Mariah Carey signs a
record deal
One
day, when Patricia was rehearsing her role of Maddalena
in Verdi's opera Rigoletto, she heard Mariah imitating
her singing. Even though she was only 3 at the time,
Mariah's mom began teaching her how to develop her vocal
skills.In high school, Carey didn't concentrate much
on her education and would frequently skip class; instead,
she wrote songs and dreamt about becoming a famous singer.
Before she got her big break, Mariah completed 500 hours
of beauty school and even worked as a hair sweeper in
a salon, as a waitress and as a coat check girl. After
she graduated from high school in 1987, Carey moved
to New York in order to pursue her dream of becoming
a famous singer. She spent hours working in a studio
writing her music and making demo tapes. In 1988, one
of Mariah's friends, who played the drums for Brenda
K. Starr, urged her to try out as a backup singer for
Starr. Although Mariah was a little hesitant at first,
she quickly realized that it was better than what she
was doing at that time.One day, while Carey was singing
for Starr, Sony record executive producer Tommy Mottola
was given Carey's demo tape, and her wish of becoming
a singer was soon realized.
Mariah Carey releases
her debut
Mariah
Carey's first self-titled album uncovered a high-octave
voice that could break sound barriers, as well as record
sales. Although people initially labeled her as a "white
girl with a black girl's voice," Carey quickly
squashed all the hearsay and set the record straight.
Nevertheless, all the media hype ultimately contributed
to her selling over six million albums.Thanks to her
debut album, she landed at No. 1 with four of her singles
and won a couple of Grammys. Her following two albums,
1991's Emotions and 1992's Unplugged, were just as successful.
In 1993, Mariah wed Tommy Mottola, then-chairman of
Sony. Media hounds were quick to criticize the age difference
between the couple (Tommy is 20 years her senior).Once
she was a success, Carey quickly got involved with the
cause of inner-city youth, donating large quantities
of time and money to what would be renamed "Camp
Mariah." The camp is a refuge for urban youth who
rarely get the chance to experience nature and embrace
the arts.
Mariah Carey has more
no. 1 singles
In
1993, Mariah's fourth album, Music Box, and fifth album,
1994's Merry Christmas, burned up the charts just as
strongly as did her previous releases. In 1995, Carey
released Daydream, which earned her six Grammy nominations
and began to uncover a Mariah that the world had never
seen before.Mariah began to develop a hip-hop feel in
her music and began frequenting other hip-hoppers like
Da Brat and Ol' Dirty Bastard. At the same time, Mariah's
music started gaining popularity in clubs, and her fan
base became wider in range.mariah carey releases rainbowCarey
quickly became one of the most powerful women in the
music industry, with career sales topping 80 million
units. Throughout 1997, Mariah watched her professional
image evolve, even though her marriage to Tommy took
a turn for the worst. Although they denied rumors of
marital problems, Mariah released Butterfly, and the
video for the first single depicted Mariah as a prisoner
in an estate. This video only fueled the fire of rumors
surrounding the couple's marriage. They ultimately divorced
in March of 1998. In 1999, Carey released Rainbow, which
spawned the hits "Heartbreaker" and a cover
of "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)."
Mariah Carey has a breakdown
Next,
Carey tried her hand at acting. She had a small role
in 1999's The Bachelor, starring Renee Zellweger. Her
starring debut came with the release of Glitter in September
2001, which chronicled the tumultuous rise of a singer
in the 1980s.While promoting the film and its soundtrack
album (and after several bizarre public occurrences),
Mariah suffered what her publicist referred to as a
"physical and emotional breakdown." She was
briefly hospitalized and announced she was taking a
break from performing.Unfortunately, Glitter failed
to follow the success of her single and album releases.
The film did poorly at the box office, and even the
soundtrack didn't come close to matching the sales of
her previous releases. To add even more insult to injury,
Virgin Records dissolved its contract with her, paying
her $28 million to walk away.
Mariah Carey records
Charmbracelet
But
Carey bounced back with a new record deal, this time
with Island Def Jam (part of Universal Music Group).
