Mariah Carey on the cover of her album
ButterflyMariah Carey (born March 27, 1970 in Huntington, New York) is an American popular music singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is one of the best-selling female recording artists ever, and the top-selling recording artist of any kind during the 1990s. Carey's style has been influenced by rhythm and blues, pop, gospel, hip hop, and rock and roll. She is credited as having a five-octave vocal range, one of the greatest ranges of any popular singer. Vocal swoops and trills are an easily recognized feature of her sound, and her lavish use of melisma has influenced a whole generation of singers.
The title of best-selling female artist is controversial, given that there are no reliable reports of worldwide record sales and that the figures are constantly changing anyway. Nevertheless it is clear that Mariah Carey has sold a huge number of records. It is also clear that Carey's vocal style has influenced many top female singers of the 2000s, including Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé Knowles, Alicia Keys, as well as Kelly Clarkson and other 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. She has no middle name. She has a sister named Alison and a brother named Morgan, both of whom are about ten years older than she.
As a multiracial family, the Carey household was met with racial slurs, hostility and even violence (in the early days, crosses were burned on their lawn, their dogs were poisoned, their car was blown up, and a shot was fired through the kitchen window during mealtime). Thus, the family moved often around the New York area 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.
Carey began singing when she was three; her mother realized early on that she had tremendous potential. Carey first performed in public when she was six and first began writing songs when she was sixteen. She attended and graduated from Harborfields High School in Greenlawn but was frequently absent due to efforts to break into the music business. 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 was impressed by what he heard, and signed her to a recording contract.
Early commercial success, 1990–1992
Album sales figures in this article have been subject to edit wars and should not be considered reliable unless verified independently.
Mariah Carey's career began with the release of her self-titled debut album in 1990, when she was just twenty years old. She became a commercial success almost overnight, and the album produced four huge No. 1 hit singles: "Vision of Love," "Someday," "Love Takes Time," and "I Don't Want to Cry".
Beginning with this first album and throughout her career, Carey has been a co-writer on almost every song she has recorded, working with songwriting partners such as Ben Margulies , Walter Afanasieff, and many others. "Vision of Love" established the template for her best 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 has also co-produced many of the songs on all her albums, in collaboration with her songwriting and other partners.
Carey's second album, Emotions, was released in the fall of 1991 and its first single, the title track, was also an American No. 1 hit. This song gave Carey the distinction of being the only music act ever to have had their first five singles all hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. Emotions had several other Top Five singles, such as "If It's Over", "Can't Let Go", and "Make It Happen".
In 1992, Carey gave her first real concert performance on MTV Unplugged. Her whistle register workout on "Emotions" showed that her vocal abilities were not confined to the studio. She premiered a heartfelt cover of the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There", which was subsequently released as a single and became a big hit. The concert itself was so popular, that the songs were compiled onto an album entitled MTV Unplugged which was largely successful in its own right.
Worldwide success, 1993–1996
Carey and Tommy Mottola had become romantically involved, and in 1993 they staged a lavish wedding in Manhattan.
Carey's next studio album, Music Box, was released in 1993 and spawned the hits "Anytime You Need a Friend", "Never Forget You", and the hugely popular No. 1 songs "Dreamlover" and "Hero". These last two songs are among Carey's most memorable works, with the inspirational "Hero" in particular achieving an added resonance in the public mind in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Carey peformed the song at the televised America: A Tribute to Heroes benefit.
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, and had a perennial hit with her original holiday song, "All I Want for Christmas Is You".
