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Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1970 in
Huntington, New York) is an American popular music singer, songwriter,
record producer, music video director, philanthropist, diva and actress,
who rose to prominence in the 1990s. Carey's music has been influenced
by rhythm and blues, pop, gospel, hip hop, dance, and rock and roll. She
is a coloratura soprano, credited as having a five-octave vocal range.
Carey's vocal trademark is her ability to hit high notes in the whistle
register and she makes lavish use of melisma; her vocal swoops and
trills are easily recognizable features of her sound.
Surveys have placed Carey as one of the
best-selling female recording artists ever worldwide. She was also the
most successful artist of the 90s, according to Billboard magazine, and
her singles have spent more weeks at #1 than any other living artist in
Billboard history. Carey's vocal style influenced a generation of
singers who came after her, including Christina Aguilera and Beyoncé
Knowles as well as many American Idol competitors.
* * * *
Early life
and family, 1970–1990
Carey is the third and youngest child of
Patricia Hickey, an opera singer and voice coach of Irish-American
ethnicity, and Alfred Roy Carey, an aeronautical engineer of
Venezuelan-African descent. She was named after the song "(And They Call
the Wind) Mariah", from the musical Paint Your Wagon. Mariah's mom has
mentioned that she picked her name because she thought it would be a
good stage name. She has no middle name. Carey has a sister named Alison
(ten years older) and a brother named Morgan (nine years older).
As a multiracial family, the Carey
household was met with racial slurs, hostility and even violence. Thus,
the family moved around the New York area often to find more friendly
neighborhoods. The strain on the family led to the divorce of Alfred and
Patricia when Mariah was three; Mariah and Morgan stayed with their
mother while Alison stayed with their father. Mariah had little contact
with her father, except for sporadic visits on weekends but even those
dwindled as the years went by; Patricia raised Mariah, often struggling
with two or three jobs and continuing to move among different towns on
Long Island, but tried to provide a spirited, loving household.
Although, Patrica tried to be a good parent, it is generally believed
that she failed in a sense as a parent, as Mariah has often mentioned
that she grew up quick for her age being exposed to traumatic incidents
as a child, and learning to deal with being alone as her mother and
brother were never home. In a sense, Mariah has often mentioned that
music helped raise her in a way when no one else was there.
Nevertheless, Mariah and her mother still maintain a close relationship
to this day.
Carey began singing when she was three; her
mother believed early on that she had tremendous potential. In fact, one
day, when Patricia had brought Mariah to her opera rehearsal, Patricia
had missed a vocal cue, but the young Mariah astouned everyone by
catching in and singing it perfectly in tune. Publicly, she first
performed when she was six and first began writing songs when she was in
grade school. She attended and graduated from Oldfield Middle School and
Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, but was frequently absent due to
efforts to break into the music business, netting her the nickname
"Mirage". Ironically, Mariah was never in her school's choir. She
eventually landed a role as a backup singer for Brenda K. Starr. Then,
in 1988, Carey met Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola while at a
party, and gave him a demo tape. He played the tape while leaving the
party and was very impressed by what he heard. He returned to the party
to find Carey, but she had already left. Nevertheless he tracked her
down and signed her to a recording contract. This Cinderella-like story
became part of the standard publicity surrounding Carey's entrance into
the industry.
Early
commercial success, 1990–1992
Mariah Carey's career began with the
release of her eponymous debut album in 1990, when she was just twenty
years old. She became a commercial success almost overnight, and the
album produced four huge #1 singles. Mariah took home two Grammy Awards
for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for lead
single "Vision Of Love" in 1991, proving that her success was not
limited to the charts.
Beginning with this first album, Carey has
been a co-writer on every song she has recorded (except covers and two
special soundtrack projects) throughout her career, working with
songwriting partners such as Walter Afanasieff, Jermaine Dupri, and
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis among many others. "Vision of Love" established
the template for many of her other songs: a hint of swing; a melody and
arrangement designed for her voice, such that her ornamented vocals seem
part of the fabric of a song rather than an add-on; lyrics organized
around themes of dreams, struggle, and self-help.
