of the Millennium," to name but a few honors.
Carey's most recent album is also her most intimate, a frank portrayal of both the
challenges and successes experienced throughout her rise to fame. Released in
April 2005, The Emancipation of Mimi (Island Def Jam) strongly resonated with
audiences, becoming that year's best-selling album in the U.S. and selling more
than eight million units worldwide to date. While capturing three Grammys for
Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B
Song, Carey broke milestones with the album's three singles. "We Belong
Together" (which spent an astonishing fourteen weeks at #1) and "Shake It
Off" made her the only female artist ever to occupy the Billboard Hot 100's #1
and #2 spots in the same week. Her subsequent stand-alone single "Don't Forget
About Us" became the biggest American radio hit of the year.
With a mother who shared both talent and a love of music, Mariah Carey was named
after "They Call the Wind Mariah," a song from the popular Lerner and Loewe
musical Paint Your Wagon. She began singing at the age of four, and her
extraordinary and innate talent quickly progressed. As a young teenager she
began honing her songwriting skills; upon high school graduation, Carey headed
straight to New York to pursue a musical career. A luminous talent, her vocals
were immediately in demand. Her major break came while singing backup for
Brenda K. Starr, who gave her demo tape to then-Sony Music Entertainment Chief
Tommy Mottola. Soon after, Mottola signed Carey to her first recording contract
with Columbia Records.
With an angelic allure and a vocal intensity never heard before, Mariah Carey
exploded upon the scene with the debut of her self-titled album in 1990. Mariah
Carey was an immense hit, spawning an extraordinary four #1 singles: "Vision of
Love," "Love Takes Time," "Someday" and "I Don't Wanna Cry." It also brought two
Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance ("Vision
of Love"). Carey continued her early success with a series of singles from her
subsequent Emotions (1991) and MTV Unplugged (1992) albums that consistently
placed her at the top of the charts.
With the 1993 release of Music Box, which included the chart-topping hit singles
"Dreamlover" and "Hero," Mariah Carey produced her most commercially successful
album to date, selling an astounding 30 million units. She hit a new milestone
with a holiday album, Merry Christmas (1994), which contained the instant classic
"All I Want for Christmas is You." The next year, with the release of Daydream
(1995), its single "Fantasy" debuted at #1, making Mariah Carey the second
artist in history and the first female performer to accomplish that feat.
The album's other single, "One Sweet Day," recorded with Boyz II Men, stayed
at the top of the charts for a mind-blowing sixteen weeks. She followed with
the hip-hop and R&B-infused Butterfly, which introduced a new chapter in her
career, teaming her with the hottest names in the music business including Sean
Combs and Missy Elliott.
In 1998, eight years after her debut, Carey released #1's, a compilation of her
chart-topping hits. The album also included a new song, "When You Believe" (from
the film The Prince of Egypt), a duet with Whitney Houston that paired two of
the most successful female recording artists in pop history. Rainbow followed in
1999 with startling success. With the album's first single, the popular
"Heartbeaker," Carey became "the first artist to top the charts in each year of
the 1990s; the record also pushed her ahead of The Beatles as the artist with
the most cumulative weeks spent atop the Hot 100 singles chart," as affirmed
by AllMusic.com. Mariah Carey subsequently sparked the interest of Universal
Music Group's Island Def Jam Records, which signed her to an exclusive recording
contract in May 2002. Later that year she made her label debut with the
release of the multi-platinum Charmbracelet.
Evoking a nickname used by those closest to her, The Emancipation of Mimi marked
Mariah Carey's tenth studio album with its release in April 2005. Entirely written
and co-produced by Carey, and executive produced by Island Def Jam Music Group
Chairman Antonio Reid, Mimi revealed an evolved musical sensibility in its tracks
and a sophisticated new look on its cover. The album earned three Grammys from
eight nominations across multiple categories, following a string of wins at the
Vibe Awards, the American Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards.
Apart from her musical achievements, Mariah Carey has generously donated her
time and energy to a range of philanthropic causes near to her heart. They
include Save the Music, The National Adoption Center and The Make-A-Wish
Foundation, which recently bestowed its 2006 Wish Icon Award upon her, permanently
rechristening it the Mariah Carey Wish Icon Award. Her active involvement with
the Fresh Air Fund resulted in Camp Mariah, the Fund's first camp named in
honor of an individual. Through this prism, Mariah Carey's legacy transcends
the music industry to leave an indelible imprint upon the world at large.
Taken from MariahCarey.com