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{{Infobox Single {{Infobox Band
| band_name = Mariah Carey
| Name = A Thousand Miles
| image = ] <!-- please do not replace Mariah Carey3 Edwards Dec 1998.jpg as it is PUBLIC DOMAIN: see http://en.wikipedia.org/Wikipedia:Fair_use and image description page at http://en.wikipedia.org/Image:Mariah_Carey3_Edwards_Dec_1998.jpg for details -->
| Cover = Nocover.gif
| caption = Mariah Carey during a break in shooting of the "]" (1999) music video.
| Artist = ]
| years_active = 1990&ndash;present
| from Album = ]
| Released = ] ] <small>(])</small> | origin = ], ], ]
| music_genre = ], ]
| Format = ]
| record_label = ] <small>(1988&ndash;2001)</small> <br>] <small>(2001&ndash;2002)</small> <br>] <small>(2002&ndash;)</small>
|
| Genre = ]
| Length = 3:57 <small>(album version)</small> <br>3:59 <small>(single version)</small>
| Label = ]
| Writer = Vanessa Carlton
| Producer = ] <br>Vanessa Carlton
| Chart position = <ul><li>#1 <small>(])</small></li></ul> <ul><li>#5 <small>(U.S., ])</small></li></ul> <ul><li>#6 <small>(], ], ])</small></li></ul>
| NoReviews = yes
| Last single =
| This single = "A Thousand Miles" <br>(2002)
| Next single = "Ordinary Day" <br>(2002)
}} }}
'''Mariah Carey''' (born ] ]) is an ]n ] and ] ], ] and occasional ]. She made her debut in 1990 under the guidance of ] executive ], and became both the most successful and best-selling artist for that decade, according to '']'' magazine and the ].
"'''A Thousand Miles'''" is a ] song written by American singer ] for her debut album, '']''. It was co-produced and co-arranged by Carlton and ], and was released as the album's first ] in ] (see ]). It became Carlton's breakthrough hit and one of the most popular songs of the year.


After marrying Mottola in 1993, albums such as '']'' (1993) and '']'' (1995) consolidated her position as one of Columbia's most successful acts. Carey separated from Mottola in 1997, and her proceeding albums presented her in an attempt to distance herself from the career trajectory that he had plotted for her; they presented a more overtly sexual and ]-oriented sound and image. In 2001, issues between Carey and her label executives led her to part ways with them, and she signed a lucrative deal with ] shortly after. However, she was dropped the following year after a highly publicised physical breakdown and the notoriously poor reception of '']'', her film and soundtrack project. After signing to ] in 2002, she returned to the forefront of popular music in 2005 with the success of her ninth studio album '']''.
==About the record==


Since her debut, Carey has scored seventeen number-one singles on the U.S Billboard charts, tying the record with ] for the most U.S. number-one hits by a solo artist. In 2003, she was declared as "the most successful" and "number-one selling female artist in the history of recorded music" by the ].<ref> Video clip. Retrieved on ] ].</ref> She is also well-known for her five-] ], where the use of the ] and ] are central features of her singing style. In 2003 she was voted as having the "the greatest voice in music" by ].
The song is a ] ] supported by a full ], in which its protagonist (Carlton) pines for her lover, from whom she has separated. She admits "I need you and I miss you...you know I'd walk a thousand miles if I could just see you". Carlton said that she wrote the song about somebody that she had a crush on, but admitted that he was unaware of her unreciprocated feelings for him. She has also called the song "a combination of reality and fantasy. It's about a love that so consumes you that you do anything for it. That's how I felt at that time".
==Biography and music career==
===Early life and discovery===
Carey was born in ], ]. She is the third and youngest child of ], a former ] singer and voice coach of ] ] extraction, and Alfred Roy Carey (né Núñez), an ] of mixed ] and ]-]n descent. She was named after the song "They Call the Wind Maria<!-- please do not edit this, as the official spelling of the song is "Maria" -->", from the musical '']''. Carey's older brother Morgan suffered from ], while her older sister Alison developed a ] and was arrested for ] in 2005.<ref>. Retrieved February 24, 2006.</ref> As a ] family, the Carey household was met with racial slurs, hostility, and sometimes violence, causing the family to move frequently around the New York area. 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, 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 the age of four, and first performed in public at the age of six. She began writing songs while in grade school, and her mother and the members of her opera company were impressed with her talents when Carey hit a cue note that her mother had missed. Carey attended and graduated from Oldfield Middle School and ] in ], although she was frequently absent due to efforts to break into the music business. After moving to ] and completing five hundred hours of beauty school, she eventually landed a role as a backup singer for ].
'']'' magazine opined "it's the song's classical-tied piano hook that endures with urgency throughout the song that lends it spectacular charm, along with the artist's vulnerable vocal style...A truly auspicious opening".<ref></ref> Most other critics gave ''Be Not Nobody'' mixed reviews, but generally praised the song. '']'' wrote: "as it moves from its solo piano opening to bombastic orchestral-backed choruses, the result isn't overwhelming, it's sweet, multi-layered, and appealing".<ref></ref> '']'' commended Carlton's tendency to keep the song "busy with classical flourishes, rich voicings and harmonies reminiscent of Tori Amos", and included her on their "Top 10 Artists To Watch in 2002" list. Adrien Begrand of '']'' magazine characterised the song as "the sort of girly-voiced, introspective pop that is made to please people who are looking for singer/songwriters who look and sound profound, but actually have nothing to say. However, it's catchy and hard to dislike".<ref></ref>


