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==Biography== ==Biography==
===Early life and discovery=== ===Early life and discovery===
Carey was born in ], ]. She is the third and youngest child of Patricia Hickey, a former ] singer and voice coach of ] ] extraction, and Alfred Roy Carey, an ] of ] descent. As a ] family, the Careys endured racial slurs, hostility, and sometimes violence, causing the family to frequently relocate in the New York and ] areas. The strain on the family led to the divorce of Carey's parents when she was three years old.<ref>Shapiro, pg. 19&ndash;20.</ref> Carey was born a dirrty slut with a huge ego in ], ]. She is the third and youngest child of Patricia Hickey, a former ] singer and voice coach of ] ] extraction, and Alfred Roy Carey, an ] of ] descent. As a ] family, the Careys endured racial slurs, hostility, and sometimes violence, causing the family to frequently relocate in the New York and ] areas. The strain on the family led to the divorce of Carey's parents when she was three years old.<ref>Shapiro, pg. 19&ndash;20.</ref>


Carey had little contact with her father, and her mother worked several jobs to support the family. Spending much of her time at home alone, Carey turned to music as an outlet. She began singing at around the age of three, performing for the first time in public during elementary school, and was writing her own songs by junior high. Carey graduated from ] in ], New York although she was frequently absent due to her popularity as a ] singer for local recording studios. Her renown within the Long Island music scene gave her opportunities to work with musicians such as ] and ], with whom she would co-author material for her demo tape. After moving to ], Carey worked numerous part-time jobs to pay the rent and completed five hundred hours of beauty school.<ref>"Miss Mariah". '']''. December 1997. �UNIQ700bd9fa9f67f60-HTMLCommentStrip5ae769c229053dda00000001</ref> Eventually, she became a backup singer for ]. Carey had little contact with her father,along with her legs (theyve never met) and her motherfucker worked several jobs to support the family. Spending much of her time at home alone, Carey turned to music as an outlet. She began singing at around the age of three, performing for the first time in public during elementary school, and was writing her own songs by junior high. Carey graduated from ] in ], New York although she was frequently absent due to her popularity as a ] singer for local recording studios. Her renown within the Long Island music scene gave her opportunities to work with musicians such as ] and ], with whom she would co-author material for her demo tape. After moving to ], Carey worked numerous part-time jobs to pay the rent and completed five hundred hours of beauty school.<ref>"Miss Mariah". '']''. December 1997. �UNIQ700bd9fa9f67f60-HTMLCommentStrip5ae769c229053dda00000001</ref> Eventually, she became a backup singer for ].


In 1988, Carey met Columbia Records executive ] at a party, where Starr gave him Carey's demo tape. Mottola played the tape while leaving the party and was very impressed with what he heard. He returned to the party to find Carey, but she had left. Nevertheless, Mottola tracked her down and signed her to a recording contract. This '']''-like story became part of the standard publicity surrounding Carey's entrance into the industry.<ref name="Vibe-Apr1996">Gardner, Elysa. "Cinderella Story". '']''. April 1996. �UNIQ700bd9fa9f67f60-HTMLCommentStrip5ae769c229053dda00000002</ref> In 1988, Carey met Columbia Records executive ] at a party, where Starr gave him Carey's demon tape. Mottola played the tape while leaving the party and was very impressed with what he heard. He returned to the party to find Carey, but she had left. Nevertheless, Mottola tracked her down and signed her to a recording contract. This '']''-like story became part of the standard publicity surrounding Carey's entrance into the industry.<ref name="Vibe-Apr1996">Gardner, Elysa. "Cinderella Story". '']''. April 1996. �UNIQ700bd9fa9f67f60-HTMLCommentStrip5ae769c229053dda00000002</ref>


===1990&ndash;1992: Early commercial success=== ===1990&ndash;1992: Early commercial success===
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Carey and Tommy Mottola had become romantically involved during the making of her debut album, and in June 1993 they were married. Carey and Tommy Mottola had become romantically involved during the making of her debut album, and in June 1993 they were married.