In 1995, Carey released Daydream. This album and her previous studio album, Music Box, would eventually go on to sell over 30 million copies each worldwide, making them Carey's two best-selling albums. The latter's lead single, "Fantasy", got heavy play on urban radio, thanks to a remix that featured a rhyme by the Wu-Tang Clan's Old Dirty Bastard. This also marked the start of a new trend for Carey's singles: she realized that she had a higher potential at having massive crossover hits if she employed the use of various genre-specific remixes for each single. "Fantasy" also became the second single in American chart history to debut at #1 on the Hot 100, after Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone", however "Fantasy"'s debut was slightly more amazing, as it was able to spend 8 weeks at the top of the charts; 7 more than Jackson achieved. Daydream's second and third singles, "One Sweet Day", a duet with Boyz II Men, and "Always Be My Baby", respectively, were arguably even bigger hits than "Fantasy". "One Sweet Day" spent 16 consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the United States, beating the original record of 14 held by Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" and Boyz II Men's "I'll Make Love to You". (It still holds the record for the longest consecutive stay at No. 1 in the United States.) "Always Be My Baby" received huge airplay from pop, adult contemporary, and adult Top 40 radio, and its urban remix—featuring rhymes by Da Brat and a more soulful-sounding chorus sung by R&B group Xscape—got huge airplay on urban, rap and R&B radio stations. "Forever" and "Open Arms", the last singles from the album, did not make No. 1 but were still Top 10 hits in the United States.
While Carey's music was hugely popular, it always 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 increase with her next several albums); still others thought her voice was beginning to wear down.
Independence and new image established, 1997–1999
Carey and Mottola separated in 1997; their divorce became final the following year.
Carey's 1997 album, Butterfly, was her second consecutive album debut at No. 1, and saw her continuing to move in an R&B/hip hop direction. Its butterfly motif related to Carey's feelings about escaping what she saw as the controlled, cocoonlike environment of her marriage.
The first single, "Honey", was a No. 1 hit and featured a remix with rappers Puff Daddy, The Lox and Mase. It was also her third single to debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100. Its video displayed a much more sexual and sultry Carey than any previous video. Other singles and videos off the album included "Butterfly", "The Roof", "Breakdown" (a duet with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony featuring Carey singing in a style similar to the way the Bone Thugs rap) and the No. 1 hit "My All".
In 1998, Carey released the album #1s, a collection of all her American No. 1 singles up to that point. It also included the new singles "When You Believe", a duet with Whitney Houston that was featured in the DreamWorks animated film The Prince of Egypt; "Sweetheart", a hip-hoppy duet with Jermaine Dupri; "I Still Believe," a cover of the '80s song by Brenda K. Starr ; and "Whenever You Call", a duet with popular R&B singer Brian McKnight.
Also in that year Carey appeared on the first televised VH1 Divas program, a joint benefit concert appearance with Aretha Franklin, Céline Dion, Gloria Estefan and Shania Twain.
Mariah Carey's attractive appearance, commanding vocal presence, career twists and turns, and alleged prima donna behavior have already led many to consider a diva; what some perceived as Carey's self-centered attitude during this show helped cement this reputation.
During the late summer of 1999, Carey began promoting her upcoming album Rainbow by releasing a single and video for "Heartbreaker". It became Carey's fourteenth No. 1 on the Hot 100, thanks to a commercially available single, which sold over 300,000 copies in its first week alone. The single went on to achieve platinum (1 million copies sold) status and was one of the last singles to do so in the United States.
"Heartbreaker" featured a popular music video that got heavy airplay on MTV's TRL. At a cost of over $2.5 million, the video is Carey's most expensive to date and one of the five most expensive music videos in history. A video was also filmed for a remix to "Heartbreaker", which was much more hip hop-oriented than the original, featuring a sample of Snoop Dogg's "Ain't No Fun" and guest raps by Missy Elliott and Da Brat. The remix video, which has cameo appearances by Brat, Elliott and Snoop, also became popular on TRL. Both versions of "Heartbreaker" spent a total of 65 days on TRL and become her first and only TRL-"retired" video.
