Maria Perrusi 2010 Maria Perrusi Images

Infobox Musical artist

Name = Mariah Carey
Img = Mariah Carey 2 by David Shankbone.jpg
Img_capt = Carey at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.
Background = solo_singer
Spouses = Tommy Mottola (1993–1998)
Nick Cannon (2008–present)
Birth_name =
Born =
Huntington, New York,
United States
Genre = R&B, pop, hip hop, dance
Years_active = 1988–present
Associated_acts =
Occupation = Singer, songwriter, model, record producer, actress
Spouse = Nick Cannon
Label = Columbia, Virgin, Island
URL = www.mariahcarey.com
Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1970) is an American R&B, pop and hip hop singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. She made her recording debut in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, and became the first recording artist to have her first five singles top the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Following her marriage to Mottola in 1993, a series of hit records established her position as Columbia's highest-selling act. According to ''Billboard'' magazine, she was the most successful artist of the 1990s in the United States. Following her separation from Mottola in 1997, Carey introduced elements of hip hop into her album work, to much initial success, but her popularity was in decline when she left Columbia in 2001. She signed to Virgin Records but was dropped from the label and bought out of her contract the following year after a highly publicized physical and emotional breakdown, as well as the poor reception given to ''Glitter'', her film and soundtrack project. In 2002, Carey signed with Island Records, and after a relatively unsuccessful period, she returned to the top of pop music in 2005 with her album, ''The Emancipation of Mimi''. Carey has sold more than 175 million albums, singles and videos worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists.

Life and music career

Childhood and youth

Mariah Carey was born in Huntington, Long Island, New York. She is the third and youngest child of Patricia Carey (née Hickey), a former opera singer and vocal coach, and Alfred Roy Carey, an aeronautical engineer. Her mother was Irish American and her father was of Afro-Venezuelan and African American descent;

cite news|last=Sischy

first=Ingrid|coauthors=| title=Mariah|pages=
publisher=Interview
date=September, 2007
url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_8_37/ai_n27364315/
accessdate=September 11, 2009
her paternal grandfather, Roberto Nuñez, changed his surname to Carey to better assimilate upon moving to the United States from Venezuela.

cite web

last=|first=
authorlink=
coauthors=
title=Alfred Roy Carey
publisher=Mariahcareyfanclub.com
date=
url=http://www.mariahfanclub.com/chambre/proches/alfred_us.php
format=
accessdate=September 11, 2009
Carey was named after the song "They Call the Wind Mariah". Carey graduated from Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York. She was frequently absent because of her work as a demo singer for local recording studios; her classmates consequently gave her the nickname "Mirage". Eventually, she became a backup singer for Puerto Rican freestyle singer Brenda K. Starr. In 1988, Carey met Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola at a party, where Starr gave him Carey's demo tape. Mottola played the tape when leaving the party and was impressed. He returned to find Carey, but she had left. Nevertheless, Mottola 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 (1989–92)

Carey co-wrote the tracks on her 1990 debut album ''Mariah Carey'', and she has co-written most of her material since. During the recording, she expressed dissatisfaction with the contributions of producers such as Ric Wake and Rhett Lawrence, whom the executives at Columbia had enlisted to help make the album more commercially viable. Backed by a substantial promotional budget, the album reached number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart, where it remained for several weeks. It yielded four number-one singles and made Carey a star in the United States, but it was less successful in other countries. Critics rated the album highly, assisting Carey's Grammy wins for Best New Artist, and—for her debut single, "Vision of Love"

cite web

title=Mariah Carey > Charts & Awards (Grammy Awards)
url=http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hvfpxqq5ld0e~T52
work=AllMusic.com
accessdate=July 5, 2008
—Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

cite web|last=Ankeny|first=Jason

title=Mariah Carey > Biography
url=http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hvfpxqq5ld0e~T1
work=AllMusic.com|date=April 15, 2008|accessdate=July 5, 2008
Carey conceived ''Emotions'', her second album, as an homage to Motown soul music (see Motown Sound), and she worked with Walter Afanasieff and Clivillés & Cole (from the dance group C+C Music Factory) on the record. It was released soon after her debut album—in late 1991—but was neither as critically or commercially successful; ''Rolling Stone'' described it as "more of the same, with less interesting material [...] pop-psych love songs played with airless, intimidating expertise" and adds her singing is "more impressive than expressive." Although Carey performed live occasionally, stage fright prevented her from embarking on a major tour. Alongside acoustic versions of some of her earlier songs, Carey premiered a cover of The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" with her back-up singer Trey Lorenz. The duet was released as a single, reached number one in the U.S., and led to a record deal for Lorenz, whose debut album Carey later co-produced.