] consulted on the album '']'', which was released later that year and became Carey's most successful worldwide. It yielded her first UK number-one, a cover of ]'s "]", as well as the U.S. number-ones "]" and "]". ''Billboard'' magazine proclaimed it as "heart-piercing ... easily the most elemental of Carey's releases, her vocal eurythmics in natural sync with the songs",<ref>White, Timothy. "Mariah Carey's stirring 'Music Box'". '']''. New York: pg. 5, ] ], Vol. 105, Iss. 35.</ref> but '']'' magazine lamented Carey's attempt at a mellower work: " seems perfunctory and almost passionless ... Carey could be a pop-soul great; instead she has once again settled for ]-like mediocrity."<ref>Farley, Christopher John. . '']''. ] ]. Retrieved ] ].</ref> A subsequent U.S. tour was slated by most critics. Carey said in a '']'' interview: "As soon as you have a big success, a lot of people don't like that. There's nothing I can do about it. All I can do is make music I believe in."<ref>Shapiro, pg. 78.</ref> ] consulted on the album '']'', which was released later that year and became Carey's most successful worldwide. It yielded her first UK number-one, a cover of ]'s "]", as well as the U.S. number-ones "]" and "]". ''Billboard'' magazine proclaimed it as "heart-piercing ... easily the most elemental of Carey's releases, her vocal eurythmics in natural sync with the songs",<ref>White, Timothy. "Mariah Carey's stirring 'Music Box'". '']''. New York: pg. 5, ] ], Vol. 105, Iss. 35.</ref> but '']'' magazine lamented Carey's attempt at a mellower work: " seems perfunctory and almost passionless ... Carey could be a pop-soul great; instead she has once again settled for ]-like mediocrity."<ref>Farley, Christopher John. . '']''. ] ]. Retrieved ] ].</ref> A subsequent U.S. tour was slated by most critics. Carey said i

] recording "]" (1995), one of both acts' biggest singles. {{audio|MariahCareyBoyzIIMenOneSweetDay.ogg|Audio sample}}]]
Following a successful duet with ] on a cover of ] and ]' "]" in late 1994, Carey released the holiday album '']''. It contained both cover material and original compositions such as "]", which became Carey's first ]ese number-one and in subsequent years emerged as one of her most perennially popular songs on U.S. radio. Critical reception of ''Merry Christmas'' was mixed, with '']'' dismissing it as an "otherwise vanilla set... pretensions to high opera on ']' and a horrid danceclub take on ']'".<ref>Parisien, Roch. . '']''. Retrieved ] ].</ref> ''Merry Christmas'' drew greater approval from the public, and it became the most successful Christmas album of all time.<ref>Healey, Mitchell. "Carey On". '']''. ] ]. �UNIQ700bd9fa9f67f60-HTMLCommentStrip5ae769c229053dda00000004</ref>

In 1995 Carey released '']'', which combined the pop sensibilities of ''Music Box'' with downbeat R&B and ] influences. 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."<ref>Shapiro, pg. 92.</ref> It became her biggest-selling LP in the U.S., and its singles achieved similar success: "]" became the second single to debut at number-one in the U.S. and topped the Canadian charts for twelve weeks, "]" (with ]) spent a still-record sixteen weeks at number one in the U.S., and "]" (co-produced by ]) led the Hot 100's 1996 year-end radio ] chart. ''Daydream'' generated career-best reviews for Carey<ref>Shapiro, pg. 94&ndash;96.</ref> and was proclamed one of 1995's best albums by publications such as the '']'', which wrote that its "best cuts bring pop candy-making to a new peak of textural refinement ... Carey's song writing has taken a leap forward, becoming more relaxed, sexier and less reliant on clichés".<ref>Holden, Stephen. "Mariah Carey Glides Into New Territory". '']''. pg. 76, ] ]. �UNIQ700bd9fa9f67f60-HTMLCommentStrip5ae769c229053dda00000005</ref> The album received six Grammy Award nominations.

===1997&ndash;2000: Independence and new image===
Carey and Mottola separated in 1996. 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.<ref>Shapiro, pg. 97&ndash;98.</ref> They officially announced their separation in 1997, and their divorce became final the following year. Carey hired a new attorney and manager soon after the separation, as well as an independent publicist. She became a major songwriter and producer for other artists during this period, contributing to the debut albums of ], 7 Mile and ] through her short-lived ] imprint.

]" (1997), Carey's first heavily ]-influenced single, presented a more overtly sexual image of her than had been previously seen. {{audio|MariahCareyHoney.ogg|Audio sample}}]]

Carey's next album '']'' (1997) was yielded by the number-one single "]", the lyrics and ] for which presented a more overtly sexual image of her than had been previously seen. She stated that ''Butterfly'' marked the point that she attained full creative control over her music, which continued to move in an R&B/hip hop direction with material co-authored and produced by rappers such as ] and ], but added: "I don't think it's that much of a departure from what I've done in the past ... It's not like I went psycho and thought I was going to be a rapper. Personally, this album is about doing whatever the hell I wanted to do."<ref>Shapiro, pg. 101.</ref> Reviews were almost uniformly positive: ] said ''Butterfly'' "pushes the envelope", a move its critic thought "may prove disconcerting to more conservative fans" but praised as "a welcome change".<ref>Reynolds, J.R. . ]. ] ]. Retrieved ] ].</ref> The '']'' wrote: " is easily the most personal, confessional-sounding record she's ever done ... Carey-bashing just might become a thing of the past."<ref>Johnson, Connie. '']''. pg. 58, ] ].</ref> The album was a commercial success, and "]" (her thirteenth Hot 100 number-one) gave her the record for the most U.S. number-ones by a female artist. Towards the turn of the millennium, Carey developed the film project '']'', and she also wrote songs for the films '']'' (1997) and '']'' (2000).