The second single from Rainbow, "Thank God I Found You", became Carey's fifteenth No. 1 single on the Hot 100. The song was a duet with Joe and featured 98 Degrees singing background vocals on the chorus. The song didn't fare as well on the radio as Carey's earlier songs did, but solid sales assured that the song became a chart hit. As in "Heartbreaker", Carey followed up with a video, a format she adopted at the time for each new single. In the case of "Thank God I Found You", she shot a video for a remix that contained a sample from Keith Sweat's "Make It Last Forever" and featured Joe and Nas.
After having an astounding 26 consecutive songs in the Top 20 since her debut 10 years earlier, Carey released two more of Rainbow's songs as singles: "Crybaby" and "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)". Neither song really took off with an audience. "Crybaby", a hip-hop song that featured Snoop Dogg, was promoted to urban and hip-hop radio, while "Mariah's Theme", a ballad in the vein of "Hero", was promoted to Top 40 and adult contemporary radio. Even with a commercial single release, "Crybaby" only managed to peak at No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 (Carey's lowest-performing single up to that point). To date, Rainbow has sold over 3 million copies in the United States and another 9 million internationally.
Though Carey's singles are usually in the pop genre, she has also combined her talents with rap artists such as Lord Tariq , Peter Gunz and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Most of her recent singles have also been remixed as dance music, where she worked with DJs such as David Morales and Junior Vasquez.
Personal and career struggles, 2000–present
It was widely reported that Carey suffered physical and mental exhaustion in 2001. Moreover, her acting debut in the semi-autobiographical film Glitter was panned by most movie critics, and the film was a box office failure. This, coupled with her many years of excessively hard work, appeared to take a toll on her. She left her longtime label, Sony, to sign a huge contract with EMI's Virgin Records, which released her tenth album, Glitter . The lead single "LoverBoy" reached No. 2 in the Hot 100 thanks to Virgin's massive campaign to sell the single for only 99 cents across the United States. However, sales were disappointing and airplay almost nonexistent. The album peaked at No. 7 (Carey's weakest showing ever), despite being hailed as some of the singer's best work. To date, it has sold 5 million copies worldwide, which is just 2 million more of what Rainbow sold in the United States. Finally, Carey made a notorious appearance on TRL, where she was scantily clad and acting strangely. After that, she checked into a mental health facility and announced that she was taking a break from performing.
EMI realized they had signed Carey for too much, given her reduced popularity, and they bought out her contract for $35 million. This gave her another round of bad publicity.
Meanwhile, Carey's three-year relationship with singer Luis Miguel was coming to an end. Before that, she had briefly dated baseball star Derek Jeter. Carey has stated in interviews that despite her more overtly sexual image, she is very reticent to enter an intimate relationship. In part, this may be in reaction to her sister, Alison, who is undoubtedly the black sheep of the Carey family. Alison was a drug addict for years, had been diagnosed with HIV and promised to write a tell-all book about how she worked as a prostitute to support Mariah in the early years of her career. Mariah Carey's family denied this, and in fact it was Mariah who took care of Alison's children when Alison lost custody of them. To further add to Mariah's emotional burdens, her father Alfred Roy Carey died of cancer in 2002.
Carey had a prominent acting role in the film Wisegirls (2002); this time, she received much better notices from critics.
Mariah then released a new album and her first concept album, Charmbracelet , in December 2002 as part of a new deal with Island Records; it debuted at No. 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 three singles really took off with pop radio, whose playlists had become less open to maturing pop "diva" stylists such as Carey, Whitney Houston, and Céline Dion. [1] After a decade of one Carey hit after another, many observers came to the conclusion that Carey had lost her "radio magic".