Carey's second album, Emotions, was
released in the fall of 1991, and its first single, the title track, was
another US #1 hit giving Carey the distinction of being the only act
ever to have had their first five singles go to #1 on the Hot 100 chart.
The album was not as successful as her debut sales and chart wise, but
was released to equally good critical receptions.
Beginning with Emotions, Carey has
co-produced almost all of the songs on her albums, in collaboration with
her songwriting and other partners. She fought to co-produce on her
first album as well, but was only allowed to produce one song.
In 1992, Carey gave her first real concert
performance, on the MTV Unplugged program. Her whistle register workout
on "Emotions" showed that her vocal abilities were not confined to the
studio. She premiered a cover of the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There",
featuring Trey Lorenz, which was subsequently released as a single and
gave her a sixth #1 hit. The program was popular enough that the songs
were compiled onto the commercially successful album MTV Unplugged.
Worldwide
success, 1993–1996
Carey and Tommy Mottola had become
romantically involved, and in June 1993 they were married in an
Episcopalian ceremony followed by a lavish wedding reception in
Manhattan.
Carey's next studio album, Music Box, was
released in 1993, and saw Mariah at the apex of her popularity, becoming
her largest selling LP worldwide. It yielded two of her signature songs,
"Hero" in the US and "Without You" internationally. From lead single "Dreamlover"
onwards, Carey began a string of successful international hits.
Carey's Music Box hits, together with her
duet with Luther Vandross of Diana Ross' "Endless Love", made her one of
the most-played musicians on the radio in 1993 and 1994. During the
Christmas season of 1994, Carey released the album Merry Christmas. In
addition to the expected covers of classics, it contained a very
successful original holiday song, "All I Want For Christmas Is You"
which gained her a large fanbase in Japan.
In 1995, Carey released Daydream which was
considerably less pop orientated than her previous albums. At this time
in her career, Carey realised that she had a higher potential for
massive crossover hits if she employed the use of various genre-specific
remixes for each single. It ended up becoming a very successful
technique for her as the singles from Daydream turned out to be record
breakers. "Fantasy" became the second single to debut at #1, and became
famous for making the pop/rap collaboration a staple of modern pop
music, "One Sweet Day" spent a still-record 16 weeks at #1 and "Always
Be My Baby" topped the Hot 100 year-end airplay charts in 1996. Daydream
was embraced by critics as her finest album yet at the time, and many
consider the album to be her creative peak.
While Carey's music was hugely popular, it
also had its detractors as well. Some thought that her compositions were
too homogeneously commercial; others thought that her lyrics were too
full of repetitive, simplistic imagery (a line of criticism that would
be further debated with her next few albums); still others thought her
voice was beginning to wear down (also an observation that would
intensify in the coming decade).
Independence and new image established, 1997–2000
Carey and Mottola separated in 1997;
Although Mariah had often projected the image of a happy marriage to the
public, in reality, she had felt emotionally and psychologically abused
by Tommy. He was often described as possessive even to the point of
spying on Mariah when she had friends over, and telling their live in
servants not to look at her in the eye to intimidate her. Their divorce
became final the following year.
Carey's 1997 album, Butterfly, was her
second consecutive #1 debut and saw her continuing to move in an
R&B/hip-hop direction. Its titular motif related to Carey's feelings
about escaping what she saw as the controlled, cocoon-like environment
of her marriage. Lead single, "Honey", displayed a much more sexual and
sultry Carey than before in its lyrics and music video. The
autobiographical title track was widely praised and "My All" became her
thirteenth #1 single, an unprecedented feat for a female artist.