During the production of ''Butterfly'', Carey became involved with ] ] player ], who is also biracial. Their relationship ended in 1998, with both parties citing media interference as the main reason for the split.<ref>Shapiro, pg. 112.</ref> That year saw the release of the album '']'', a collection of her U.S. number-one singles up to that point. Carey said she recorded new material for the album as a way of rewarding her fans,<ref>Shapiro, pg. 116.</ref> and it also included "]", an ]-winning duet with ] from the soundtrack to '']'' and Houston's multi-platinum album "My Love Is Your Love". ''#1's'' sold above expectations, but a review in '']'' labelled Carey "a purveyor of saccharine bilge like 'Hero', whose message seems wholesome enough: that if you vacate your mind of all intelligent thought, flutter your eyelashes and wish hard, sweet babies and honey will follow".<ref>. '']''. Retrieved ] ].</ref> Also that year she appeared on the first televised '']'' ] program, though her alleged ] behaviour had already led many to consider her a ].<ref>Haring, Bruce. . ]. ] ]. Retrieved ] ].</ref> By the following year, she had entered a relationship with singer ].

'']'', Carey's sixth studio album, was released in 1999. It was again comprised of more R&B/hip hop-oriented songs, many of them produced in collaboration by ]. Both "]" and "]" (the former featuring ], the latter featuring ] and boyband ]) reached number one in the U.S., and the success of the former made Carey the only act to have a number-one single in each year of the 1990s. Media reception was generally enthusiastic, with the '']'' saying the album "sees her impressively tottering between soul ballads and collaborations with R&B heavyweights like ], ] ... It's a polished collection of pop-soul."<ref>Virtue, Graham. "''Rainbow'', Mariah Carey". '']''. ] ]. �UNIQ700bd9fa9f67f60-HTMLCommentStrip5ae769c229053dda00000006</ref> Similar sentiments were expressed in '']'' magazine, which wrote, "She pulls out all stops...''Rainbow'' will garner even more adoration",<ref>"Mariah Carey, ''Rainbow''". '']''. pg. 258, December 1999.</ref> but despite this it became Carey's lowest-selling LP up to that point, and there was a recurring criticism that the tracks were too alike. When the ] "]"/"]" became her first single to peak outside of the top twenty, Carey accused Sony of under promoting it: "The political situation in my professional career is not positive ... I'm getting a lot of negative feedback from certain corporate people", she wrote on her official website.<ref>Shapiro, pg. 134.</ref>

===2001&ndash;2004: Personal and professional struggles===
After receiving Billboard's Artist of the Decade Award (see ]s) and the World Music Award for Best-Selling Female Artist of the Millennium, Carey parted from Columbia and signed a contract with ]'s ] worth a reported US$80 million. She often stated that Columbia had regarded her as a commodity, with her separation from Mottola exacerbating her relations with label executives. Just a few months later in July 2001, it was widely reported that Carey had suffered a physical and emotional breakdown. She had left messages on her website complaining of being overworked,<ref>Friedman, Roger. . ]. ] ]. Retrieved ] ].</ref> and her relationship with Luis Miguel was ending. In an interview the following year, she said, "I was with people who didn't really know me, and I had no personal assistant. I'd be doing interviews all day long, getting two hours of sleep a night, if that."<ref name="USAToday-Nov2002">Gardner, Elysa. . '']''. ] ]. Retrieved ] ].</ref> During an appearance on ]'s '']'', Carey handed out ]s to the audience and began what was later described as a "strip tease".<ref>. ]. ] ]. Retrieved ] ].</ref> By the month's end, she had checked into a psychiatric hospital, and her publicist announced that she would be taking a break from public appearances.<ref name="CNN-Aug2001">Cook, Shanon. . ]. ] ]. Retrieved ] ].</ref>

]'' (2001).]]

