Born: March 27, 1970
City and Country of Origin: Long Island, NY
Music Training:
Awards: 1990 Grammy awards as Best New Artist and Best Female Vocalist;
Top Recordings: "Vision of Love," "Love Takes Time," "Someday," "I Don't Wanna Cry," "Can't Let Go," "Heartbreaker"
Mariah Carey Biography: Of Irish, Venezuelan and Black heritage she was born on Long Island, New York. She moved to New York City at the age of 17 the day after her high school graduation to pursue a singing career. In New York, she befriended keyboardist Ben Margulies with whom she began co-writing songs. Her big break came while working as a backup singer at a studio session for Brenda K. Starr who handed the demo tape to Columbia Records head Tommy Mottola at a party. According to rumor Mottola played the demo in his limo on the way home that night. He was so impressed with Mariah's sound that he returned to the party to track her down. Her first effort was a self titled album in 1990 which yielded 4 number 1 singles, "Vision of Love," "Love Takes Time," "Someday," and "I Don't Wanna Cry." In 1991 she released her followup album Emotions which resulted in her fifth straight number 1 hit single "Can't Let Go," 2 other singles from the album made the top 5. In 1993 she wed Tommy Mottola, twenty years her senior. She celebrated the event by releasing her third album 2 months later, Music Box. The result was 2 more chart toppers "Dreamlover" and "Hero." After doing a Christmas album in '94 she recorded Daydream in '95 which yielded the single "Fantasy," only the second record in history to debut at number 1, the other being the Marcel's "Blue Moon" back in the Dark Ages. A collaboration with Boyz II Men "One Sweet Day" remained at the top of the charts for an astounding 16 straight weeks. 1997 marked the collapse of her marriage to Mottola and the release of her most hip-hop styled album to date Butterfly. The album included a duet with major competitor for most succesful female soloist of all times Whitney Houston entitled "The Prince of Egypt (When You Believe)." In 1999, the single "Heartbreaker" from the album Rainbow made Carey the first artist to have a number 1 hit record for each year of an entire decade. The hit also pushed her past the Beatles for the artist who spent the most time at the top of the charts. Did I mention that she also writes most of her own records.

Music by the Decade:

Sounds of the Fifties

Sounds of the Sixties

Sounds of the Seventies

Sounds of the Eighties

Sounds of the Nineties