At some point after the release of
Butterfly, Carey had a falling out with Walter Afanasieff, the man who
had helped co-create Carey's albums since her debut release. He had
travelled and toured with her, playing piano live. He appeared in
Carey's home videos talking about their creative process. The two
reportedly had creative differences, and they have not worked together
since. Apparently, much of their falling out was due to Walter being
caught between Mariah and Tommy during their divorce with each asking
him to take a side; Walter was also a bit sick of being pigeonhold as
Mariah's producer, and wanted to expand his production horizons. Even
after the falling out, Carey continued to release songs the pair
co-wrote in the past, such as Glitter's "Lead The Way". After Carey's
breakdown, E! Entertainment interviewed Afanasieff, who spoke highly of
Carey, noting her hard work ethic and musical talent. When interviewed
about Walter, Mariah too has spoken highly of him, and has expressed an
interest for them to one day work together again.
In 1998, Carey released the album #1s, a
collection of all her American #1 singles up to that point. Mariah had
not wanted to release the album. She was planning on her
movie/soundtrack project known at the time as All That Glitters. But
when, it was delayed, presure was put on Mariah to release some sort of
an album to host the duet with Whitney Houston. The album included four
new songs, the most successful internationally being the aforementioned
"When You Believe", a duet with Whitney Houston and the most successful
at home being "I Still Believe" a cover of the 1980s song by Brenda K.
Starr.
Also in that year, Carey appeared on the
first televised VH1 Divas program, a joint benefit concert appearance
with Aretha Franklin (her favorite singer alongside Stevie Wonder),
Céline Dion, Gloria Estefan, Carole King, and Shania Twain. Carey's
statuesque appearance (she is 5' 9" / 175cm tall), vocal and stage
presence, career twists and turns, and alleged prima donna behavior had
already led many to consider her to be a diva.
In 1999, Carey released Rainbow, which like
Butterfly, comprised pop and more hip-hop oriented songs. Lead single,
"Heartbreaker" received criticisms for trying too hard to appeal to
different audiences, but was still a commercial success. The album was a
commercial disaster by her standards becoming her lowest selling LP upto
that point. It was, however, heavily crticised for relying on too many
collaborations including her 15th US #1 single, "Thank God I Found You"
and her duet with Westlife, "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)".
Although being the recipient of several awards in recognition for her
decade-spanning career, including Billboard's Artist of the Decade Award
and the World Music Award for the Best-Selling Female Artist of the
Millennium [Update by PSP (thanks A.B.): she did not receive this award,
but was awarded the Diamond Award and the Legend Award], warning signs began to appear as her final release from
Rainbow, "Crybaby"/"Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" became her
first song ever to not make the Top 20. Signs of internal drama were
starting to rise, as Mariah publicly accused Sony of sabatoging the two
singles and the album on her public website.
Personal
and career struggles, 2001–2003
Carey had ended a very successful decade in
music, however, things took a sudden downward turn for her. Her one
victory was in finally ending her contract with Sony after which she
signed a huge contract with EMI's Virgin Records. Both parties appeared
to be enthusiastic about the deal and Carey received a hefty signing
bonus. Signs that things were going downhill began to appear, when Carey
also made a notorious appearance on TRL, where she was scantily clad and
acting strangely. Just a few weeks later, in August, 2001 it was widely
reported that Carey had suffered physical and mental exhaustion.
Her acting debut, in the
semi-autobiographical film Glitter, was scheduled for later that month;
the film was finally released on September 21, but panned by most movie
critics and became a box office failure. When EMI's Virgin Records
released her tenth album, Glitter, Carey was unable to do much promotion
due to her ill health and the album, having been released on a dark day
in American history, September 11, 2001, peaked at #7 (Carey's weakest
showing ever). Lead single "Loverboy" reached #2 on the Hot 100 thanks
to Virgin's massive campaign to sell the single for only 99 cents across
the United States, however, airplay was almost nonexistent.