cite web|title=Trey Lorenz > Credits

url=http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0cfixqy5ldde~T2
work=AllMusic.com
accessdate=July 5, 2008
Because of high ratings for the ''Unplugged'' television special, the concert's set list was released on the EP ''MTV Unplugged'', which ''Entertainment Weekly'' called "the strongest, most genuinely musical record she has ever made [...] Did this live performance help her take her first steps toward growing up?."

International success (1993–96)

Carey and Tommy Mottola had become involved romantically during the making of her debut album, and in June 1993, they were married. Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds consulted on the album ''Music Box'', which was released later that year and became Carey's most successful worldwide. The album maintained a presence on the ''Billboard'' 200 for a staggering 128 weeks. It yielded her first UK Singles Chart number-one,

cite web |url=http://www.onlineweb.com/theones/auxiliary_pages/double_top.htm

title=The UK Number Ones: Double Tops
work=A Half Century of British Number Ones
Retrieved January 2, 2008. a cover of Badfinger's "Without You", and the U.S. number-ones "Dreamlover" and "Hero". ''Billboard'' magazine proclaimed it "heart-piercing [...] easily the most elemental of Carey's releases, her vocal eurythmics in natural sync with the songs", Farley balanced his critique with some positive observations: "The gospel flavored 'Anytime You Need A Friend' demonstrates Carey's vocal power, although too fleetingly. And the title cut is one of Carey's loveliest songs to date..." In late 1994, after her duet with Luther Vandross on a cover of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross's "Endless Love" became a hit, Carey released the holiday album ''Merry Christmas''. It contained cover material and original compositions such as "All I Want for Christmas Is You", which became Carey's biggest single in Japan

cite web

url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/artists/s/163336/
title=Single Sales Ranking (Mariah Carey)
language=Japanese|publisher=oricon
accessdate=November 2, 2008
and, in subsequent years, emerged as one of her most perennially popular songs on U.S. radio. In 1995, Columbia released Carey's fourth studio album, ''Daydream'', which combined the pop sensibilities of ''Music Box'' with downbeat R&B and hip hop influences. A remix of "Fantasy", its first single, featured rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard. Carey said that Columbia reacted negatively to her intentions for the album: "Everybody was like 'What, are you crazy?'. They're very nervous about breaking the formula." The short but profitable Daydream World Tour augmented sales of the album, which received six Grammy Award nominations.

New image and independence (1997–2000)

" video in 1998. Carey and Mottola officially separated in 1997. Although the public image of the marriage was a happy one, she said that in reality she had felt trapped by her relationship with Mottola, whom she often described as controlling. They officially announced their separation in 1997, and their divorce became final the following year. Soon after the separation, Carey hired an independent publicist and a new attorney and manager. She continued to write and produce for other artists during this period, contributing to the debut albums of Allure and 7 Mile through her short-lived imprint Crave Records. Carey's next album, ''Butterfly'' (1997), yielded the number-one single "Honey", the lyrics and music video for which presented a more overtly sexual image of her than had been previously seen. The album was a commercial success—although not to the degree of her previous three albums—and "My All" (her thirteenth Hot 100 number-one) gave her the record for the most U.S. number-ones by a female artist. Toward the turn of the millennium, Carey was developing the film project ''Glitter'' and wrote songs for the films ''Men in Black'' (1997) and ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' (2000). During the production of ''Butterfly'', Carey became romantically involved with New York Yankees baseball star Derek Jeter. Their relationship ended in 1998, with both parties citing media interference as the main reason for the split. By the following year, she had entered a relationship with singer Luis Miguel. ''Rainbow'', Carey's sixth studio album, was released in 1999 and comprised more R&B/hip hop–oriented songs, many of them co-created with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