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


===1990&ndash;1992: Early commercial success===
Carlton wrote the song's piano ] in the summer of 1998, at her parents' house in ]; her mother, who had been listening to her, said "Vanessa, that's a hit song".<ref></ref> However, Carlton was unable to finish the song due to a case of ] and did not return to it for several months. While looking for a record label that would sign her, Carlton played the beginning of the song for a record producer, who said "You have to finish that". She returned to her parents' home and finished it in an hour one evening, naming it "Interlude".
Carey's professional music career began with the release of her ]ous ], '']'', in 1990. Carey co-wrote all of the compositions on the album with songwriter-producers such as ] and ], and would continue to co-write nearly all of her material for the rest of her career. The album ascended to number one on the U.S. ] chart a year after its release, where it remained for eleven weeks. It produced four number-one singles, making Carey a star in the United States. Elsewhere, however, the album's success was limited. In 1991, Carey won her first two ]s for ] and ] for her debut single "]".
]'' in 1992.]]


'']'', Carey's second album, was released in the fall of 1991 to critical and commercial success. Britain's '']'' magazine described ''Emotions'' as "a technically perfect example of mainstream R&B... sashays with the customary elegance of a multi-million dollar production, and Carey's pipes are...in fine fettle".<ref>"''Emotions''". '']'' magazine. p. 142, October 1991.</ref> Its first single, the title track "]", gave Carey the distinction of being the only recording act in history to have their first five singles reach number-one on the U.S. ] chart,<ref>''The Guinness Book of Records 1998'' (1997). UK: Guinness Publising Ltd. ISBN 0851120474 (UK).</ref> but the album's follow-up singles failed to maintain this feat. Carey had been lobbying for the ability to produce her own songs, and beginning with ''Emotions'', would co-produce most of her material. She would also begin writing and producing for other artists, such as ] and ], within the coming year.
Some years later, Carlton recorded a ] (which featured several tracks, including "Interlude") and sent it to various producers and labels in the hopes that she would be signed by one of them. Some expressed interest, but Carlton did not agree with their suggestions for alternative titles for the song. One of the tapes found its way to Ron Fair, head of ], who recalled that "it was extraordinary, but also in some respects kind of screwed up as a record. It didn't press the emotional buttons the way I envisioned it". Carlton was flown in by Fair, who sat down with her for a piano session to alter the arrangement of the song, "so the heartbeat came in a different way" Fair said.


