A Long Island born and raised singer and songwriter who dominated the 1990s with several successful releases and numerous Number One hits, Mariah Carey quickly became a pop music legend with a seemingly limitless vocal range and talent for writing catchy tunes and sweet ballads that were at home in the Top 10. Starting out as a backup singer for freestyle singer Brenda K. Starr, (whose hit "I Still Believe" Carey would remake in 1999), the young singer passed her demo along to then Columbia Records head Tommy Mottola in 1988. Blown away by the singer's talent and vocal range, Mottola signed the up and coming artist and in 1990, her self-titled debut album tore up the charts on the strength of the hit singles "Vision of Love", "Love Takes Time", "I Don't Wanna Cry", "Someday" and "Love Takes Time". Scoring Grammy wins in the Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal categories in early 1991, Carey followed up the success of her debut with that year's "Emotions", a similarly skillful sophomore effort that launched the title hit as well as the chart-topping tracks "Make it Happen" and "Can't Let Go",

As writer or co-writer of virtually all of her own hits, Carey emerged as a songwriter with her finger on the pulse of popular music, turning in heart-wrenching ballads and affirming and melodic faster paced dance songs that were inescapable on 1990s radio. Carey's impressive showing on "MTV Unplugged" launched a multi-platinum EP of the same name in 1993, and she hit the charts with her emotional reworking of the Jackson 5 hit "I'll Be There". That same year the singer had her first network special, NBC's "Mariah Carey", showcasing her bubbly personality and remarkable singing voice to a prime-time audience. 1993's fairytale wedding to Sony Music president Mottola also kept the singer in the public eye, and when her album "Music Box" hit shelves later that year, her high profile and catchy hit songs helped to make it her fastest selling record to date.

While enjoying the success of "Music Box", Carey recorded a duet with smooth R&B star Luther Vandross, updating the 1980s hit "Endless Love" by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross. An active supporter of the Fresh Air Fund, a program designed to bring nature to the lives of underprivileged urban youth, Carey cut the ribbon on her Camp Mariah in 1994. That winter, her holiday album "Merry Christmas" sold well, thanks to the rollicking original "All I Want For Christmas", which had a bouncy beat, tight melody and broken heart message that made it seem more than worthy for inclusion on the 1963 classic "A Christmas Gift to You From Phil Spector". 1995 saw the release of Carey's next album, "Daydream", another hit-filled platter that pop fans gladly grabbed. While the upbeat numbers "Fantasy" and "Always Be My Baby" received a great deal of radio play, in 1996, the moving single "One Sweet Day" spent an amazing sixteen weeks in the Number One spot, making the sentimental collaboration between the singer and the R&B vocal group Boyz II Men the biggest song of the year.

In 1996, Carey created Crave Records, a division of Sony Music that boasted releases by the R&B groups Allure and 7 Mile. By 1998, following the divorce of Carey and Mottola, Crave ceased operations. The power couple separated in May of 1997 and were divorced ten months later, with Carey releasing her "Butterfly" in the time between. A marked change from her prior efforts, "Butterfly" had a decidedly edgier take, infusing more hip-hop elements into her R&B/pop sound, and seemed to be Carey's statement of independence. The hits "Honey" and "My All" ensured that Carey would enjoy the same popularity she had always earned, even in the wake of her new image.

With well over 100 million units moved, Carey was certainly one of popular music's heavy hitters, and appeared on the VH1 special "Celine, Aretha, Gloria, Shania and Mariah: Divas Live" as a testament to her status and vocal prowess. The special and subsequent CD were very successful and certainly showed Carey as deserving of the Diva moniker. She teamed up with another diva that year, singing "When You Believe" with Whitney Houston for "The Prince of Egypt" soundtrack. Though rumors ran rampant that the two were embroiled in power struggles, the song ended up being a quality collaboration and a big hit.

Carey followed Houston's footsteps to the big screen in 1999, taking a small role as an opera singer in "The Bachelor", a romantic comedy starring Chris O'Donnell as a man who must commit. That same year she revisited her hometown alma maters for Fox's "Mariah Carey's Homecoming Special" and teamed up with rap star Jay-Z on "Heartbreaker", the lead-off singer from her album "Rainbow". In 2000, Carey's contributions to the 1990s were rewarded greatly, winning several awards for her consistent hitmaking and even being named the Artist of the Decade by Billboard. 

Later in the year she hit some rougher patches, sidelined from touring with a bad case of food poisoning and named in a lawsuit alleging her hit "Thank God I Found You" borrowed from the Xscape song "One of Those Love Songs". In the first half of 2001, Carey left Columbia Records for Virgin after her later albums for the company --those released after her split from Mottola-- were given somewhat short shrift in the arena of promotions. That August, Carey embarked on the acting career she had been working on since the mid-1990s, finally finding the time and resources to complete "Glitter" (2001), a 1980s-set feature chronicling the rise of a struggling singer from humble beginnings. Based on an idea by the singer-producer-songwriter-turned-actress, but reportedly not autobiographical, the film would either mark the launch of an all new career for the performer or be written off as a vanity project with a good soundtrack. Already hoping for the former, Carey was lining up other acting jobs, including the crime-drama "Wise Girls" (2002) where she would co-star with Mira Sorvino and Melora Walters and the action comedy "Double-O-Soul", starring Chris Tucker.