Personal and professional struggles (2001–04)

After receiving ''Billboard'''s Artist of the Decade Award and the World Music Award for Best-Selling Female Artist of the Millennium, Critics panned ''Glitter'', Carey's much delayed semi-autobiographical film, and it was a box office failure. The lead single, "Loverboy" (featuring Cameo), reached number two on the Hot 100 due to the release of the physical single, but the album's follow-up singles failed to chart; however, a live rendition/medley of the single, "Never Too Far" made its way to number 81. Later in the year, Columbia released the low-charting compilation album ''Greatest Hits'' shortly after the failure of ''Glitter'', and in early 2002, Virgin bought out Carey's contract for $28 million, In 2002, she performed the American national anthem in front of an audience at the Super Bowl XXXVI at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. Following a well-received supporting role in the 2002 film ''WiseGirls'', Carey released the album ''Charmbracelet'', which she said marked "a new lease on life" for her. The album's only charting single in America, "Through the Rain", was a failure on pop radio, which had become less open to maturing "diva" stylists such as Celine Dion, or Carey herself in favor of younger singers such as Christina Aguilera, who had vocal styles very similar to Carey's. "I Know What You Want", a 2003 Busta Rhymes single on which Carey guest starred, fared considerably better and reached the U.S. top five; it was also included on Columbia's release of ''The Remixes'', a compilation of Carey's best remixes and some new tracks. That year, she embarked on the Charmbracelet World Tour and was awarded the Chopard Diamond award for selling more than 100 million albums worldwide.

Return to prominence (2005–08)

, in Florida August 7, 2006. Carey's tenth studio album, ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' (2005), contained contributions from producers such as The Neptunes, Kanye West and Carey's longtime collaborator, Jermaine Dupri. Carey said it was "very much like a party record [...] the process of putting on makeup and getting ready to go out [...] I wanted to make a record that was reflective of that." The album earned Carey a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album, and the single "We Belong Together" won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. "We Belong Together" held the Hot 100's number-one position for fourteen weeks, her longest run at the top as a solo lead artist. Subsequently, the single "Shake It Off" reached number two for a week, making Carey the first female lead vocalist to have simultaneously held the Hot 100's top two positions. (While topping the charts in 2002, Ashanti was the "featured" singer on the number two single.) In mid-2006, Carey began The Adventures of Mimi Tour, which was the most successful of her career, although some dates had to be canceled. In early 2007, she was featured with Bow Wow on the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony single "Lil' L.O.V.E.". " on Good Morning America on stage with her dancers in summer 2008. By spring 2007, she had begun working on her eleventh studio album, ''E=MC²''. Carey's singles have collectively topped the charts for seventy-nine weeks, which places her just behind Presley, who topped the charts for a combined eighty weeks.

''Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel'' and Christmas album (2009–present)

on March 7, 2010 Carey performed "Hero" at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball after Barack Obama was sworn in as America's first African-American president on January 20, 2009. Carey's twelfth studio album, ''Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel'' was released on September 25, 2009. The album received generally favorable reviews from music critics. On December 31, 2009, Carey embarked her seventh concert tour, Angels Advocate Tour, in the United States and Canada. Due to the under-performance of the two singles on the charts, Carey's manager Chris Lighty announced that the release of both albums got canceled and were put on hold indefinitely. In February 2010, the song, "100%", which was originally written and recorded for the film, '''', Following the cancellation of the remix albums, it was announced that Carey will go back to the studio to start work on her second Christmas album and her 13th studio album. The Christmas album is due out in December 2010.. Fashion photographer David LaChapelle told ''The Times'' on April 24, 2010, that he shot the album's artwork.