Critics panned '']'', Carey's much delayed semi-autobiographical film, and it was a box office failure. The album '']'', inspired by the music of the 1980s, generated her worst showing on the U.S. charts. The '']'' dismissed it as "an absolute mess that'll go down as an annoying blemish on a career that, while not always critically heralded, was at least nearly consistently successful",<ref>Johnson, Kevin C. "Mariah Carey's New "Glitter" Is a Far Cry from Golden". '']''. pg. F.5, ] ] .</ref> while '']'' magazine opined, "After years of trading her signature flourishes for a radio-ready purr, 's left with almost no presence at all."<ref>"''Glitter''". '']''. pg. 118, August&ndash;September 2001.</ref> "]" reached number two on the Hot 100 thanks to a price cut,<ref name="CNN-Aug2001"/> but the album's follow-up singles failed to chart.

Columbia released the album '']'' shortly following the failure of ''Glitter'', and in early 2002, Virgin bought out Carey's contract for $28 million, which created further negative publicity. Carey said that her time at Virgin had been "a complete and total stress-fest ... I made a total snap decision which was based on money, and I never make decisions based on money. I learned a big lesson from that."<ref>. ]. ] ]. Retrieved ] ].</ref> Later that year, she signed a $20 million contract with ]' ] and launched the record label ]. To add further to Carey's emotional burdens, her father died of cancer that summer.

Following a well-received supporting role in the film '']'', Carey released the album '']'', which she said marked "a new lease on life" for her.<ref name="USAToday-Nov2002"/> Sales of ''Charmbracelet'' were lukewarm, and the quality of Carey's vocals came under severe criticism. The '']'' declared the album as "the worst of her career, revealing a voice no longer capable of either gravity-defying gymnastics or soft coos",<ref>Anderman, Joan. "For Carey, the Glory's Gone but the Glitter Lives On". '']''. pg. D.4, ] ] .</ref> and ''Rolling Stone'' commented: "Carey needs bold songs that help her use the power and range for which she is famous. ''Charmbracelet'' is like a stream of watercolours that bleed into a puddle of brown."<ref>Walters, Barry. "''Charmbracelet''". '']''. New York: pg. 93, ] ], iss. 911.</ref> Singles such as "]" failed on the charts and with pop radio, whose playlists had become less open to maturing "diva" stylists such as Carey, Whitney Houston and ].<ref name="USAToday-Nov2002"/>

"]", a 2003 ] single on which Carey guest-starred, fared considerably better and reached the U.S. top five. Columbia later included it on the remix collection '']'', Carey's lowest-selling album. That year, she was awarded the ] for selling over 100 million albums worldwide.<ref>. ]. Retrieved ] ].</ref> In 2004 she was featured on rapper ]' single "]", which reached the top ten of Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop chart.

===2005&ndash;present: Return to prominence===
]" (2005) received ]s for "]" and "]". {{audio|MariahCareyWeBelongTogether.ogg|Audio sample}}]]

Carey's ninth studio album '']'' was released in 2005 and contained collaborations with longtime contributors as ] and new producers such as ] and ]. 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."<ref>Ferber, Lawrence. "Mariah Carey: Free at last". '']''. ] ]. �UNIQ700bd9fa9f67f60-HTMLCommentStrip5ae769c229053dda00000007</ref> ''Mimi'' became the year's best-selling album in the U.S. and won three Grammy Awards (including "]"). Reviews were some of Carey's most favourable for some time; '']'' defined it as "a tough cookie of an album" and "cool, focused and urban ... the first Mariah Carey tunes in years I wouldn't have to be paid to listen to again".<ref>Sullivan, Caroline. . '']''. ] ]. Retrieved ] ].</ref> The second single "]" occupied the Hot 100's number-one position for fourteen weeks (her longest run at the top as a solo artist) and was the biggest hit of 2005, with heavy radio airplay across the world. The third single "]" also proved successful and "]" became Carey's seventeenth number-one in the U.S.; this achievement tied her with ] for the most number-ones by a solo act according to ''Billboard'' magazine's revised methodology (their statistician ] still credits Presley with an eighteenth). By this count Carey is behind only ], who have twenty number-ones. In late summer 2006, Carey is set to begin ], her first tour since 2003.


==Acting career== ==Acting career==

Revision as of 15:38, 30 May 2006

Template:Infobox musical artist 2

Mariah Carey (born March 27 1970) is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. Carey made her debut in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, and became the first recording act to have her first five singles top the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Following her marriage to Mottola in 1993, a series of subsequent successful records consolidated her position as one of Columbia's highest-selling acts, and according to Billboard magazine she was the most successful artist of the 1990s in the U.S.

Carey took full creative control over her image and music following her separation from Mottola in 1997, and introduced heavy elements of hip hop into her album material. Her popularity was in decline when she left Columbia in 2001, and she was dropped by Virgin Records the following year after a highly publicized physical and emotional breakdown and the poor reception of Glitter, her film and soundtrack project. Carey later signed with Island Def Jam Records, and after an unsuccessful period, she returned to the forefront of popular music in 2005.

