mariah carey

With her unique talent and signature vocal abilities, Mariah Carey commanded the world’s attention when she made her musical debut in the early nineties. In less than a decade, Mariah Carey emerged as one of the most popular and widely acclaimed talents in music. As a singer and songwriter, Carey has been recognized with the most prestigious accolades in the industry including two Grammy Awards, eight 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 a few. As the best-selling female performer of all time, Mariah Carey has continuously raised the bar and set the standard of excellence within the music industry worldwide. Carey started singing at the tender age of four and her innate talent quickly progressed. While attending middle school, she began honing her songwriting skills and upon high school graduation she immediately left for New York City to pursue a lifetime ambition - her dream of a musical career. From the beginning, Carey’s luminous talent quickly distinguished her in New York and her vocals were in demand by a variety of artists. Her major break came while singing backup for Brenda K. Starr, who gave Mariah’s demo tape to then Sony Music Entertainment Chief Tommy Mottola. Soon afterwards, Mottola signed Mariah to her first recording contract with Columbia Records. With a fresh-face and angelic allure Mariah exploded on the scene with a signature style that displayed a vocal intensity that had never been seen before. Released in 1990, Carey’s self-titled debut was an immense hit, firmly establishing her as one of the most talented artists in the industry. The album which spawned an extraordinary four #1 singles: “Vision of Love,""Love Takes Time,""Someday," and "I Don't Wanna Cry," led to two Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Vocalist. Carey continued her success with a series of singles from Emotions and MTV Unplugged 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," Carey produced her most commercially successful album to date going an astounding ten-times platinum. Carey soon hit yet another career milestone with the release of her first holiday album Merry Christmas, which contained the instant classic "All I Want for Christmas is You." Over the next two years, Carey continued her relentless chart domination with the album Daydream (1995). Daydream’s “Fantasy” single debuted at number one, making Mariah 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 16 weeks. Carey followed with the Hip-Hop and R&B infused Butterfly which introduced a new chapter in Mariah’s career teaming her with the hottest names in the music business such as Sean Combs and Missy Elliott. A true testament to her longevity, Carey released #1’s, a compilation of her chart-topping hits in 1998. The album also included a new song, "When You Believe" (from the film “The Prince of Egypt”), a duet with Whitney Houston, pairing two of the most successful female recording artists in Pop history.Rainbow, with its chart-topping hit "Heartbreaker," followed in 1999 with startling success. Always at the top of her game, the ever-thriving Carey sparked the interest of the Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam Records who in May 2002 signed her to an exclusive recording contract. Later that year, Carey made her Island Def Jam debut with the release of the multi-platinum Charmbracelet. After more than a decade of hits that include the staggering success of 15 #1 singles, Carey released her latest self-penned album The Emancipation of Mimi, in April 2005. THE EMANCIPATION OF MIMI, Mariah's 10th studio album, is the long-awaited follow-up to 2002's RIAA platinum Charmbracelet. Heralding the new album's release, the New York Times ran unprecedented features two days in a row. In his Critic's Choice selection, Jon Pareles devoted a lengthy review to the album, summing up "Mariah... makes herself a 21st-century pop contender." "A Superstar Returns With Another New Self."