Acting career

at the premiere of ''Tennessee'' at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 26, 2008. Photograph by David Shankbone. Carey began to take professional acting lessons in 1997, and in the coming year, she was auditioning for film roles. She made her debut as an opera singer in the romantic comedy ''The Bachelor'' (1999), starring Chris O'Donnell and Renée Zellweger. CNN referred derisively to her casting as a talentless diva as "letter-perfect [...] the "can't act" part informs Carey's entire performance". ''Glitter'' was a box office failure, and Carey earned a Razzie Award for her role. She later said that the film "started out as a concept with substance, but it ended up being geared to 10-year-olds. It lost a lot of grit [...] I kind of got in over my head." Carey, Mira Sorvino and Melora Walters co-starred as waitresses at a mobster-operated restaurant in the independent film ''WiseGirls'' (2002), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival but went straight to cable in the U.S. Critics commended Carey for her efforts — ''The Hollywood Reporter'' predicted, "Those scathing notices for ''Glitter'' will be a forgotten memory for the singer once people warm up to Raychel", In 2006, Carey joined the cast of the indie film ''Tennessee'' (2008), taking the role of an aspiring singer who flees her controlling husband and joins two brothers on a journey to find their long-lost father.

Artistry

Carey has said that from childhood she has been influenced by R&B and soul musicians such as Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, She has expressed appreciation for rappers such as The Sugarhill Gang, Eric B. & Rakim, the Wu-Tang Clan, The Notorious B.I.G. and Mobb Deep, with whom she collaborated on the single "The Roof (Back in Time)" (1998). During Carey's career, her vocal and musical style, along with her level of success, has been compared to Whitney Houston and Celine Dion. Carey and her peers, according to Garry Mulholland, are "the princesses of wails [...] virtuoso vocalists who blend chart-oriented pop with mature MOR torch song".

Voice

Mariah Carey possesses a five-octave vocal range, and was ranked first in a 2003 MTV and ''Blender'' magazine countdown of the 22 Greatest Voices in Music, as voted by fans and readers in an online poll. Carey said of the poll, "What it really means is voice of the MTV generation. Of course, it's an enormous compliment, but I don't feel that way about myself." have criticized her music style, stating her releases contain, "all vocal bombast and no subtlety, soul, or shading." Regarding her voice, Carey states, "I have nodules on my vocal cords. My mother says I've had them since I was a kid. That's why I have the high register and the belting register and I can still be husky. The only thing that really affects my voice is sleep. Sometimes if I'm exhausted I can't hit the really high notes." She also explains that it was Minnie Riperton who influenced her to use her whistle register. Vocal instructors, Phyllis Fulford and Michael Mailler state, "The low register is tired and distended, the belting voice is very well controlled, ample, full and warm, the whistle register is perfectly controlled, bright and very agile. Her staccatos are very accurate, her chromatics runs and ad libs deliciously smooth." To describe Carey's vocal style, Sasha Frere-Jones of ''The New Yorker'' writes, "The brutish purity of her voice places her in pop's theatrical lineage, in the company of singers like Barbra Streisand, but Carey's aesthetic is not Broadway, or even particularly white. She is essentially an R&B singer, steeped in gospel, soul, and, especially, hip-hop, and she is a master practitioner of melisma. [...] "Vision of Love" is the Magna Carta of melisma. [...] It begins with several bars of lovely, wordless melisma, as if Carey were warming up, and it ends with two very loud passages of melisma, one of them an a-cappella expansion on the word ''all''. [...] Carey's sound changes with nearly every line, mutating from a steely tone to a vibrating growl and then to a humid, breathy coo."

Themes and musical style

Love is the subject of the majority of Carey's lyrics, although she has written about themes such as racism, social alienation, death, world hunger, and spirituality. She has said that much of her work is partly autobiographical, but ''TIME'' magazine wrote: "If only Mariah Carey's music had the drama of her life. Her songs are often sugary and artificial—NutraSweet soul. But her life has passion and conflict." Carey's output makes use of electronic instruments such as drum machines, keyboards and synthesizers. Many of her songs contain piano music, and she was given piano lessons when she was six years old. Carey said that she cannot read sheet music and prefers to collaborate with a pianist when composing her material, but feels that it is easier to experiment with faster and less conventional melodies and chord progressions using this technique. Some of her arrangements have been inspired by the work of musicians such as Stevie Wonder, a soul pianist to whom Carey once referred as "the genius of the [twentieth] century", Carey began commissioning remixes of her material early in her career and helped to spearhead the practice of recording entirely new vocals for remixes. Combs said that Carey "knows the importance of mixes, so you feel like you're with an artist who appreciates your work—an artist who wants to come up with something with you". She continues to consult on remixes by producers such as Morales, Jermaine Dupri, Junior Vasquez and DJ Clue, and guest performers contribute frequently to them. The popularity in U.S. nightclubs of the dance remixes, which often sound radically different from their album counterparts, has been known to eclipse the mainstream chart success of the original songs.