• Born:
  on 03/27/1970 in Huntington, New York
• Job Titles:
  Singer, Songwriter, Actress, Producer, Waitress

Family

• Brother: Morgan Carey. older
• Father: Alfred Roy Carey. African-American of Venezuelan descent; divorced Carey's mother in c. 1973
• Mother: Patricia Carey. Irish-American; attended Juilliard; divorced Carey's father in c. 1973
• Sister: Alison Carey. older; lived with father after parents' split

Significant Others

• Companion: Mark Sudack. dated in 2004; no longer together
• Companion: Derek Jeter. star shortstop for the New York Yankees; dated in early 1998
• Companion: Luis Miguel. dubbed "Elvis of Mexico"; had on-again, off-again realationship from 1998 until late summer 2001; reportedly reconciled in late fall 2001; no longer together
• Companion: Vin Diesel. rumored to be dating as of December 2002

Education

• Harborfields High School, Greenlawn, New York, 1987

Milestones

• 1988 Met Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola and gave him her demo
• 1988 Was a backup singer for freestyle balladeer Brenda K. Starr
• 1990 Released her debut album "Mariah Carey", including the breakthrough hit "Vision of Love" and three other Number One singles
• 1991 Followed up with the comparably successful sophomore effort "Emotions", launching the title hit as well as the chart-toppers "Make it Happen" and "Can't Let Go"
• 1993 Married Tommy Mottola in June at a lavish $500,000 ceremony
• 1993 Released "Music Box", featuring the hit "Dreamlover"
• 1993 Released the EP "MTV Unplugged" from her appearance on the music series; hit Number One with her remake of "I'll Be There"
• 1993 Starred in the NBC special "Mariah Carey"
• 1994 "Merry Christmas" is released, launching the hit holiday original "All I Want For Christmas"
• 1994 Teamed up with Luther Vandross to cover the Diana Ross/Lionel Richie hit "Endless Love"; single certified gold
• 1994 With the Fresh Air Fund, opened Camp Mariah, a summer haven for underprivileged youth
• 1995 Concert special "Mariah Carey: Daydream from New York to Tokyo" aired on Fox
• 1995 Released the album "Daydream"
• 1996 After sixteen weeks at Number One, "One Sweet Day" her collaboration with R&B quartet Boyz II Men is named the biggest record of the year
• 1997 Released "Butterfly", featuring the hit "Honey" and a marking her transition to a more hip-hop inspired sound
• 1997 Was CEO of Crave Records, a division of Sony that released albums by Allure and 7 Mile
• 1998 Divorced Tommy Mottola in March after a ten month separation
• 1998 Shut down operations at Crave Records in July
• 1998 Starred in "Celine, Aretha, Gloria, Shania and Mariah: Divas Live"
• 1998 Teamed up with fellow diva Whitney Houston on the single "When You Believe", the theme song for the DreamWorks animated feature "The Prince of Egypt"
• 1998 UPN aired the concert special "Mariah Around the World"
• 1999 Had a small role as an opera singer in "The Bachelor"
• 1999 Hit the charts with "I Still Believe", her cover of the Brenda K. Starr hit
• 1999 Released the album "Rainbow" featuring the hit single "Heartbreaker"
• 1999 Revisited her middle school and high school alma maters in the Fox special "Mariah Carey's Homecoming Special"
• 1999 Teamed up with rap star Jay-Z for the single "Heartbreaker"
• 2000 Hit with a lawsuit over the similarities between her hit "Thank God I Found You" and Xscape's "One of Those Love Songs"
• 2000 Hospitalized in February for food poisoning and dehydration attributed to oysters she consumed
• 2000 Performed in the TV special "VH1 Divas 2000: A Tribute to Diana Ross"
• 2000 Presented with Award of Achievement at American Music Awards for having a Number One song in every year of the 1990s; named Billboard's Artist of the Decade
• 2001 Left Columbia Records for Virgin for a contract worth a reported $100 million covering five albums
• 2001 Starred in the feature "Glitter"; also released album of same name; release of both postponed from August to September because of her health problems
• 2001 Suffered very public nervous breakdown; posted bizarre messages on her official Web site, appeared on "TRL" and performed a strip tease, etc.; eventually hospitalized for "exhaustion"
• 2002 Acted opposite Mira Sorvino in "Wise Girls"; screened at Sundance
• 2002 EMI, parent company of Virgin Records America, announced buyout of 2001 contract for a reported $28 million in January after repeated denials such a deal was in the works
• 2002 Made guest appearance on Fox's "Ally McBeal"
• 2002 Signed three album deal with Island/Def Record for $21-$24 million dollars
• 2005 Released her multi-platinum album "The Emancipation of Mimi", which spawned her sixteenth number-one single, "We Belong Together"; nominated for eight Grammy awards, including Record of the Year
• 2006 Partnered with Elizabeth Arden to launch her own fragrance line (spring 2007 release)
• 2006 Signed a lucrative deal with soft drinks giant Pepsi which will see her write and produce 20 exclusive ringtones and star in TV commercials
• Signed on to star in "Tennessee," an indie drama, in which she'll play a waitress (lensed 2006)

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