 
Mariah Carey was born on March 27, 1970, in New York.
Mariah translates as the "the wind" in
Native American language. Mariah's beauty is a
product of her heritage of an African-Venezuelan
father and American-Irish mother. Mariah's pop
success has both resulted in admiration and disdain.
Although the pop world continues to admonish her
music, many critics and music lovers find her music
uncreative and simple. Mariah's image and personality
has also been critiqued as aloof. With a talent for
pop ballads and a multi-octave voice range, Mariah
has dominated the pop charts for much of the 90s.
Mariah began singing from the age of 2 and began
voice lessons by age 4. Faced with the insecurities
of racial intolerance, and a broken marriage
(Mariah's parents divorced and she was raised by her
mother), Mariah turned to her singing for happiness.
In 1994, Mariah reflected: "I guess when you're
part Irish and part Venezuelan, you're not completely
connected to any one thing, you grow up like that in
a suburban neighborhood with rich kids, you're not
popular because you're different. And I never had any
financial security. I dreamed of possessing things.
Lucky for me I had my music to hold on to as a goal.
It was like, these people may not think I'm as good
as them, but I can sing!" Mariah credits her
early influences as Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday,
Sarah Vaughan, and Gladys Knight. She credits these influences
for her R&B sound, although many would disagree
that her sound is more R&B than pop. Her talent
for singing and confidence for super-stardom
eventually combined for Mariah barely out of her
teenage years.
Just after graduating from high school, Mariah moved
to New York City to pursue a singing career. She
worked odd jobs as a coat check girl and waitress,
went to beauty school, and worked on demos and
focused on getting a record deal. Mariah eventually
landed a job as backup singer to Brenda K.
Starr. "I really didn't want to do it,
but then I thought, 'Well, it's got be better than
doing what I'm doing now!'"
At a party with Starr, Mariah gave her demo tape to a
record company head that made it to the president of
Columbia Records, Tommy Mottola. The demo contained
the tracks "Someday," "Prisoner," "All
Alone In Love," All In Your Mind," and the
unreleased, "Do You Ever Wonder." After
listening to 2 songs, Mottola found what he was
looking for - the next Whitney
Houston. Within a month, Mariah singed with
Columbia Records.
 # 9
Singles Artist of the Year
Mariah released her debut LP, Mariah
Carey.
Mariah was introduced to a larger audience when she
sang on The Arsenio Hall Show.
Mariah started her winning music streak with 4
consecutive #1 hits including, "Vision Of Love," "Love Takes Time," "Someday," and "I Don't Wanna Cry." Mariah describes her
first hit "Vision Of Love" as "a celebration of how I
was feeling at the time. It's not just a love song,
it's about feeling good, and I was at a very big
turning point in my life at the time, so it's about
everything that was going on." For Mariah's
debut, the record company brought in many top notch
producers for the tracks which Mariah stated
"took away some of my identity."
Mariah hit the Top 10 with "Vision Of Love."
Mariah
Carey was
certified platinum.
The single "Vision Of Love" hit #1 for 3 weeks and was certified gold.
Mariah hit the Top 40 with "Love Takes Time."
Mariah
Carey was
certified 2x platinum.
Mariah hit the Top 10 with "Love Takes Time."
Mariah hit #1 for 2 weeks with "Love Takes Time."
The single "Love Takes Time" was certified gold.
 # 1
Singles Artist of the Year (# 1 Female
Artist of the Year)
 Mariah
Carey was
certified 3x platinum.
Mariah hit the Top 40 with "Someday."
Mariah was nominated for 3 American Music Awards for Favorite
Pop/Rock Female Artist, Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist, and Favorite
Soul/R&B Female Artist.
Mariah won 2 Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female ("Vision Of Love"). Mariah was also nominated for Album of the Year (Mariah
Carey), Record of the Year and Song
of the Year
(songwriter) ("Vision Of Love").
Mariah hit the Top 10 with "Someday."
Mariah
Carey was
certified 4x platinum and the single "Someday" was certified gold.
Mariah hit #1 for 2 weeks with "Someday."
Mariah won 3 Soul Train Music Awards for Best New
R&B/Urban Contemporary Artist, Best R&B/Urban
Contemporary Single, Female, and Best R&B/Urban
Contemporary Album, Female.
Mariah
Carey was
certified 5x platinum.
Mariah hit the Top 40 with "I Don't Wanna Cry."
Mariah hit the Top 10 and #1 for 2 weeks with "I Don't Wanna Cry."
Mariah hit the Top 40 with "Emotions."
With her much anticipated second LP, Mariah felt more
confidence because she had more control over what she
did. Emotions was released and gave Mariah 2
more #1 hits, "Emotions" and "Can't Let Go," and the Top 10, "Make It Happen."
Mariah hit the Top 10 with "Emotions."
Mariah
Carey was
certified 6x platinum.
Mariah hit #1 for 2 weeks with "Emotions."
 Emotions was certified 2x platinum.
Mariah hit the Top 40 with "Can't Let Go."
Mariah hit the Top 10 with "Can't Let Go."
 # 5
Singles Artist of the Year (# 1 Female
Artist of the Year)
Mariah won an American Music Award for Favorite
Soul/R&B Female Artist and was nominated for Favorite
Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Dance Single ("Someday").
Mariah hit #1 for 2 weeks with "Can't Let Go."
Mariah topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary
Singles chart for 3 weeks with "Can't Let Go."
Mariah was nominated for 2 Grammy Awards for Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female ("Emotions") and Producer of the Year (with
Walter Afanasieff).