Shortly after the disastrous release of
Glitter, Sony released a semi-authorized second compilation album, the
2-CD Greatest Hits, just before Christmas. Although the album initially
failed to make an impact on the charts, it would eventually hold strong,
steady sales as Carey's definitive singles collection. In January of
2002, EMI decided to part ways with Carey and they bought out her
contract for $28 million, giving her another round of bad publicity.
Despite this, there were several record companies vying for her
signature in the months that followed and she eventually signed with
Island Records' Def Jam in 2002.
Following a prominent acting role in the
independent film WiseGirls, Mariah then released a new album,
Charmbracelet, in December 2002 as part of a new deal with Island
Records; it debuted at #3. She expressed an interest in writing music
that is more profoundly meaningful to her and her fans. The album
included the singles "Through The Rain", "Boy (I Need You)" featuring
rapper Cam'ron and a cover of Def Leppard's 1980s hit "Bringin' On The
Heartbreak".
Carey's devoted fan base—who sometimes go
by the name "lambs"—continued to buy her singles in the thousands, but
none of the singles took off with pop radio, whose playlists had become
less open to maturing pop "diva" stylists such as Mariah, Whitney, and
Céline. After a decade of one Carey hit after another, many observers
came to the conclusion that Carey had lost her "radio magic."
Subsequently, Carey's duet with Busta
Rhymes, "I Know What You Want" (2003), fared considerably better,
reaching #3 in Billboard's pop singles chart; it is featured on her 13th
album, The Remixes, a double CD. That year, Carey was awarded "Diamond
Award" by the World Music Awards show in honour of over 150 million
album sales worldwide. During 2003, Carey staged the "Charmbracelet
World Tour". Reviews were generally favourable, although the press often
focused on Carey's large travelling entourage, many pieces of luggage,
hotel and dressing room demands, and other diva-like behaviours.
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Return of
the Voice, 2004–present
Carey spent the majority of 2004 making,
The Emancipation of Mimi. In the fall, she was featured on Jadakiss's
hit single "U Make Me Wanna", which managed to hit the Top 10 on
Billboard's R&B chart. On New Year's Eve 2005, Carey premiered a
Jermaine Dupri production at the grand opening of the Pure Club in Las
Vegas. The song "It's Like That" received a positive response and within
weeks, it zoomed into the Top 20, peaking at #16. Media sources hailed
the song as a triumphant return for Carey. Billboard wrote, "After years
of underwhelming singles, Mariah Carey finally returns with a hot
track..." and put it on their list of the week's essentials.
As of April 2005, Mariah Carey had earned
an estimated fortune of $427 million from her record sales, world tours,
and recording advances.
The Emancipation of Mimi was heralded as
"The Return of the Voice"—leading many to proclaim it to be her comeback
album after the relatively underwhelming critical and commercial
receptions to Glitter and Charmbracelet. It was released on April 12,
2005, and is the story of self-discovery and remaking one's image. It
received generally positive reviews, with some critics calling it
Carey's best album in years. Mimi debuted at #1, with 403,775 copies
sold in its first week (the highest first week tally of Carey's career)
and has gone on to achieve triple-platinum status. Mimi has spent twelve
weeks in the top 5 thus far, incuding two nonconsecutive weeks at #1.
The second single from the album, "We Belong Together", featured an
interesting blend of quiet storm ambience and hip hop-style singing
leading to a traditional Carey climax. It received large amounts of
radio airplay (reversing the previous trend) and became Mariah's 16th #1
single on the Billboard Hot 100 (and her first in five years) and the
biggest single of her career, currently spending six nonconsecutive
weeks at the top. "We Belong Together" has also reached #1 in Australia
and #2 in the UK, making it a major international hit.
On July 2, 2005, Carey performed for Live 8
at the Live 8 concert, London. "Make It Happen" and "Hero" were sung
with the African Children's Choir; she finished with "We Belong
Together", with old friend and now American Idol judge Randy Jackson one
of her band members. On July 4 Carey was shown performing three songs
for the Macy's Fireworks Spectacular in New York in a pre-recorded
segment. On July 12, 2005, her third single "Shake It Off" impacted
radio. Around the same time Carey suffered a wardrobe malfunction during
a promotional performance in Karlsruhe, Germany, but was able to
recover.