Legacy

Carey's vocal style and singing ability have had a significant impact on popular music. G. Brown from ''Denver Post'' said that "For better or worse, Mariah Carey's five-octave range and melismatic style have influenced a generation of pop singers." Carey is also credited for establishing R&B and hip-hop into the mainstream pop culture, and for popularizing rapper as a featuring act through her post-1995 songs. Frere-Jones commented, "It became standard for R&B stars like Missy Elliott and Beyoncé, to combine melodies with rapped verses. And young white pop stars—including Britney Spears, 'N Sync, and Christina Aguilera—have spent much of the past ten years making pop music that is unmistakably R&B." Aguilera has said that she loved listening to Whiteny Houston, but it was Carey who had the biggest influence on her vocal styling. Carey's carefully choreographed image of a grown up woman than her image, struck a chord with Aguilera. Her influence on Aguilera also grew from the fact that both of them were from mixed heritage. In a career spanning over 20 years, Carey has sold over 175 million albums, singles and videos worldwide, making her one of the biggest-selling artists in music history. Additionally, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) lists Carey as the third best-selling female artist, with shipments of over 63 million units in the U.S. Carey has spent a record 79 weeks at the number-one position on ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the artist with the most weeks at number-one in U.S. history,

Philanthropy and other activities

Carey is a philanthropist who has donated time and money to organizations such as the Fresh Air Fund. She became associated with the Fund in the early 1990s, and is the co-founder of a camp located in Fishkill, New York, that enables inner-city youth to embrace the arts and introduces them to career opportunities. The camp was called Camp Mariah "for her generous support and dedication to Fresh Air children", One of Carey's most high-profile benefit concert appearances was on VH1's 1998 ''Divas Live'' special, during which she performed alongside other female singers in support of the Save the Music Foundation. The concert was a ratings success, and Carey participated in the Divas 2000 special. In 2007, the Save the Music Foundation honored Carey at their tenth gala event for her support towards the foundation since its inception. Declining offers to appear in commercials in the United States during her early career, Carey was not involved in brand marketing initiatives until 2006, when she participated in endorsements for Intel Centrino personal computers and launched a jewelry and accessories line for teenagers, Glamorized, in American Claire's and Icing stores. In January 2010, Carey announced via Twitter that she is launching a new rosé champagne brand called Angel Champagne.

Discography

Studio albums

''Mariah Carey'' (1990)
''Emotions'' (1991)
''Music Box'' (1993)
''Merry Christmas'' (1994)
''Daydream'' (1995)
''Butterfly'' (1997)
''Rainbow'' (1999)
''Glitter'' (2001)
''Charmbracelet'' (2002)
''The Emancipation of Mimi'' (2005)
''E=MC²'' (2008)
''Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel'' (2009)

EPs and other albums

''MTV Unplugged'' (1992)
''#1's'' (1998)
''Valentines'' (2000)
''Greatest Hits'' (2001)
''The Remixes'' (2003)
''The Ballads'' (2008)
'''' (2010)

Awards

Tours

Music Box Tour (1993)
Daydream World Tour (1996)
Butterfly World Tour (1998)
Rainbow World Tour (2000)
(2003–04)
The Adventures of Mimi Tour (2006)
Angels Advocate Tour (2009–10)

Filmography

_

See also

List of best-selling music artists
List of best selling music artists in U.S.
List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart

Notes

References

External links

Official website
Mariah Carey at Allmusic
Mariah Carey at Billboard.com

Mariah Carey at LAUNCHcast

Succession box

title = Grammy Award for Best New Artist
years = 1991
before= Milli Vanilli
after = Marc Cohn

Succession box

title = Billboard Artist of the Decade
years = 1999
before= —
after = Eminem

Persondata

NAME = Carey, Mariah
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = American singer
DATE OF BIRTH = March 27, 1969
PLACE OF BIRTH = Huntington, NY, United States
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =