Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1969, Huntington, New York, U.S.) is an American pop singer noted for her remarkable vocal range, which covers five octaves. She was one of the most successful female performers of the 1990s and remained popular into the early 21st century. In 2019 she achieved her 19th number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, which set records for the most chart-topping singles by a woman and by a solo artist.

Early life and career

Though some sources state that Carey was born in 1970, a newspaper from 1969 features her birth announcement. She was the youngest of three children born to an Afro-Venezuelan father, Alfred Roy Carey, and a white Irish American mother, Patricia Carey (née Hickey). Her father was an aeronautical engineer, and her mother was a vocal coach and former opera singer. When she was three years old her parents divorced, and she was raised by her mother.

Mariah Carey began performing as a child. After graduating (1987) from high school in Greenlawn, New York, she moved to New York City to pursue a singing career. She made a demo tape that led Tommy Mottola, an executive at Columbia Records, to sign her in 1988; the couple married in 1993. Her debut album, Mariah Carey (1990), showcased her incredible vocal range and signature “whistle notes” and blended several musical genres, including gospel, pop, and rhythm and blues (R&B). It was a huge success, spawning such hits as “Vision of Love,” and in 1991 Carey won Grammy Awards for best new artist and best female pop vocalist. That same year the title track from her follow-up album, Emotions, became her fifth consecutive chart-topping single.

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Music Box, Daydream, Butterfly, and that Christmas single

With Whitney Houston and Céline Dion, Carey belonged to a trio of powerhouse female vocalists who dominated the charts in the 1990s. Her subsequent hit albums included Music Box (1993) and Daydream (1995), both of which sold some 10 million copies in the United States, as well as the holiday-themed Merry Christmas (1994). The latter featured “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which became a holiday classic and one of the best-selling songs of all time.

(What is the most popular Christmas song of all time?)

Despite such success, Carey grew tired of the sweet and wholesome image that her label had developed for her. After announcing her separation from Mottola in 1997 (they divorced in 1998), she released Butterfly (1997), which reflected her new independence. The album was heavily influenced by hip-hop and rap, and the related music videos revealed a more sexual Carey. The single “Heartbreaker” (featuring Jay-Z) topped the charts in 1999, making Carey the first artist to hit number one on the Billboard singles chart in each year of a decade. By the end of the ’90s she was one of the best-selling vocalists in the world.

Career downturn in the early 2000s

In 2001 Carey signed an $80 million contract with Virgin Records that made her the highest-paid recording artist. Her busy career was soon interrupted, however, when she began exhibiting erratic behavior in public and was hospitalized for exhaustion. (Later that year Carey refuted reports that she had experienced a “nervous breakdown.” In 2018, however, she revealed that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.) She starred in Glitter (2001), but both the semiautobiographical film and its accompanying album did not fare well. In 2002 Virgin terminated its contract with Carey. Later that year she signed with Island/Def Jam, but her first album for the label, Charmbracelet (2002), was another commercial disappointment.

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The Emancipation of Mimi…and that Christmas single makes a comeback

Carey’s follow-up, however, The Emancipation of Mimi (2005), was a critical and commercial success, becoming the top-selling album of the year in the United States, with more than six million copies sold. It also earned three Grammy Awards, including best contemporary R&B album. “Touch My Body,” from E=MC² (2008), became Carey’s 18th number-one song on the Billboard singles chart, moving her past Elvis Presley on the all-time list and leaving her just two short of the Beatles’ record. In 2019 “All I Want for Christmas Is You” went to number one during the holiday season, 25 years after the song’s release. It gave Carey her 19th chart-topper, one hit closer to the Beatles’ record. (Meanwhile, her Christmas classic has peaked again in December for several years in a row.)

Later albums

Carey’s later recordings included Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009), a second Christmas album (2010), Me. I Am Mariah…The Elusive Chanteuse (2014), and Caution (2018), which was released under Sony’s Epic label. She also starred in Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special and Mariah’s Christmas: The Magic Continues (2021), both of which aired on Apple TV+. In 2025 she signed a contract with Gamma, an independent record label, and released Here for It All under her own Mariah imprint. The album debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Other acting roles and music projects

In addition to her recording career, Carey continued to act. After appearing in the drama Tennessee (2008), she earned praise for her portrayal of a social worker in the critically acclaimed Precious (2009). Her later film credits include Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013) and Girls Trip (2017). She also lent her voice to All I Want for Christmas Is You (2017), an animated film inspired by her hit song. Carey also had cameos in such films as Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) and the music industry-based TV series Empire (2016).

In 2013 she joined the television talent show American Idol as a judge for its 12th season, and two years later she began a series of residencies in Las Vegas. Carey performed at the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. Using a teleprompter as a pronunciation guide, she sang the Italian classic “Volare” in the song’s original language. However, her performance ignited debate about whether she had lip-synced or sung live; Olympic organizers later said some parts of the opening ceremony performances had been “pre-recorded” but did not refute or confirm the lip-syncing accusations.

Personal life, books, and honors

Ten years after her 1998 divorce from Mottola, Carey married actor and comedian Nick Cannon. In 2011 they welcomed twins: son Moroccan and daughter Monroe. The couple divorced in 2016.

Her memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey (written with Michaela Angela Davis), was published in 2020. Among the topics discussed in her book were her complex feelings about her parents and about her two siblings, with whom she became estranged as an adult. Of her relationship with her mother, Carey wrote, “It’s never been only black-and-white—it’s been a whole rainbow of emotions.” In 2024 her mother and sister coincidentally died on the same day. Carey also cowrote several children’s books.

Carey received a Billboard Icon Award in 2019 and a BET Ultimate Icon Award in 2025. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2022.