Although she had fulfilled several concert dates to support her debut album, Carey had not embarked on any major public tours. Her first widely-seen concert appearance was on the television show '']'' in May 1992, and her performance proved that 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 ] of ]'s "]" on the special with back-up singer ]. The duet was released as a single and became Carey's sixth number-one hit in the U.S., while her ''Unplugged'' setlist was later released on the EP '']''. '']'' called it "the strongest, most genuinely musical record she has ever made...Did this live performance help her take her first steps toward growing up?".<ref>Sandow, Greg. "''MTV Unplugged EP''". '']''. ] ]. <!-- http://www.geocities.com/mariahchart/unplugged.htm --></ref>
During the session, more ]s and transitions were inserted into the song by Fair, and the timing of the repetition of the chorus was changed. Additionally, the instrumental opening was made shorter and an orchestra section was added by Fair; the lyrics, however, remained the same. He explained: "It has a lot of starts and stops to it, which makes it hard to achieve a flow, but I wanted to make a really dramatic record. The song is like a mini musical of its own". The song took fourteen sessions to record, and was the first to be recorded for ''Be Not Nobody''. The orchestra performing the song was conducted by Fair, and he also organised a small band for its recording: guitarist John Goux played guitar on the track, Lee Sklar played ], and Abe Laboriel Jr. played drums. Carlton later said: "after listening to it I realized I was going to make an album that I was very proud of".


===1993&ndash;1996: Worldwide popularity===
The selection of the song's title was accompanied by a minor disagreement between Fair and Carlton, who was reportedly "adamant" about about changing it. Said Fair, "Vanessa Carlton is an incredible talent, but she's also very stubborn...I had to say, 'Look, I'm the president of the label, we're not calling it "Interlude". ' When you're trying to launch a career, people need a handle to pick things up from, and the word 'Interlude' is never in the song". In its finished form, the song was first heard during a scene in the ] film '']'' (2001), and was featured on the film's soundtrack under the title "A Thousand Miles (Interlude)". The final title of the song, "A Thousand Miles", was based on a suggestion by Fair's nephew. Following its completion, Fair said that he listened to the song repeatedly and "it made me weep. That's usually my litmus test. If I cry, I know it's a hit".
Carey, then 23, and Tommy Mottola, 43, had become romantically involved, and in June 1993 they were married in an ] ceremony in ]. Her third studio album, '']'', was released later that year, and became her most successful album worldwide. It yielded her first UK number-one hit, a cover of ]'s "]", as well as the U.S. number-one singles "]" and "]". Carey's attempt at a mellower work than her previous efforts was met with generally positive reviews, with ''Billboard'' magazine proclaiming 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: p. 5, ] ], Vol. 105, Iss. 35.</ref> Some were less praiseful: '']'' said Carey "blended into the background and let the tracks guide her, instead of pushing and exploding through them",<ref>Wynn, Ron. . '']''. Retrieved August 18, 2005.</ref> and '']''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Stephen Holden criticised "Carey's lyrics, which are made up entirely of pop and ] clichés".<ref>Holden, Stephen. . '']''. 1993. Retrieved August 18, 2005.</ref>


] recording "]" (1995), one of Carey's most successful singles.]]
Despite this, he was concerned that the song's piano basis would put it at a disadvantage in the marketplace if it was to be released as a single. Fair played "A Thousand Miles" in front of ], the co-chairman of ], ] and A&M Records and Fair's superior. Iovine was very impressed with the song, and requested that a ] be filmed immediately for it. After the video had been completed, it was presented by Fair to Tom Calderone, the Vice President of Programming for ], in early 2002. Calderone expressed a desire to begin broadcasting the video at once and Fair agreed to his request, even though the album was still in production at the time and Carlton's marketing "image" had not yet been developed.


Following a hit duet with ] of ]' "]", Carey released the holiday album '']'' in late 1994. In addition to covers of traditional Christmas songs, it contained a very successful original holiday song, "]". The single became her first number-one hit in ] and was described as "a well-crafted ] tribute" by Roch Parisien, who dismissed ''Merry Christmas'' as an "otherwise vanilla set".<ref>Parisien, Roch. . '']''. Retrieved August 18, 2005.</ref> The album was popular with the public, becoming one of the most successful Christmas albums of all time.
==Promotion and chart performance==


