Mariah Carey
Born and
raised in New York by her mother, a former opera singer with the New York City
Opera and a vocal coach, Mariah Carey began singing at age four. By the time she
was in junior high school, she had begun to write songs. After her high school
graduation, she got her first big break, singing backup for Brenda K. Starr, a
break that led to her signing with Columbia Records. Mariah's 1990 eponymous
debut album launched an unparalleled unbroken string of successes. Mariah Carey
has sold more than 12 million albums worldwide, was certified 8x RIAA-platinum,
and yielded a record-setting four consecutive #1 singles: Vision of Love, Love
Takes Time, Someday, and I Don't Wanna Cry. The title track of 1992's
quadruple-platinum Emotions generated her fifth consecutive #1 single, placing
Mariah Carey in the Top Ten All-Time achievers of Most Consecutive #1 Hits.
Emotions earned Mariah two Grammy® nominations ("Best Pop Vocal,
Female" and, with Walter Afanasieff, "Best Producer") and an
American Music Award ("Favorite Female Artist, Soul/R&B"). On
March 17, 1992, Mariah appeared on MTV Unplugged, leading to the release of
Mariah's sixth #1 single ("I'll Be There") as well as an EP which has
been certified triple platinum in the U.S. and has sold more than five million
copies worldwide.
In 1993, Mariah released Music Box, an album which has sold more than 24 million
copies worldwide, has been certified ten times RIAA platinum, and generated her
seventh and eighth #1 singles "Dreamlover" and "Hero" as
well as the Top 10 hit "Without You." Mariah followed up with her
holiday album, Merry Christmas, which sold eight million copies worldwide
shortly after its release in November 1994 and has been certified quadruple
platinum by the RIAA.
Mariah's 1995 album, Daydream, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums
chart, generated three consecutive #1 singles -- Fantasy, One Sweet Day (her
duet with Boyz II Men which, having spent 16 weeks at #1, still holds the record
as the longest-running #1 single in history), and Always Be My Baby (Mariah's
ninth, tenth, and eleventh #1's) -- and has been certified 10x platinum. With
Daydream, she became the first female artist in history to have three studio
albums to each sell in excess of eight million copies.
Mariah's 1997 album, Butterfly, a heady sensuous mix of contemporary R&B and
pop, generated the #1 hits Honey (featuring Ma & The Lox) and My All (her
twelfth and thirteenth #1's). Butterfly has been certified quadruple platinum.
In November 1998, Mariah released her #1's album, a collection of 13 of her
chart-topping megahits as well as four brand-new bonus recordings: When You
Believe (from The Prince Of Egypt), a duet with Whitney Houston; Whenever You
Call, a duet with Brian McKnight; I Still Believe; and Sweetheart. #1's has
achieved RIAA triple platinum status.
Her 1999 release, Rainbow, featured Mariah's 14th #1 Hot 100 single,
Heartbreaker, which also became her 6th chart-topping R&B single. Maria
Carey has had more #1 singles than any female artist, surpassing both the
Supremes (12) and Madonna (11), and more #1's than any currently active
recording artist. She has had more #1 singles (14) than any artist during the
1990s and seen more singles (3) debut at #1 than any artist in history. With
more #1 albums (4) than any female artist in the 1990's, Mariah was the first
female artist to see two of her albums (Music Box and Daydream) reach the 10
million mark in sales and is the only female artist to have eight albums
certified triple-platinum or better (in Mariah's case, her entire album catalog
has achieved RIAA multi-platinum status).
In fact, Mariah Carey is the only artist to have had a #1 single for every year
of the 1990's. The last decade to have an artist hit #1 every single year was
the 1920's when Paul Whiteman & his Orchestra hit the top slot each year.
(By the end of the 1920's, Whiteman had become a Columbia Records artist.) With
the exception of Merry Christmas (from which there was no single release) and
#1's (a collection of her first 13 chart-toppers), Mariah has hit #1 with the
debut single from every one of her albums.
With the exception of her cover version of the Jackson 5's I'll Be There, Mariah
has cowritten all of her #1's, including Heartbreaker. With the exceptions of I
Don't Wanna Cry, Someday, Love Takes Time, and Vision Of Love, Mariah has
co-produced all of her chart-topping singles.
Mariah received 1990 Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Female (ision
of Love). The same year, Mariah picked up three Soul Train Awards: Best New
Artist, Best Album (Mariah Carey) and Best Single, Female (Vision of Love).
A perennial favorite at the American Music Awards, Mariah won Favorite Female
Artist/R&B in 1992; Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock and Favorite Album,
Adult Contemporary in 1993; Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock in 1995; and
Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock and Favorite Female Artist, Soul/R&B in
1996.
Mariah picked up her first Billboard Awards in 1991 for Top Adult Contemporary
Artist, Top Pop Artist, Top Album Artist, Top Pop Singles Artist, and Top Pop
Singles Artist/Female. In 1996, she won a Billboard Award for Hot 100 Singles
Artist of the Year and, with Boyz II Men, a Special Hot 100 Singles Award for
One Sweet Day.
At the 1998 World Music Awards ceremony, Mariah won an award for Best Selling
R&B Artist and the Legend Award for World's Best Selling Recording Artist of
the 1990's. She won her first World Music Awards - World's Best Selling Pop
Artist, World's Best American Recording Artist, and World's Overall Best
Performing Artist - in 1995. The following year, she was presented with trophies
for World's Best Selling R&B Female Artist of the Year, World's Best Selling
Overall Recording Female Artist of the Year, World's Best Selling Pop Artist of
the Year, and World's Best Selling American Female Artist of the Year.
Mariah was presented with the Aretha Franklin Entertainer Award and named
Entertainer of the Year at the 1998 Lady Of Soul Awards.
As of September 1999, Mariah Carey had sold more than 120 million albums and
singles worldwide and earned an astounding 84 RIAA gold, platinum, and
multi-platinum certifications for her singles, albums, and videos. As one of the
most popular recording artists of the 1990s, Mariah has provided an ongoing
soundtrack to the decade. With the arrival of Rainbow, she continues to give
voice to the emotions of our age.
To get the full
scoop on Mariah Carey go to her official site at:
www.mariahcarey.com