In 2000, the World Music Awards nominated Carey the best-selling female artist of all time, and she has recorded the most U.S. number-one singles for a female artist. In addition to her commercial accomplishments, she is well-known for her melismatic singing voice which has been noted for its range, power (see vocal belting) and technical ability. However, some critics have said that Carey's efforts to showcase her vocal talents have been at the expense of communicating true emotion through song.

Biography

Early life and discovery

Carey was born a dirrty slut with a huge ego in Long Island, New York. She is the third and youngest child of Patricia Hickey, a former opera singer and voice coach of Irish American Roman Catholic extraction, and Alfred Roy Carey, an aeronautical engineer of Afro-Venezuelan descent. As a multiracial family, the Careys endured racial slurs, hostility, and sometimes violence, causing the family to frequently relocate in the New York and Long Island areas. The strain on the family led to the divorce of Carey's parents when she was three years old.

Carey had little contact with her father,along with her legs (theyve never met) and her motherfucker worked several jobs to support the family. Spending much of her time at home alone, Carey turned to music as an outlet. She began singing at around the age of three, performing for the first time in public during elementary school, and was writing her own songs by junior high. Carey graduated from Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York although she was frequently absent due to her popularity as a demo singer for local recording studios. Her renown within the Long Island music scene gave her opportunities to work with musicians such as Gavin Christopher and Ben Margulies, with whom she would co-author material for her demo tape. After moving to New York City, Carey worked numerous part-time jobs to pay the rent and completed five hundred hours of beauty school. Eventually, she became a backup singer for Brenda K. Starr.

In 1988, Carey met Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola at a party, where Starr gave him Carey's demon tape. Mottola played the tape while leaving the party and was very impressed with what he heard. He returned to the party to find Carey, but she had left. Nevertheless, Mottola tracked her down and signed her to a recording contract. This Brittney Spears-like story became part of the standard publicity surrounding Carey's entrance into the industry.

1990–1992: Early commercial success

Carey co-author all of the original compositions on her 1990 debut album Mariah Carey, and continued to co-author nearly all of her material for the rest of her career. Producers such as Ric Wake and Rhett Lawrence were introduced to Carey by executives at her record label following some initial recordings with her demo's producers, which were deemed inappropriate for radio. With substantial promotion the album ascended to number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, where it remained for several weeks. It produced four number-one singles and made Carey a star in the United States, but its success elsewhere was limited. Critics rated the album highly, and Carey won Grammy Awards for "Best New Artist" and "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance" for her debut single "Vision of Love".

File:IBT.jpg
Carey's 1992 MTV Unplugged concert showed her ability to reproduce her vocal style outside of a studio setting. Audio file "MariahCareyEmotions(Live).ogg" not found

Emotions, Carey's second album, was conceived as an homage to Motown soul music (see Motown Sound) and saw Carey working with Walter Afanasieff and the dance group C&C Music Factory. It was released soon after her debut album in the fall of 1991, but was neither critically nor commercially as successful; Rolling Stone described it as "more of the same, with less interesting material ... pop-psych love songs played with airless, intimidating expertise". The title track "Emotions" made Carey the only recording act to have their first five singles reach number-one on the U.S. Hot 100 chart, though the album's follow-up singles failed to match this feat. Carey had been lobbying to produce her own songs, and beginning with Emotions, she would co-produce most of her material. "I didn't want to be somebody else's vision of me," she said. "There's more of me on this album." She would also begin writing and producing for other artists, such as Penny Ford and Daryl Hall, within the coming year.

Although she had occasionally performed live, stage fright had prevented Carey from embarking on any major public tours. Her first widely-seen concert appearance was on the television show MTV Unplugged in 1992, and she said she felt that her performance proved her vocal abilities were not, as some had previously speculated, simulated using studio techniques. In addition to acoustic versions of some of her earlier songs, Carey premiered a cover of The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" with back-up singer Trey Lorenz. Released as a single, the duet reached number one in the U.S. and led to a record deal for Lorenz, whose debut album Carey produced. Because of strong 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?"

1993–1996: Worldwide popularity

Carey and Tommy Mottola had become romantically involved 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. It yielded her first UK number-one, a cover of Badfinger's "Without You", as well as the U.S. number-ones "Dreamlover" and "Hero". Billboard magazine proclaimed it as "heart-piercing ... easily the most elemental of Carey's releases, her vocal eurythmics in natural sync with the songs", but TIME magazine lamented Carey's attempt at a mellower work: " seems perfunctory and almost passionless ... Carey could be a pop-soul great; instead she has once again settled for Salieri-like mediocrity." A subsequent U.S. tour was slated by most critics. Carey said i

Acting career

Carey began to take professional acting lessons in 1997, and within 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, and CNN derisively referred to her casting as a talentless diva as "letter-perfect".