Her next release, Charmbracelet, proved that she still
had the vocal chops to stay in the game, although it
it didn't come close to the success of her previous
albums. Mariah also kept busy with the start of her
own label, MonarC. Carey then added Wisegirls (co-starring
Mira Sorvino) to her acting resume, as it premiered
at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO.
Mariah returns with the
emancipation of mimi
After
a few years in relative obscurity, Mariah burst back
onto the music scene in April 2005 with her 10th studio
album, The Emancipation of Mimi (the second album for
Island Def Jam). Her first single, "It's Like That,"
exploded onto the charts, and the album itself sold
more copies -- about 404,000 -- in its first week than
any of her previous albums. As her latest album continues
to climb the charts, Mariah is proving that she's back
and here to stay.In 2005, she was back on the big screen
with roles in State Property 2 and The Sweet Wanya
Mariah Carey has one of the best voices in pop music
(or hip-hop, depending on your opinion), combined with
one of the best attitudes. She isn't as innocent as
she once marketed herself to be, but we have nothing
against bad girls. As the saying goes, "all that
glitters is gold," and Mariah's been producing
gold since her first release. She was one of the world's
top recording artists throughout the 1990s, setting
records for most No. 1 singles by a female artist (she
has 15), and most consecutive weeks at No. 1 with "One
Sweet Day," her collaboration with Boyz II Men
(the single still holds that record). Her chart accomplishments
resulted in Billboard magazine naming her "Artist
of the Decade" for the '90s. After suffering from
physical and mental exhaustion in 2001, Mariah took
a break from performing. However, in 2005, she came
back in full force with The Emancipation of Mimi, which
sold more copies in the first week following its release
than any other one of her albums, and just keeps climbing
the charts.
Personality
& Talent
She may come off as a prima donna in her interviews,
but her heart is in the right place when it comes
to her fans. Carey's devoted to the people who put
her on top. She donates her time and money to "Camp
Mariah," where inner-city kids get to spend time
in the country, embrace the arts and discover career
opportunities. She's even been known to show up at
the camp to hang out with her young fans. As for talent,
her voice carries her; after all, she's the proud
owner of an incredible five-octave range. She also
tried her hand at acting, but if the public's reaction
to her film debut was any indication of her promise
as a hot acting talent, she might want to stick to
appearing in music videos. Rent a copy of Glitter
(2001) and decide for yourself.
Sexiness
She is sexy and has some of the sexiest
music videos around. Remember the "Fantasy"
and "Honey" videos? She may have gained a
few pounds here and there recently, but she still oozes
with sex appeal in every award show appearance and on
every album cover.
Accomplishments &
Fame
She
has been extremely successful as a singer, and has
co-written many of her biggest hits. She has sold
millions and millions of albums worldwide. She may
be considered a pop diva, but her singles have crossed
over to top the R&B, hip-hop and adult contemporary
charts too. Between
1990 and 2000, she had 15 No. 1 singles on Billboard's
Hot 100 Singles chart; that's twice as many as Janet
Jackson had during the same period, and more than
Madonna, Whitney Houston and Celine Dion combined.
Her first four singles all reached the pop summit,
while her 1995 duet with Boyz II Men, "One Sweet
Day," still holds the record for most weeks at
No. 1, sitting tight for an incredible 16 weeks. She's
also been nominated for countless Grammy Awards. She
started winning them from the time of her 1990 debut
album release, when she won in the Best New Artist
and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (for "Vision
of Love") categories. Now we can only wait and
see if she'll collect more awards for her most recent
album, The Emancipation of Mimi, which debuted at
No. 1 when it was released in April 2005.
Natural Beauty
Mariah
Carey's mixed ethnicity of Venezuelan, Irish and African-American
combine to create her unique beauty. She has chubbier
cheeks because of the weight gain, but her face is still
as pretty as the first day we saw her. She's
got a terrific smile that makes her whole face light
up. Mariah's still a "Dreamlover" to us.
Personal Style
Mariah
Carey is known for her ultra-tight jeans, sexy halter
tops and slinky, revealing dresses. Perhaps someday
she will realize that it's possible to reveal her body
and look somewhat conservative simultaneously. Whatever
the case, we'd prefer it if she dressed more like a
diva to match her diva songstress status.