****
Charity
work
Carey is a philanthropist, who has donated
millions of dollars to organizations such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation,
the National Adoption Center, and the Fresh Air Fund among many others.
Mariah is well known for her nationally known work with the Make-A-Wish
Foundation in granting the wishes of the terminally ill Caleb Boulter as
seen on live television.
Carey is also the founder of Camp Mariah, a
serene escape located in Fishkill, New York for inner-city youth to
embrace the arts, be introduced to career opportunities, and build
self-esteem.
Home
Carey owns a three-floor apartment in
TriBeCa, Manhattan, New York City that was featured on MTV Cribs. A
centerpiece is Marilyn Monroe's white lacquered baby grand piano, bought
at auction in October 1999 for $600,000 plus commission. Mariah's
friendly attitude towards her fans has backfired a bit. After she made
an announcement in jest on MTV Cribs for fans to visit, some fans
traveled from Spain to her apartment in New York City and requested to
stay the night citing her offer. Mariah had to turn them away for
privacy reasons, but she did give them money for a hotel.
Talent
management
As part of her deal with Island/Def Jam,
Mariah created the MonarC imprint to sign and develop new artists.
Mariah has so far signed her good friend, Trey Lorenz, Bell & Nae Nae,
and Sadie, also known mysteriously as "Dat Baby". However, the future of
the label is in jeopardy, and the label may be inactive.
Upcoming
plans
Carey will be launching a clothing and
accessories lines known as Automatic Princess and plans to pen a series
of children's books soon. Mariah was also going to write her memoirs,
but for now she put the idea on hold under advice from her new manager.
Voice
Mariah Carey is well known for her
multi-octave voice and the control she has over her whistle register.
Carey's voice is rated as one of the greatest ever among pop singers. In
2003 she came top of MTV's countdown of "The 22 Greatest Voices In
Music". She was placed ahead of such rivals as Whitney Houston; #3 and
Céline Dion; #9.
Mariah's performance trademark is making
fluttering motions with her left hand while she sings. Voice teachers
have commented that this actually helps one's singing technique.
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Vocal
Profile
Voice type:Dramatic Coloratura Soprano
Highest note: G#7 ("Emotions" at the 1991
MTV VMAs)
Lowest note: A2, B2 ("My All")
Vocal range: 5 octaves (A2-G#7)
Longest note: 20 seconds ("Lead The Way")
Highest note in chest voice: G#5 (Mine
Again, Anytime you need a friend)
Sales and
charts achievements
The singles marks here are based on
Billboard Hot 100 chart. U.S. record sales figures are certified by RIAA
and may be considered reliable. However, no process exists to certify
worldwide record sales.
Sales
-
Mariah Carey has sold 61.5 mil. albums
in US and 175 mil. albums worldwide. She also sold 20 mil. singles
in US and 47 mil. singles worldwide; (according to Mariah Carey
Discography). This makes her one of the biggest-selling female
artists of all time.
-
Mariah has the most platinum singles in
the US by a female artist (10 platinum singles).
-
Mariah is the only female artist to
have 10 consecutive albums RIAA- certified for at least 3 million
copies sold.
-
In the US, Mariah Carey, Madonna,
Britney Spears, Céline Dion, Whitney Houston, Shania Twain, and the
Dixie Chicks are the only female artists with multiple Diamond
(shipped over 10 million copies) albums.
-
With only 15 years in the music
industry Mariah has the following RIAA achievements: albums - 76
certifications, singles - 34 certications (as of April 2005); total:
110 certifications.
-
RIAA Certifications: albums - 13 gold,
13 platinum, 10 multi-platinum, 2 Diamond Awards; singles - 24 gold,
10 platinum, 2 multi-platinum.