However, Carey's duet with Busta Rhymes, "I Know What You Want" (2003), fared considerably better, reaching No. 3 in Billboard's pop singles chart and making the Top Five in rap radio airplay. It is also featured on the latest Carey release The Remixes, a double CD. That year, Carey was awarded the World Music Awards "Diamond Award" in honor of over 100 million album sales worldwide. [2]
During 2003, Carey staged the "Charmbracelet World Tour". Reviews were generally favorable, although the press often focused on Carey's large traveling entourage, many pieces of luggage, hotel and dressing room demands, and other diva-like behaviors. [3]
Carey spent the majority of 2004 preparing for the release of her second concept album, her twelfth studio release titled The Emancipation of Mimi. In the fall, she was featured on Jadakiss's hit single "U Make Me Wanna". Although the song was not as great of a success as her Busta Rhymes collaboration, it managed to hit the Top 10 on Billboard's R&B chart. In November, a new song from her upcoming album, "Say Something", which featured rappers Snoop Dogg and Pharrell, leaked onto the Internet. The song was planned as the first single, but was met with a lukewarm response. Another Neptunes production, "Tonight", which featured rapper Nelly, also leaked onto the Internet around this time. On New Year's Eve, Carey premiered a Jermaine Dupri production at the Pure Club in Las Vegas. The song "It's Like That" received a positive response and began receiving airplay a day later. The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 53 on January 22. It was her strongest debut in nearly five years, and within weeks, it zoomed into the Top 20. 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. The decade-old "All I Want for Christmas Is You" also gave Carey a significant radio presence toward the end of the year among the many radio stations playing all-holiday music formats.
The Emancipation of Mimi was released on April 12, 2005; it is the story of self-discovery and remaking one's image. It was released to generally positive reviews, with some critics calling it Carey's best album in years. Mimi debuted at No. 1, with 406,330 copies sold in its first week (the highest such tally of Carey's career). This has led many to say that Mimi is Carey's comeback album after the relatively underwhelming receptions of both Glitter and Charmbracelet.
Voice
Mariah Carey is known for her amazing voice and her powerful control of her whistle register. Carey's dramatic coloratura soprano is rated as one of the greatest among pop singers. In 2003 she placed at No. 1 on MTV's "22 Greatest Voices in Music" countdown, ahead of such rivals as Whitney Houston and Céline Dion.
Vocal Profile
- Octave Range: 5 (A2–G7)
- Longest Note: 21 seconds in the song "Lead the way".
- Highest Note(s): G7, G7#, F7, E7
- Lowest Note: A2
Charts records and achievements
The singles marks here are based on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.
- Biggest-selling female artist in recording history.
- Biggest-selling artist of the 1990s.
- Only artist to have a No. 1 single every year of the 1990s.
- Longest-running single at No. 1 in the rock and roll era ("One Sweet Day", 16 weeks).
- Most cumulative weeks having a No. 1 single (61) for any living artist—second only to Elvis Presley (80).
- Most No. 1 singles for any female artist (15).
- First artist to have his or her first five singles go to No. 1.
- Only artist to have two consecutive No. 1 debuts on the singles chart.
- Only artist with three No. 1 debuts on the singles chart.
- Only female artist to have 9 consecutive albums RIAA- certified for at least 3 million copies sold.
- One of 3 artists (and the only female) to receive the American Music award for Special Achievement.
