Mariah Carey is the Best Selling Female Recording Artist in History with more than 155 million albums and singles sold worldwide.  She was born and grew up in New York and at the age of 3 saw the divorce of her parents (Alfred Roy and Patricia Hickey Carey) and decided to live with her mother.  Her mother recognized her talents at age 3.  Mariah always preferred writing songs than paying attention to class and made music her escape, to release the overwhelming emotions and feelings inside.  Thanks to Brenda K. Starr, who made Mariah a back-up singer and the one who made possible for Mariah to get the opportunity she needs, meeting Tommy Mottola, head of Sony Music then.

Mariah handed her demo tapes to several record executives but none of them gave much attention to it until Tommy came.  When he heard Mariah’s demos on his limousine, he quickly went back to get Mariah but was unable to.  He found her through Brenda’s people, and signed a record deal with her in days.

In 1990, Mariah Carey released her self titled album debut which was certified 9x RIAA Platinum, which sold 12 million copies worldwide and yielded the record setting four (4) consecutive #1 singles: Vision of Love, Love takes time, Someday, and I don’t wanna cry.  She gracefully grabbed 2 Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal for Vision of Love.

She quickly released her follow-up album, Emotions, which gave Mariah her 5^th consecutive #1 single also titled Emotions.  Also found in this album are two Top 10 hit singles Can’t let go (#2) and Make it happen (#4).

“Mariah Carey, MTV Unplugged” was released the same year and spun Mariah’s 6^th #1 single, I’ll be there, a cover of Jackson 5’s hit song.  This album sold 5 million copies worldwide and was certified 3x Platinum in the US.

1993 saw the release of Mariah Carey’s best selling album to date, Music Box, which sold an unparalleled 24 million copies worldwide and was certified 10x Platinum in the US.  Music Box gave Mariah her 7^th and 8^th #1 singles: Dreamlover (8 consecutive weeks) and Hero, also her Top 10 single Without You. 

On June 5, 1993, Mariah and Tommy Mottola were controversially married.  Tommy was more than double her age when they got married. 

Merry Christmas, a collection of Mariah’s favorite Christmas carols with addition of new Christmas songs created a holiday craze as All I want for Christmas is you hit radio.  The album reached sales of more than 13 million copies worldwide, was certified 5x Platinum by the RIAA and became the Best Selling Holiday Album of All Time recently, beating Elvis Presley’s holiday album.  Miss you most at Christmas and Joy to the World were released for promotional purposes.  The album is still selling like hotcake in record stores especially during Christmas Time and continues to re-enter the Pop Catalogue every year.

Daydream, Mariah’s 5^th studio album was released in 1995 elicited three (3) consecutive #1 singles: Fantasy, One Sweet day and Always be my baby.  Fantasy debuted and stayed at the #1 position for 8 consecutive weeks even causing a re-shape in the music industry when Mariah remixed the song with O.D.B.  Nobody thought that a pop star would collaborate with a rapper and note that Mariah is the one who started the collaboration between a female singer and a rapper, now a very current trend in the business.   One Sweet Day, a power song with Boyz II Men, also debuted at the top position and stayed there for a record 16 consecutive weeks and until now has not yet been beaten by anyone.  Always be my baby debuted at the #2 spot and after a week also climbed to the top.  Mariah became the first female artist in history to have three (3) consecutive studio albums to sell in excess of 8 million copies each.

Tommy and Mariah were separated in mid-1997 after some years together. Mariah then released her most personal album to date, .  The album caused shock waves to Mariah’s fan base through out the world by introducing a new sound.  She shifted to her more urban and R&B side.  Her girl-next-door, bubblegum image was turned sexy showing her newfound freedom from her husband.  Not everyone agreed when she said that the divine change was gradual.  Honey was released and debuted yet again at the #1 position giving Mariah her 12^th #1 single.  There are only six (6) songs that have debuted at the top and Mariah owns half of them.  My all, her 13^th #1 single also came from this album.  Breakdown, The Roof and Butterfly further propelled the album, which was certified 5x Platinum in the US.

November 17, 1998- Mariah’s #1’s album was released in celebration of her record-breaking thirteen (13) #1 singles and was certified 3x Platinum.  Four (4) new songs came along with the album including duets with Whitney Houston and Brian McKnight.  Sweetheart, Do you know where you’re going to were also included in the album.  I still believe, Mariah’s tribute to Brenda K. Starr can also be found in the album.  This album became the Best Selling Foreign Album in Japan ever!  Selling more than 2.5 million copies to date.

In 1998, the World Music Awards presented the Legends’ Award for the Best Selling Artist of the Decade and at the same year also received the Aretha Franklin Entertainer of the Year at the Lady of Soul Awards.

Rainbow was released in 1999 where the first single Heartbreaker gave Mariah her 14^th #1 single.  It also gave Mariah her 60^th cumulative week atop of the Billboard Hot 100 Singles beating the long-standing record of The Beatles with 59 weeks.  Rainbow was certified 4x Platinum and has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.  Mariah has had at least one #1 single every year in the ‘90s, which hasn’t been done since the 1920s.  Mariah also has had co-written all her #1 songs with the exception of her cover of I’ll be there.  1999 saw the Annual Billboard Awards present Mariah as the Artist of the Decade.  Early 2000 saw the release of Mariah’s 15^th #1 single; Thank God I found you, which further strengthened Mariah’s hold of her cumulative weeks at #1.

2001 proved to be the hardest and most tumultuous period in Mariah’s life:  Glitter (both the album and the movie) were critically panned all over the world, break-up with her 3-year boyfriend Luis Miguel, suicide of her stylist-friend, and her much publicized “physical and emotional breakdown.”  Mariah was admitted for rehabilitation in Connecticut, the death of her father followed shortly. 

Glitter spun Loverboy, which peaked at #2 and became the Best Selling Single for 2001 with more than 575,000 copies sold.  Never too far and Don’t stop (funkin’ for Jamaica) were released.  The album managed to sell barely 600,000 copies in the US, the first time Mariah missed the million mark, and 4 million copies worldwide.  Her movie was released in the worst possible time ever, 9-11 incident and opened with only $2.5 million to the dismay of people.  But Glitter was doomed from the very start.  Critics tirelessly put out BAD reviews for the movie. Mariah got out of hospital just in time to do her share in America: A Tribute to Heroes. 

Late 2001, Sony released Mariah Carey: Greatest Hits, a 2-cd collection of Mariah’s greatest hits from Vision of Love to Against all odds.  Plus a remix of All I want for Christmas is you.

Things seem to be getting back to their proper places when EMI/Virgin Music dropped Mariah out of their roster of artists.  Mariah was bought out of the biggest contract in history, $100 million for 5 albums.  She was paid an approximate $30 million not to record another 4 albums for them.  But not a long time passed and Record companies (Warner Bro, UMG, Jive, Arista, etc.). came knocking at Mariah’s door to sign her.  In mid-2002, Mariah signed an exclusive contract with Island/Def Jam together with the creation of her very own label, MonarC Music.

A new chapter in Mariah’s life opened with the release of her first album under MonarC Music, Charmbracelet.  It was the comeback album of the year 2002 when the album debuted at #3 with 241,000 copies, Mariah’s second best selling debut week) accompanied by the epic ballad Through the Rain.   The album has already crossed the 1 million mark sales in the U.S. alone and an estimated 3.5 million copies sold worldwide.  Through the rain was released as a single and has now sold more than 60,000 copies in the US alone.  Boy (I need you) followed immediately but was never released as a single.