Mariah Carey Biography
Mariah Carey was born on March 27, 1970, in Long Island, New York, to
parents Patricia and Alfred. Unfortunately, her parents divorced
when she was only three years old. As a result of her Irish/African-American/Venezuelan
descent, Mariah encountered some racial discrimination while
growing up.
Carey was raised in a poverty-stricken home and her mother was
forced to work multiple jobs in order to make ends meet.
Conveniently enough, it was Mariah's mom who noticed her
daughter's vocal talents.
One day, when Patricia was rehearsing her role of Maddalena in
Verdi's Opera Rigolettos, she heard Mariah imitating her singing.
Even though she was only three at the time, Mariah's mom began
teaching her how to develop her vocal skills.
In high school, Carey didn't concentrate much on her education
and would frequently skip classes, and instead write songs and
dream about becoming a famous singer. Before she got her big
break, Mariah completed 500 hours of beauty school and even
worked as a hair sweeper in a salon, as a waitress and as a coat
check girl.
After she graduated from high school in 1987, Carey moved to New
York in order to pursue her dream of becoming a famous singer.
She spent hours working in a studio writing her music and making
demo tapes. In 1988, one of Mariah's friends, who played the
drums for Brenda K. Starr, urged her to try out as a backup
singer for Starr. Although Mariah was a little hesitant at first,
she quickly realized that it was better than what she was doing
at the present time.
One day, while Carey was singing for Starr, Sony record
executive producer Tommy Mottola was given Carey's demo tape and
her wish of becoming a singer was soon realized.
Mariah Carey's first self-titled album uncovered a high-octave
voice that could break sound barriers, as well as record sales.
Although people initially labeled her as a "white girl with a
black girl's voice," Carey quickly squashed all the hearsay and
set the record straight. Nevertheless, all the media-hype
ultimately contributed to her selling over six million albums.
Thanks to her debut album, she landed at No. 1 with four of her
singles and won a couple of Grammys. Her following two albums,
1991's Emotions and 1992's Unplugged, were just as successful.
In 1993, Mariah wed Tommy Mottola, then-chairman of Sony. Media
hounds were quick to criticize the age difference between the
couple (Tommy is 20 years her senior).
Once she was a success, Carey quickly got involved with the
cause of inner-city youth, donating large quantities of time and
money to what would be renamed "Camp Mariah." The camp is a
refuge for urban youth who rarely get the chance to experience
nature and embrace the arts.
In 1993, Mariah's fourth album, Music Box, and fifth album,
1994's Merry Christmas, burned up the charts just as strongly as
did her previous releases. In 1995, Carey released Daydream,
which earned her six Grammy nominations and began to uncover a
Mariah that the world had never seen before.
Mariah began to develop a hip-hop feel in her music and began
frequenting other hip-hoppers like Da Brat and Ol' Dirty
Bastard. At the same time, Mariah's music started gaining
popularity in clubs and her fan base became wider in range.
Carey quickly became one of the most powerful women in the music
industry, with career sales topping 80 million units. Throughout
1997, Mariah watched her professional image evolve, even though
her marriage to Tommy took a turn for the worse. Although they
denied rumors of marital problems, Mariah released Butterfly, in
which the first single's video depicts Mariah as a prisoner in
an estate. This video only fueled the fire of rumors surrounding
the couple's marriage. They ultimately divorced in March of
1998.
In 1999, Carey released Rainbow, which spawned the hits
"Heartbreaker" and a cover of "Against All Odds (Take A Look At
Me Now)"
Carey has recently tried her hand at acting. She had a small
role in 1999's The Bachelor, starring Renee Zellweger. Her
starring debut came with the release of Glitter in September
2001, which chronicled the tumultuous rise of a singer in the
1980s. While promoting the film and its soundtrack album (and
after several bizarre public occurrences), Mariah suffered what
her publicist referred to as a "physical and emotional
breakdown." She was briefly hospitalized, and was back in form
to appear on television's America: A Tribute to Heroes, where
she performed what else but her classic No. 1 hit, "Hero."
Unfortunately, Glitter failed to follow the success of her
single and album releases. The film did poorly at the box
office, and even the soundtrack didn't come close to matching
the sales of her previous releases. To add even more insult to
injury, Virgin Records dissolved its contract with her, paying
her $28 million to walk away.
But Carey bounced back with a new record deal, this time with
Island Def Jam (part of Universal Music Group). Her latest
release, Charmbracelet, proves that she still has the vocal
chops to stay in the game. It has already spawned moderate hits
like "Through The Rain" and "Boy (I Need You)," featuring
Cam'ron. Mariah Carey is also keeping busy with the start of her
own label, MonarC.
Carey can also add Wisegirls (co-starring Mira Sorvino) to her
acting resume, as it premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film
Festival and will air on HBO. |
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