Carey's first starring role was in Glitter (2001), and in it she played a struggling musician in the 1980s who breaks into the music industry after meeting a disc jockey (Max Beesley). While Roger Ebert said "'s acting ranges from dutiful flirtatiousness to intense sincerity", most critics panned it: Halliwell's Film Guide called it a "vapid star vehicle for a pop singer with no visible acting ability", and The Village Voice observed: "When tries for an emotion—any emotion—she looks as if she's lost her car keys." 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."

File:Carey Walters Sorvino in WiseGirls.jpg
Carey (left), with Melora Walters and Mira Sorvino, in WiseGirls (2002).

Carey, Mira Sorvino and Melora Walters co-starred as waitresses at a restaurant run by mobsters 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", and Roger Friedman, referring to her as "a Thelma Ritter for the new millennium", said, "Her line delivery is sharp and she manages to get the right laughs". WiseGirls producer Anthony Esposito cast Carey in The Sweet Science, a film about an unknown female boxer who is recruited by a boxing manager, but it never entered production.

Carey was one of several musicians who appeared in the independently-produced Damon Dash films Death of a Dynasty (2003) and State Property 2 (2005), while her television work has been limited to a January 2002 episode of Ally McBeal. Carey joined the cast of the indie film Tennessee in 2006, taking the role of a waitress who travels with her two brothers to find their long-lost father.

Artistry

Carey has said that from childhood she was stimulated by soul and R&B musicians such as Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin and Al Green. Her music also contains strong influences of gospel music, and her favourite gospel singers include The Clark Sisters, Shirley Caesar and Edwin Hawkins. As Carey began to imbue her sound with hip hop, speculation arose that she was making an attempt to take advantage of the genre's popularity, but she told Newsweek, "People just don't understand. I grew up with this music". 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).

Carey performing in December 1998.

Carey's debut album received criticism for being too similar in style to the work of Whitney Houston, and throughout her career, Carey's vocal and musical style, along with her level of success, have been compared to Houston and Céline 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". In She Bop II: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop and Soul (2002), writer Lucy O'Brien attributed the comeback of Barbra Streisand's "old-fashioned showgirl" to Carey and Dion, and described them and Houston as "groomed, airbrushed and overblown to perfection". Carey's musical transition and the use of more revealing clothing during the late 1990s were in part initiated to distance herself from this image, and she subsequently said that most of her early work had been "schmaltzy MOR". Some have noted that unlike Houston and Dion, Carey writes all of her own songs, and the Guinness Rockopedia (1998) classified her as the "songbird supreme". Since her debut, Carey has received a career-total of five Grammy Awards.

Voice

Carey can cover all the notes from the alto vocal range leading to those of a coloratura soprano, and her vocal trademark is her ability to sing in the whistle register. She has cited Minnie Riperton as the greatest influence on her singing technique, and from a very early age, she would attempt to emulate Riperton's high notes, to increasing degrees of success as her vocal range expanded. According to most sources, she has a five-octave vocal range, though some credit her with as many as eight octaves. In 2003 her voice was voted the greatest in music in MTV and Blender magazine's countdown of the 22 Greatest Voices in Music. 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."

Carey's voice has come under considerable scrutiny from critics who believe that she does not effectively communicate the message of her songs. Rolling Stone magazine said in 1992, "Carey has a remarkable vocal gift, but to date, unfortunately, her singing has been far more impressive than expressive ... at full speed her range is so superhuman that each excessive note erodes the believability of the lyric she is singing." The New York Daily News wrote that Carey's singing "is ultimately what does her in. For Carey, vocalizing is all about the performance, not the emotions that inspired it ... Does having a great voice automatically make you a great singer? Hardly." Some interpreted Carey's decision to utilise what she described as "breathy" vocals in some of her late 1990s and early 2000s work as a sign that her voice had begun to deteriorate, but she has maintained that it "has been here all along". An article in Vibe magazine indicated that Carey's singing style highlights weaknesses in other aspects of her music: "The impressiveness of her voice—as well as her tendency to oversing—make the blandness of her material all the more flagrant".

Themes and musical style

Template:Sound sample box align right Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end Template:Sample box end Love is the subject of the majority of Carey's lyrics, although she has also written about themes such as racism, death 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 great use of electronic instruments such as drum machines, synthesizers and keyboards. Many of her songs contain piano music, and she was given piano lessons when she was six years old. Carey said in one interview 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/R&B pianist whom Carey once referred to as "the genius of the century", but she has said "My voice is my instrument; it always has been." Butterfly Melodies, a tribute album containing piano renditions of some of Carey's songs, was released by Vitamin Records in 2005.