Awards
1990
- Soul Train Award R&B Urban Contemporary New Artist
- Soul Train Award R&B Urban Contemporary Single, Female for "Vision Of *Love"
- Soul Train Award R&B Urban Contemporary Album, Female for "Mariah Carey"
1991
- Grammy Award Best Pop Vocal Performance
- Grammy Award Best New Artist
- Billboard Music Award Top Adult Contemporary Artist
- Billboard Music Award Top Pop Artist
- Billboard Music Award Top Album Artist
- Billboard Music Award Top Pop Album Artist
- Billboard Music Award Top Single Artist
- Billboard Music Award Top Female Single Artist
- American Music Award Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist
- New York City Music Award Best Female Pop Vocalist
- BMI Pop Award for "Love Take Times" (Song Of The Year)
- BMI Pop Award for "Vision Of Love"
- BMI Pop Award for "Someday"
- BMI Pop Award for "Don't Wanna Cry"
- Rolling Stone Award Best New Female Singer
1992
- American Music Award Favourite Soul / R&B Female Artist
- Billboard Music Award Top Female Album Artist for "Emotions"
- Billboard Music Award Top Female Single Artist
- BMI Pop Award Songwriter of the Year
1993
- American Music Award Favourite Pop / Rock Female Artist
- American Music Award Top Contemporary Album for "Unplugged"
- BMI Pop Award for "Emotions"
- BMI Pop Award for "Can't Let Go"
- BMI Pop Award for "Make It Happen"
1994
- Billboard Music Award Female Artist Of The Year
- Rockefeller Center Award for over 20 million sales "Music Box"
- Rockefeller Center Award for sales of 55 million records worldwide since 1990
- MTV European Music Award Favourite Female Artist
- Golden Otto Award Bravo Magazine Best Female Artist
- Smash Hits Award Best Female Solo Singer
- Australian Record Industry Association Award Most Popular Album "Music Box"
- Australian Rec. Ind. Assoc. Award Australia Best Chart Album Performance "Music Box"
- Australian Record Industry Association Award Most Popular International Solo Singer
- BMI Pop Award for "Dreamlover"
1995
- World Music Award Best Selling Pop Artist
- World Music Award Best Selling American Recording Artist
- World Music Award World's Overall Best Performing Artist
- American Music Award Favourite Pop / Rock Female Artist
- Blockbuster Award Top Pop Female
- Silver Otto Award for Second Best Female Artist
- Smash Hits Award Best Female Solo Singer
- BMI Pop Award for "Anytime You Need A Friend"
- BMI Pop Award for "Hero"
- BMI Pop Award for "Dreamlover" (Second Award)
1996
- World Music Award World's Best Selling R&B Female Artist Of The Year
- World Music Award Best Selling Overall Recording Female Artist
- World Music Award Best Selling Pop Artist Of The Year
- World Music Award Best Selling American Female Artist Of The Year
- American Music Award Favourite Rock / Pop Female Artist
- American Music Award Favourite Soul / R&B Female Artist
- Billboard Music Award Hot 100 Single Artist Of The Year
- Billboard Music Special Award for the record 16 weeks @ #1 with "One Sweet Day"
- Billboard Music Award Hot 100 Airplay for "Always Be My Baby"
- Billboard Music Award Hot Adult Contemporary Artist Of The Year
- Blockbuster Award Favourite Single for "Fantasy"
- Blockbuster Award Favourite Adult Contemporary Single Female for "One Sweet Day"
- National Dance Music Award Dance Artist Of The Year
- National Dance Music Award for "Fantasy", Dance Record Of The Year
- Bronze Otto Award for Third Best Female Artist
- BMI Pop Award for "Anytime You Need A Friend" (Second Award)
1997
- Blockbuster Award Top Female Artist for "Butterfly"
- Silver Otto Award for Second Best Female Artist
- BMI Pop Award for "Always Be My Baby"
- BMI Pop Award for "Fantasy"
- BMI Pop Award for "One Sweet Day"
- BMI Pop Award for "Forever"
- VH-1 Award Artist Of The Year
- ASCAP Pop Award for "One Sweet day"
1998
- Legend World Music Award (World Music Award )
- American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B female artist
- Aretha Franklin Award (International Achievement in Arts)
- International Achievement In Arts Award (Special Billboard Award
- BMI Pop Award for "Always Be My Baby" (Second Award)
- Long Island Music Award Best Female Singer
1999
- Oscar Academy award for best original song- "When you believe" (Duet with Whitney Houston)
- NAACP Image Award best Duo or Group "When You Believe" (duet with Whitney Houston)
- Howard Humanitarian Award of Congressional Award Foundation, for humanitarian activities
- BMI Pop Award for Pop Songwriter Of The Year
- BMI Pop Award for "Butterfly"
- BMI Pop Award for "My All"
- BMI Pop Award for "Honey"
- Blockbuster Award for Favorite Pop Female for "#1's"
- Billboard Award for Artist Of The Decade
2000
- Special American Music Award in recognition of her extraordinary rare and distinguished achievements
- NRJ Radio Award for Favorite Female Artist
- Special Millennium World Music Award for Best Female Pop-Artist of Millennium
- World Music Award for Best Female R&B Artist
- Blockbuster Award for Favorite Female R&B Artist
- DMX Music Award for Ultimate Diva
2001
- Make-A-Wish Foundation's 2000 Chris Grecius Award for Celebrity Wish Granter of the Year
- BMI Urban Songwriter Award for "Thank God I Found You"
- Radio Music Award for "Most Requested Artist"
2002
- Billboard Award "Top R&B/hip-hop single - sales" for "Loverboy"
- Razzie Awards:Worst Actress
2003
- Recording Industry Association of America commemorative award ("blue diamond award" for 100th RIAA certification)
- Special NRJ Award
- MTV TRL Free Ride Award
- Voted as having the greatest voice on MTV's 22 Greatest Voices.