In 1995 Carey released '']'', which combined the pop sensibilities of ''Music Box'' with modern R&B and ] influences. It became her largest-selling LP in the U.S., and its singles achieved similar success: "]" became only the second single to debut at number-one in the U.S. and spent twelve weeks at number one in Canada, "]" (a duet with ]) spent a still-record sixteen weeks at number one, and "]" appeared at number one on the 1996 year-end ] charts. ''Daydream'' generated career-best reviews for Carey and was named one of 1995's best albums by publications such as the '']'', who wrote that its "best cuts bring pop candy-making to a new peak of textural refinement" and noted that Carey's songwriting "has taken a leap forward, becoming more relaxed, sexier and less reliant on thudding cliches".<ref>Holden, Stephen. "Mariah Carey Glides Into New Territory". '']''. p. 76, ] ]. <!-- http://www.geocities.com/mariahchart/NYTDaydream.html --></ref> Carey was the recipient of several awards following the success of the album and received six Grammy nominations, but lost in all categories.
In the U.S., "A Thousand Miles" was released as a ] &ndash; with a live version of "Twilight", another track from ''Be Not Nobody'' &ndash; on ], and peaked at number five on the ] during late May and early June; it remained within the top forty from March until October. The ''Be Not Nobody'' album was released on ] and &ndash; partly due to the popularity of "A Thousand Miles" &ndash; debuted within the U.S. top five with first week sales of over 100,000 copies.<ref></ref><ref></ref> The single was successful on several other ''Billboard'' formats and topped the ] for four weeks in June, becoming the biggest hit of the year on that chart. It was 2002's sixth most-played single on U.S. radio, and sold well in other countries (where it was promoted and released over the summer months). It was a top five hit in ], and managed to reach the top ten in other parts of Europe such as the ], ] and the ]. It was most popular in ], where it became the sixth most successful single of the year<ref></ref> and held the number one position on the ] Singles Chart for two weeks, from ] to ]. It replaced a ] remix of "]" by ], and was itself replaced by ]'s "]". It also reached the top twenty in ] and ]. ] said the song was "a bona fide hit for good reason. Catchy pop on the surface, it has melodic complexity beneath that bodes well for repeated listening".<ref></ref>


===1997&ndash;2000: Independence and new image===
Carlton told ContactMusic.com of the first time she watched the single's music video, in which she is seen playing the piano whilst travelling through a variety of settings:
Carey and Mottola separated in 1997. Although she had often projected the image of a happy marriage to the public, in reality she had felt emotionally and psychologically abused by Mottola, whom she often described as controlling. Their divorce became final the following year.
:"I was in the studio and had just taken a break, when someone ran in the room and said, 'you're on MTV!' We put it on and I just stared at the screen. After a few minutes, I just covered my eyes and started to laugh. It seemed so surreal. The night after that, I heard the song on the radio for the first time. It was all so unbelievable".<ref></ref>
It received heavy airplay on the channel following its premiere on the top ten video show '']'' in early January, and was popular enough to be ] from the show's countdown on ], when the song was still high on the charts. There was speculation that ] techniques had been utilised during its creation, but it was "100 percent real", according to Carlton. Carlton also felt that ] (the video's director) "captured who I was in that video", and he was selected to directed the video for the album's follow-up single, "Ordinary Day".


] for "]" (1997) presented a more overtly sexual image of Carey than had been previously seen.]]
Both the album and single were given substantial promotion on the internet. ] Music reported that a twenty minute selection of video content involving Carlton that the website had hosted, including the "A Thousand Miles" video and Carlton's performance of the song for ], drew over one million requested downloads and ]s prior to the release of ''Be Not Nobody''.<ref></ref><ref></ref> The Sessions recording of "A Thousand Miles" was later included on the album ''Sessions @ AOL'', released in October 2003. The single version of the song is featured on the hits compilation ''] Vol. 10'' in the U.S., and the fifty-third volume of the ''NOW!'' series in the UK.


Carey's 1997 album '']'' saw her continuing to move in an R&B/hip hop direction, while the lyrics and ] for lead single "]" presented a more overtly sexual image of Carey than had been previously seen. "]" (the album's fifth single) was her thirteenth U.S. number-one, an unprecedented feat for a female artist. J.R. Reynolds said ''Butterfly'' "pushes the envelope", a move that he thought "may prove disconcerting to more conservative fans", but Reynolds still praised the album as "a welcome change".<ref>Reynolds, J.R. . ]. September 16, 1997. Retrieved August 19, 2005.</ref> A review in the '']'' said: " 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. '']''. p. 58, ] ].</ref> 1997 also marked the year that Carey became a major songwriter and producer for other artists, contributing to the debut albums of ], ] and ]. She also wrote songs for the soundtracks to the films '']'' (1997) and '']'' (2000), and began to develop her own film/soundtrack project, '']''. Towards the turn of the millennium Carey became a prominent figure in hip hop music, and collaborated with both new and established rappers.
==Legacy==