Emotions was certified 3x platinum.
Mariah hit the Top 40 with "Make It Happen."
Mariah hit the Top 10 with "Make It Happen."
Mariah hit the Top 40 with the remake of "I'll Be There."
Mariah hit the Top 10 and then #1 for 4 weeks with the remake of "I'll Be There."
Mariah released MTV
Unplugged
- the music was recorded live at Kaufman Astoria
Studios in New York for the MTV series.
Mariah topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 2 weeks and
the Top 40 Radio Monitor chart for 8 weeks with
"I'll Be There."
MTV
Unplugged
was certified platinum.
Mariah topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart
for 2 weeks with "I'll Be There."
 # 6
Singles Artist of the Year
Mariah won 2 American Music Awards for Favorite
Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Adult Contemporary
Album (Unplugged) and was nominated for Favorite
Pop/Rock Single
("I'll Be There"), Favorite
Soul/R&B Female Artist, Favorite Soul/R&B Album, and Favorite
Adult Contemporary Artist.
Mariah was nominated for 2 Grammy Awards for Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female (MTV
Unplugged)
and Best R&B Vocal Performance
by a Duo or Group ("I'll Be There" with Trey Lorenz).
MTV
Unplugged
was certified 2x platinum.
Mariah (at 23) married Tommy Mottola (43) in an
elaborate, half-a-million dollar wedding ceremony.
Mariah stated: "He's a very cool person. We're
beyond thinking about age. I mean, occasionally he'll
know a song that I've never heard of, or I'll know
songs that I'm like, oh, this reminds me of seventh
grade, and it was, like, not that long ago. I don't
think of Tommy as an older person. I think of him as
a very special person. Everybody who knows us realize
that we're right for each other."
Mariah continued her winning streak with the release
of Music
Box.
Again, Mariah ruled at the top of the charts with the
#1 hits "Dreamlover," "Hero," and "Without You," and the Top 10 "Anytime You Need A Friend." The LP became her
biggest seller with over 10 million copies sold in
the U.S. Mariah also began a six-city U.S. tour by
the end of the year - her first tour experience.
Mariah's need for perfection and increasing
nervousness had her focusing more on hitting the high
notes than entertaining the audience - the result
were many unkind words by critics. "That was so
intense, And then they killed me. Not the audience -
they knew it was my first show, they were very
supportive. I got really bad reviews, though. Well,
there were a lot of critics out to get me: this
girl's sold all these albums, she's never toured,
let's get her. So they did."
Mariah hit the Top 40 and Top 10 with "Dreamlover."
Mariah topped the Billboard Top 40 Radio Monitor
chart for 11 weeks for with "Dreamlover."
Mariah hit #1 for 8 weeks with "Dreamlover."
Mariah topped the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart for
8 weeks with "Dreamlover."
Emotions was certified 4x platinum and
the single "Dreamlover" was certified platinum.
Music
Box
topped the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart for 2
weeks.
Music
Box
topped the UK Albums chart.
 Music
Box was
certified 2x platinum.
Mariah hit the Top 40 with "Hero."
Mariah topped the Billboard Hot Dance Music Club Play
chart for a week with "Dreamlover."
Mariah hit the Top 10 with "Hero."
Mariah hit #1 for 5 weeks with "Hero."
Mariah topped the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart for
4 weeks and the Top 40 Radio Monitor chart for 10
weeks with "Hero."
Music
Box was
certified 4x platinum.
Music
Box
topped the Billboard Pop Albums chart for 8 weeks.
Mariah topped the Billboard Year-End Charts with the Top Hot 100 Airplay
Track ("Dreamlover").
 # 2
Singles Artist of the Year
Mariah topped the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart for
10 weeks with "Hero."
Music
Box was
certified 5x platinum.
Mariah hit the Top 40 with "Without You."
Mariah was nominated for 3 American Music Awards for Favorite
Pop/Rock Female Artist, Favorite Soul/R&B Female
Artist, and Favorite
Soul/R&B Single ("Dreamlover").
Mariah topped the singles chart in the UK for 4 weeks
with "Without You."
Mariah was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female ("Dreamlover").
Music
Box was
certified 6x platinum and the single "Without You" was certified gold.
Mariah hit #1 for 4 weeks with "Without You."
Mariah hit the Top 40 with "Anytime You Need A Friend."
Music
Box was
certified 7x platinum.
Mariah hit the Top 10 with "Anytime You Need A Friend."
Mariah teamed up with Luther Vandross on the remake of "Endless Love" - the single hit the Top 10 after 2 weeks on the chart.
Mariah released a holiday LP, Merry
Christmas
which spawned the holiday track, "All I Want For Christmas Is You."
Mariah
Carey was
certified 8x platinum.
Mariah topped the Billboard Hot Dance Music Club Play
chart for a week with "Anytime You Need A Friend."
The single "Endless Love" was certified gold.
Mariah hit #1 for a week with Luther Vandross with "Endless Love."
Mariah won a MTV Europe Award for Best Female Artist.
Merry
Christmas
was certified 3x platinum and MTV
Unplugged
was certified 3x platinum.
Mariah hit the Top 40 with "All I Want For Christmas Is You."
Mariah topped the Billboard Year-End Charts as the Top Pop Artist - Female
(singles & albums), the Top Billboard 200 Album
Artist - Female, the Top Hot 100 Singles Artist -
Female, and the Top Hot Adult Contemporary Artist.
 # 14
Singles Artist of the Year
Mariah won an American Music Award for Favorite
Pop/Rock Female Artist and was nominated for Favorite
Adu
| 