- 2003 Quincy Jones Award - Female, For Outstanding Career Achievements
- Z100 Achievement in New York Music Award
- American Heroes Award for ongoing contribution to the Fresh Air Fund
- Diamond World Music Award
2004
- Groovevolt Award Best Album Female (Charmbracelet)
- Groovevolt Award Best Pop Song Performance - Female (Through The Rain)
- Groovevolt Award Best Pop Deep Cut (unreleased Album Track "My Saving Grace)
- Groovevolt Award Best HipHop Collaboration (I Know What You Want, B. Rhymes & M. Carey)
- MTV Asia Lifetime Achievement Award
2005
- GrooveVolt Music Awards For Best Song Collaboration, Duo or Group: (U Make Me Wanna)
- Capital FM Award For London's Outstanding Contribution To Music (Biggest-Selling Female Artist Of All Time)
Discography
- 1990 Mariah Carey #1 US, #6 UK, #6 AU; US Sales: 9 million (19 million--worldwide)
- 1991 Emotions #4 US, #4 UK, #8 AU; US Sales: 5 million (14 million--worldwide)
- 1992 MTV Unplugged #3 US, #3 UK, #7 AU; US Sales: 3 million (15 million--worldwide)
- 1993 Music Box #1 US, #1 UK, #1 AU; US Sales: 11 million (28 million--worldwide)
- 1994 Merry Christmas #3 US, #32 UK, #2 AU; US Sales: 5 million (16 million--worldwide)
- 1995 Daydream #1 (Debut) US, #1 UK, #1 AU; US Sales: 10 million (23 million--worldwide)
- 1997 Butterfly #1 (Debut) US, #2 UK, #1 AU; US Sales: 5 million (17 million--worldwide)
- 1998 #1's #4 US, #10 UK, #6 AU; US Sales: 5 million (17 million--worldwide)
- 1999 Rainbow #2 US, #8 UK, #4 AU; US Sales: 3 million (12 million--worldwide)
- 2001 Glitter #7 US, #10 UK, #13 AU; US Sales: 1 million (5 million--worldwide)
- 2001 Greatest Hits #52 US, #60 AU; US Sales: 1 million (4 million--worldwide)
- 2002 Charmbracelet #3 US, #42; US Sales: 2 million (6 million--worldwide)
- 2003 The Remixes #26 US, #35 UK; US Sales: 1 million (2 million--worldwide)
- 2005 The Emancipation of Mimi #1 (Debut) US, #7 UK, #13 AU; US Sales: 404,000 (953,000--worldwide)
Hit singles
(Note: Bold are Billboard Hot 100, UK Top 40 singles or ARIA singles that reached #1)
MARIAH CAREY
- 1990 "Vision Of Love" #1 US, #9 UK, #9 AU
- 1990 "Love Takes Time" #1 US, #37 UK, #14 AU
- 1991 "Someday" #1 US, #38 UK, #44 AU
- 1991 "I Don't Wanna Cry" #1 US, #49 AU
- 1991 "There's Got To Be A Way" #49 UK (Not released in the US)
EMOTIONS
- 1991 "Emotions" #1 US, #17 UK, #11 AU
