| Mariah
Carey, the best-selling female
performer of the 1990s, rose to
superstardom on the strength of her
stunning five-octave voice; an elastic
talent who moved easily from glossy
ballads to hip-hop-inspired dance-pop,
she earned frequent comparison to rivals
Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, but did
them both one better by composing all of
her own material. Born in Long Island,
NY, on March 27, 1970, Carey moved to
New York City at the age of 17 -- just
one day after graduating high school --
to pursue a music career; there she
befriended keyboardist Ben Margulies,
with whom she began writing songs. Her
big break came as a backing vocalist on
a studio session with dance-pop singer
Brenda K. Starr, who handed Carey's demo
tape to Columbia Records head Tommy
Mottola at a party. According to legend,
Mottola listened to the tape in his limo
while driving home that same evening,
and was so immediately struck by Carey's
talent that he doubled back to the party
to track her down.
After signing to Columbia, Carey
entered the studio to begin work on her
1990 self-titled debut LP; the heavily
promoted album was a chart-topping
smash, launching no less than four
number one singles: "Vision of Love,"
"Love Takes Time," "Someday," and "I
Don't Wanna Cry." Her overnight success
earned Grammy awards as Best New Artist
and Best Female Vocalist, and
expectations were high for Carey's
follow-up, 1991's Emotions. The album
did not disappoint, as the title track
reached number one -- a record fifth
consecutive chart-topper -- while both
"Can't Let Go" and "Make It Happen"
landed in the Top Five. Carey's next
release was 1992's MTV Unplugged EP,
which generated a number-one cover of
the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There";
featured on the track was backup singer
Trey Lorenz, whose appearance
immediately helped him land a recording
contract of his own.
In June 1993, Carey wed Mottola --
some two decades her senior -- in a
headline-grabbing ceremony; months later
she released her third full-length
effort, Music Box, her best-selling
record to date. Two more singles, "Dreamlover"
and "Hero," reached the top spot on the
charts. Carey's first tour followed and
was widely panned by critics; undaunted,
she resurfaced in 1994 with a holiday
release titled Merry Christmas, scoring
a seasonal smash with "All I Want for
Christmas Is You." 1995's Daydream
reflected a new artistic maturity; the
first single, "Fantasy," debuted at
number one, making Carey the first
female artist and just the second
performer ever to accomplish the feat.
The follow-up, "One Sweet Day" -- a
collaboration with Boyz II Men --
repeated the trick, and remained lodged
at the top of the charts for a record 16
weeks.
After separating from Mottola, Carey
returned in 1997 with Butterfly, another
staggering success and her most
hip-hop-flavored recording to date. #1's
-- a collection featuring her 13
previous chart-topping singles as well
as "The Prince of Egypt (When You
Believe)," a duet with Whitney Houston
effectively pairing the two most
successful female recording artists in
pop history -- followed late the next
year. With "Heartbreaker," the first
single from her 1999 album Rainbow,
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.
However, the 2000s weren't as kind to
Carey. After signing an 80 million
dollar deal with Virgin -- the biggest
record contract ever -- in 2001 she
experienced a very public personal and
professional meltdown that included
rambling, suicidal messages on her
website; an appearance on TRL where,
clad only in a T-shirt, she handed out
Popsicles to the audience; and last but
not least, the stupendously awful movie
Glitter and its attendant soundtrack
(which was also her Virgin Records
debut). Both the film and the album did
poorly critically as well as
commercially, with Glitter making just
under 4 million dollars in its total
U.S. gross and the soundtrack struggling
to make gold sales. Following these
failures, Virgin and Carey parted ways
early in 2002, with the label paying her
28 million dollars. That spring, she
found a new home with Island/Def Jam,
where she set up her own label, MonarC
Music. In December, she released her
ninth album, Charmbracelet. |