Carey began commissioning remixes of her material early in her career and helped spearhead the practice of recording entirely new vocals for remixes. Disc jockey David Morales has collaborated with Carey several times, starting with "Dreamlover" (1993), which popularised the tradition of remixing pop songs into house records and which Slant magazine named one of the greatest dance songs of all time. From "Fantasy" (1995) onward, she would enlist both hip hop and house producers to re-imagine her album compositions. Entertainment Weekly included two remixes of "Fantasy" on a list of Carey's greatest recordings compiled in 2005: a National Dance Music Award-winning remix produced by Morales and another featuring rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard, and the latter has been credited with initiating the trend of the pop/hip hop collaboration which has continued into the 2000s through artists such as Beyoncé Knowles and Ashanti. Sean Combs, who co-produced the hip hop remix, 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 of these remixes, which often sound radically different from their album counterparts, has been known to eclipse the success of the original songs.

Philanthropy and other activities

File:Mariah Carey and children at Camp Mariah.jpg
Carey with children at the Fresh Air Fund's Camp Mariah.

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", and she received a Congressional Horizon Award for her youth-related charity work. She is also well-known nationally for her work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation in granting the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses, has volunteered for the New York City Police Athletic League and contributed to the obstetrics department of New York Presbyterian Hospital Cornell Medical Center. A percentage of the sales of MTV Unplugged was donated to various other charities.

One of Carey's most high-profile benefit concert appearances was on VH1's Divas Live special in 1998, where 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 2000 special. She appeared at the America: A Tribute to Heroes nationally televised fundraiser in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and in December 2001 she performed before peacekeeping troops in Kosovo. Carey also hosted the CBS television special At Home for the Holidays, which documented real-life stories of adopted children and foster families, and she has worked with the New York City Administration for Children's Services. In 2005 Carey performed for Live 8 and at the Hurricane Katrina relief telethon Shelter from the Storm.

Carey has participated in endorsements for Berlitz Language Schools and the Aeon English College in Japan, Nescafé coffee, and Intel Centrino personal computers. In early 2006 she launched a jewelry and accessories line for teenagers, "Glamorized", in U.S. Claire's and Icing stores. Later that year it was announced she had signed a licensing deal with the cosmetics company Elizabeth Arden to release a fragrance in 2007.

Discography

Albums

Further information: ]
  1. Mariah Carey (1990)
  2. Emotions (1991)
  3. MTV Unplugged (1992)
  4. Music Box (1993)
  5. Merry Christmas (1994)
  6. Daydream (1995)
  7. Butterfly (1997)
  8. #1's (1998)
  9. Rainbow (1999)
  10. Glitter (2001)
  11. Greatest Hits (2001)
  12. Charmbracelet (2002)
  13. The Remixes (2003)
  14. The Emancipation of Mimi (2005)

Number-one singles

The following singles reached number one in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and/or Japan. For a full singles discography, see Mariah Carey singles discography.
Year Single Chart positions
U.S. #1 UK #1 CAN #1 AUS #1 JPN #1
1990 "Vision of Love" 1st 1st
"Love Takes Time" 2nd 2nd
1991 "Someday" 3rd
"I Don't Wanna Cry" 4th
"Emotions" 5th
1992 "I'll Be There"
(feat. Trey Lorenz) 		6th 3rd
1993 "Dreamlover" 7th 4th
"Hero" 8th
1994 "Without You" 1st
"All I Want for Christmas Is You" 1st
1995 "Fantasy" 9th 5th 1st 2nd
"One Sweet Day"
(with Boyz II Men) 		10th
1996 "Always Be My Baby" 11th
1997 "Honey" 12th 3rd
1998 "My All" 13th
"When You Believe"
(with Whitney Houston) 		4th
1999 "Heartbreaker"
(feat. Jay-Z) 		14th 6th 5th
2000 "Thank God I Found You"
(feat. Joe and 98 Degrees) 		15th
"Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)"
(with Westlife) 		2nd
2001 "Loverboy"
(feat. Cameo) 		6th
2005 "It's Like That" 7th
"We Belong Together" 16th 2nd
"Don't Forget about Us" 17th