- 1991 "Can't Let Go" #2 (#2 R&B) US, #20 UK (1992 release), #63 AU
- 1992 "Make It Happen" #5 US, #17 UK, #35 AU
MTV:UNPLUGGED
- 1992 "I'll Be There" #1 US, #2 UK, #9 AU
- 1992 "If It's Over" #3 UK (Not released in the US)
MUSIC BOX
- 1993 "Dreamlover" #1 US, #9 UK, #7 AU
- 1994 "Hero" #1 US, #7 UK, #7 AU
- 1994 "Without You" #3 US, #1 UK, #3 AU
- 1994 "Anytime You Need a Friend" #12 US #4 UK, #12 AU
MERRY CHRISTMAS
- 1994 "All I Want for Christmas Is You" #86 US #2 UK, #2 AU
- 1994 "Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)"
- 1994 "Joy To The World" #32 AU
DAYDREAM
- 1995 "Fantasy" #1 (Debut) US, #3 UK, #1 AU
- 1995 "One Sweet Day" (with Boyz II Men) #1 (Debut) US, #6 UK, #2 AU
- 1996 "Always Be My Baby" #1 US, #3 UK, #17 AU
- 1996 "Open Arms" #4 UK, #23 AU
- 1996 "Forever" #9 (airplay) US, #40 AU
- 1996 "Underneath The Stars"
BUTTERFLY
- 1997 "Honey" #1 (Debut) US, #3 UK, #8 AU
- 1997 "Butterfly" #12 US, #22 UK, #27 AU
- 1998 "The Roof"
- 1998 "Breakdown" #38 AU
- 1998 "My All" #1 US, #4 UK, #39 AU
- 1998 "Whenever You Call"
NUMBER ONES
- 1998 "When You Believe" (with Whitney Houston) #15 US, #4 UK, #13 AU
- 1998 "Sweetheart" (Feat. JD) #18 US
- 1999 "I Still Believe" #4 US, #16 UK, #54 AU
- 1999 "Do You Know Where You're Going To?"
RAINBOW
- 1999 "Heartbreaker" (feat. Jay-Z) #1 US, #5 UK, #10 AU
- 2000 "Thank God I Found You" (feat. Joe and 98 Degrees) #1 US, #10 UK, #27 AU
- 2000 "Against All Odds" (with Westlife) #1 UK (Not released in the US)
- 2000 "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)"
- 2000 "Crybaby" #28 US, # 7 UK
GLITTER
- 2001 "Loverboy" #2 US, #12 UK, #7 AU
- 2001 "Never Too Far"
- 2001 "Don't Stop (Funkin' 4 Jamaica)" (feat. Mystikal) #32 UK, #36 AU
- 2002 "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life"
- 2002 "Never Too Far/Hero Medley" (with Westlife) #4 UK
CHARMBRACELET
- 2002 "Through the Rain" #81 US, #8 UK, #15 AU
- 2003 "Boy (I Need You)" (feat. Cam'ron) #17 UK, #28 AU
- 2003 "Bringin' On The Heartbreak #23 UK
THE EMANCIPATION OF MIMI
GUEST APPEARANCES
- 1994 "Endless Love" (with Luther Vandross) #2 US, #3 UK, #2 AU
- 2003 "I Know What You Want" (with Busta Rhymes feat. The Flipmode Squad) #3 US, #3 UK, #3 AU
- 2004 "U Make Me Wanna" (with Jadakiss) #21 US
See also
External links
Click the following links to get a profile of Mariah's voice and to hear clips of her singing her famous high notes: