Mariah Carey, the biggest-selling female recording
artist of the 1990's was born and raised in New York by her mother, a former opera
singer with the New York City Opera and a vocal coach, Mariah Carey began singing
at age four. By the time she was in junior high school, she had begun to write
songs. After her high school graduation, she got her fist big break, singing backup
for Brenda K. Starr, a break that led to her signing with Columbia Records. And
now Mariah is not only a singer, but also a writer and producer. Mariah
Carey has had more #1 singles than any female artist, surpassing both the Supremes
(12) and Madonna (11), and more #1's than any currently active recording artist.
She has had more #1 singles (14) than any artist during the 1990's and seen more
singles (3) debut at #1 than any artist in history. With more #1 albums (4) than
any female artist in the 1990's Mariah was the first female artist to see two
of her albums (Music Box and Daydream) reach the 10 million mark in sales and
is the only female artist to have eight albums certified triple-platinum or better
(in Mariah's case, her entire album catalog has achieved RIAA multi-platinum status).
Mariah's 1990 eponymous debut album launched an unparalleled
unbroken string of successes. Mariah Carey has sold more than 12 million albums
worldwide, was certified 8x RIAA-platinum, and yielded a record-setting four consecutive
#1 singles: "Vision of Love," "Love Takes Time," "Someday,"
and "I Don't Wanna Cry." The title track of 1992's
quadruple-platinum Emotions generated her fifth consecutive #1 single, placing
Mariah Carey in the Top Ten All-Time achievers of Most Consecutive #1 Hits. Emotions
earned Mariah two Grammy nominations ("Best Pop Vocal, Female" and,
with Walter Afanasieff, "Best Producer") and an American Music Award
("Favorite Female Artist, Soul/ R&B"). On March 17, 1992, Mariah
appeared on MTV Unplugged, leading to the release of Mariah's sixth #1 single
("I'll Be There") as well as an EP which has been certified triple platinum
in the U.S. and has sold more than five million copies worldwide. In
1993, Mariah released Music Box, an album which as sold more than 24 million copies
worldwide, has been certified ten times RIAA platinum, and generated her seventh
and eighth #1 singles "Dreamlover" and "Hero" as well as the
Top 10 hit "Without You." Mariah followed up with her holiday album,
Merry Christmas, which sold eight million copies worldwide shortly after its release
in November 1994 and has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA. |