Charts
-
Mariah is the artist with the record
for most consecutive years with a #1 single on the Billboard Hot
100; she is the only artist to have a single reach #1 on Billboard
Hot 100 every year of the 1990s.
-
Mariah is the only artist to have the
debut singles from all her albums top the charts in the 1990s. (Her
run was broken in 2001 when Loverboy, the lead single from Glitter,
peaked at #2).
-
Mariah holds the record for the largest
jump for a single to the #2 poistion on The Hot 100, when Loverboy
jumped from #60 to #2.
-
When the single "One Sweet Day" spent
16 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, it became the longest
running consecutive #1 single in history, taking the title held by
Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You", which managed 14 weeks.
-
Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together"
officialy became the biggest song ever in the history of American
radio when it reached 192.3 million listeners and over 23,000 spins
in the week ending June 7, 2005. In the three following weeks, the
single continued to break its own record as it peaked at 195.8
million, 202.1 million, and 212.2 million impressions.
-
Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" has
recorded the best-ever one day listener figure after it registered
with 32.8 million listeners on American radio in a single day.
-
Mariah has the most cumulative weeks at
#1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in history (67 weeks) for any living
artist. She is second overall to Elvis Presley (80 weeks).
-
Mariah Carey has had 16 singles reach
#1 on the Billboard Hot 100; the most for any female artist in
history and third overall, behind The Beatles (20) and Elvis
Presley) (18). She also has three #2 singles.
-
When "Fantasy", "One Sweet Day", and
"Honey" debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Mariah became the
artist with the most singles to debut at #1 in history.
-
Mariah is also the first female artist
to have a #1 debut. Of the 14 songs to ever debut at #1, 3 of them
were sung by Mariah.
-
Mariah is also the only artist to have
two consecutive #1 debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 ("Fantasy" and
"One Sweet Day").
-
Mariah has the record for the best
debut on the Billboard Hot 100. Her first five singles went to #1
("Vision Of Love", "Love Takes Time", "Someday", "I Don't Wanna
Cry", and "Emotions"). She later achieved another five consecutive
#1 singles ("Fantasy", "One Sweet Day", "Always Be My Baby",
"Honey", and "My All"). She is the only female artist to accomplish
this feat.
-
Mariah Carey has 5 #1 albums on The
Billboard 200 (3 debuts at #1). She is tied with Madonna (5 #1s) and
Janet Jackson (5 #1s) and behind Barbra Streisand (8 #1s).
-
"One Sweet Day" is rated as the #1 song
of the 1990s by Billboard Magazine. (link)
* * * *
Acting
Carey in 2001's Glitter.Carey's first
starring role was in Glitter, a 2001 film that had been in development
as a vehicle for Carey since 1997. In it, she played Billie Frank, a
struggling singer and songwriter who breaks into the music industry
after she meets DJ Julian Dice (Max Beesley). Reviews were scathing;
while Roger Ebert praised Carey's performance, saying that "Her acting
ranges from dutiful flirtatiousness to intense sincerity", most other
critics panned it. Stephanie Zacharek called Carey "numbingly bland" in
her role, and Michael Atkinson observed, "when she tries for an
emotion—any emotion—she looks as if she's lost her car keys". Glitter
was a box office failure, and Carey, who won a Worst Actress Razzie
Award for her trouble, has since referred to the film as "a diva
moment".
Other films Carey has appeared in include:
-
The Bachelor (1999) as
Ilana, an opera singer and one of the ex-girlfriends of Jimmie
(Chris O'Donnell), who is proposed to by him as he tries to find a
woman to marry so he can inherit his father's fortune.
-
WiseGirls (2002) as
Raychel, a tough-talking waitress at an Italian restaurant run by
mobsters.
-
Death of a Dynasty (2003)
as Herself.
-
State Property 2 (2005)
as Professionally Dressed Woman.
-
The Sweet Science (2006,
in development) as an unknown but talented boxer who is recruited by
a determined female boxing manager.
* * * *
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