See also

Notes

  1. Shapiro, Marc. Mariah Carey (2001). pg. 145. UK: ECW Press, Canada. ISBN 1550224441.
  2. Shapiro, pg. 19–20.
  3. "Miss Mariah". Cosmopolitan. December 1997. �UNIQ700bd9fa9f67f60-HTMLCommentStrip5ae769c229053dda00000001
  4. ^ Gardner, Elysa. "Cinderella Story". VIBE. April 1996. �UNIQ700bd9fa9f67f60-HTMLCommentStrip5ae769c229053dda00000002
  5. Evans, Paul. The Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992). pg. 110–111. UK: Virgin Books. ISBN 0863696430.
  6. Shapiro, pg. 62.
  7. Shapiro, pg. 69.
  8. Sandow, Greg. "MTV Unplugged EP". Entertainment Weekly. June 19 1992. �UNIQ700bd9fa9f67f60-HTMLCommentStrip5ae769c229053dda00000003
  9. White, Timothy. "Mariah Carey's stirring 'Music Box'". Billboard. New York: pg. 5, August 28 1993, Vol. 105, Iss. 35.
  10. Farley, Christopher John. "Hurray! a B Minus!". Time. September 6 1993. Retrieved March 4 2006.
  11. Tatara, Paul. "Review: 'The Bachelor' -- cold feet, bad film". CNN.com. November 9 1999. Retrieved March 17 2006.
  12. Ebert, Roger. "'Glitter' glosses over important moments". Chicago Sun-Times. September 23 2001. Retrieved from the Wayback Machine on March 17 2006.
  13. Walker, John. Halliwell's Film Guide 2004: 19th Edition (2003). pg. 338. UK: HarperCollins Publishers Inc. ISBN 0060554088.
  14. Atkinson, Michael. "Eat Drink Man Mariah". The Village Voice. September 26–October 2 2001. Retrieved March 17 2006.
  15. Cite error: The named reference USAToday-Nov2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. Honeycutt, Kirk. "Wisegirls". Hollywood Reporter. January 15 2002. Retrieved March 17 2006.
  17. Friedman, Roger. "Mariah Makes Good in Mob Movie". FOX News. January 14 2002. Retrieved March 17 2006.
  18. Moss, Corey. "Despite 'Glitter,' Mariah Carey's Movie Career Could Still Sparkle". MTV.com. February 20 2002. Retrieved March 17 2006.
  19. ^ Serpe, Gina. "Mariah Pulls a J.Lo". E! Online. March 3 2006. Retrieved March 12 2006.
  20. Norent, Lynn. "Mariah Carey: 'Not another White girl trying to sing Black'". Ebony. March 1991. �UNIQ700bd9fa9f67f60-HTMLCommentStrip5ae769c229053dda00000008
  21. Shapiro, pg. 124.
  22. Mulholland, Garry. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music (2003). pg. 57. UK: Flame Tree Publishing. ISBN 1904041701.
  23. ^ O'Brien, Lucy. She Bop II: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop and Soul (2002). pg. 476–477. UK: Continuum. ISBN 0826457762 (paperback).
  24. Guinness Rockopedia (1998). pg. 74. UK: Guinness Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0851120725.
  25. ARC Weekly Top 40 timeline. Rock on the Net. Retrieved May 4 2006.
  26. ^ Farber, Jim. "More like a screaming 'Mimi'". New York Daily News. April 12 2005. Retrieved March 10 2006.
  27. "Princess Positive is taking care of the inner Mariah". The Sydney Morning Herald. April 1 2003. Retrieved March 12 2006.
  28. Tannenbaum, Rob. "Mariah Carey: Emotions". Rolling Stone. RS 617, November 14 1991. Retrieved March 12 2006.
  29. "Mariah Carey Ads Say the Voice Will Be Back, but She Says It Never Left". Yahoo! Music. March 28 2005. Retrieved March 17 2006.
  30. Farley, Christopher John. "Pop's Princess Grows Up". Time. September 25 1995. Retrieved March 12 2006.
  31. "Mariah Carey savors a charmed year". Yahoo! Music. November 2005. Retrieved March 12 2006.
  32. "100 Greatest Dance Songs: 100–91". Slant. 2006. Retrieved March 12 2006.
  33. "Gem Carey". Entertainment Weekly. January 2006. Retrieved March 12 2006.
  34. People in the News. CNN. Airdate: April 30 2005. �UNIQ700bd9fa9f67f60-HTMLCommentStrip5ae769c229053dda00000009
  35. "Fresh Air Fund Summer Programs: Summer Camping". Fresh Air Fund. Retrieved March 17 2006.
  36. Duncan, Apryl. "Mariah Carey: Celebrity Endorsements". About.com. Retrieved March 12 2006; "Mariah Carey Sings for Intel". nForcerHQ. February 8 2006. Retrieved March 12 2006.
  37. Vineyard, Jennifer and Bland, Bridget. "Mariah Wants All Fans to See Her — And Even Smell Like Her". MTV.com. April 6 2006. Retrieved April 7 2006.

References

External links

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