During 1998, Carey had a romance with ] ] player ], who was also biracial. She would state later that while the timing was not right for their relationship, it did teach her that multiracial families could function well.<ref>Rader, Dotson. . '']''. June 5, 2005. Retrieved August 19, 2005.</ref> That year saw the release of the album '']'', a collection of her U.S. number-one singles up to that point. Included amongst the new material on the album was "]", a duet with ] recorded for the soundtrack to '']'' that won an ] for ]. The album sold well, but a review in '']'' magazine 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>http://www.nme.com/reviews/mariah-carey/435</ref> Also that year she appeared on the first televised '']'' ] program with singers such as ] and ], though Carey's alleged ] behavior had already led many to consider her a ].<ref>Haring, Bruce. . ]. May 14, 1998. Retrieved December 9, 2005.</ref> By the following year, she had begun a relationship with singer ].
"A Thousand Miles" was nominated for two ]s: ] and ], losing both to ]' "Don't Know Why".


'']'', Carey's sixth studio album, was released in 1999. Like ''Butterfly'', it was comprised of pop and more R&B/hip hop-oriented songs; Carey intended them to express her feelings about her divorce two years previously. Both "]" and "]" &mdash; the former featuring ], the latter featuring ] and boyband ] &mdash; reached number one in the U.S. However, despite several other collaborations with artists such as ] and ], ''Rainbow'' became her lowest-selling LP up to that point. Reviews were not as favourable as those of her previous releases, with '']'' characterising the album as "a major disappointment".<ref>Harrington, Richard. "Mariah Carey's Lackluster 'Rainbow'". '']''. p. C.01, ] ] .</ref> Although the recipient of several awards in recognition of her decade-spanning career such as ] and the World Music Award for the world's Best-Selling Female Artist of the Millennium, a further sign of decline appeared when the ] "]"/"]" (the final release from ''Rainbow'') became her first single to peak outside of the U.S. top twenty. Via her website, Carey publicly accused Sony of mishandling the release of the single.
"A Thousand Miles" became popular amongst U.S. troops serving in ] (see ]), and in April 2003 the '']'' reported that it had become the most requested song on the radio station ]. Carlton responded by saying: "Perhaps, 'A Thousand Miles' conveys the feelings and longing and desperation that the U.S. soldiers feel for their loved ones. I don't know. But whatever peace I am able to bring to the hearts of the people at war is a contribution that I am proud of".<ref></ref><ref></ref>


===2001&ndash;2004: Personal and career struggles===
A November 2004 review in the '']'' compared the song's enduring popularity to ]' "]" (1967), describing it as "a ditty whose 'If I could fall into the sky/Do you think time would pass me by?' might be her generation's 'Sitting on a cornflake/Waiting for the van to come'". Hip hop musician ] said of "A Thousand Miles", which he included on his ] celebrity playlist, that "this must be the white song that all black people like". The song was given a similar description by an African-American character in the comedy film '']'' (2004): posing as a white teenage heiress, he refers to it as "like, the whitest song ever", while the girls who are listening to it with him declare it their "]".
Following a successful decade at Columbia Records, Carey finally ended her contract and signed a five-album deal with ]'s ] worth a reported US$80 million. Just a few months later in July 2001, it was widely reported that Carey had suffered a physical and emotional breakdown. She had left voicemail messages on her website (which were quickly removed) to her fans complaining of being overworked, and her relationship with Luis Miguel was ending. Carey made a notorious appearance on ]'s '']'', where she handed out ]s to the teen-aged audience and began what was later described by some as a "strip tease".<ref>. ]. December 3, 2002. Retrieved August 19, 2005.</ref><ref> MTV video Clip. Retrieved ], 2006.</ref> By the month's end Carey 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. . ]. August 14, 2001. Retrieved August 19, 2005.</ref>


]'' (2001).]]
A writer for the '']'' said that with the song, Carlton "won favor with smart but awkward teenage girls who didn’t see themselves in more evidently constructed teen-pop personalities like ] and ]".<ref>http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/music/otr/documents/04533782.asp]</ref>


Her much delayed semi-autobiographical film, titled '']'', was panned by most critics upon its release and became a box office failure (see ]). Its soundtrack album '']'', released by Virgin, generated her worst showing to date on the U.S. charts. Kevin C. Johnson of the '']'' dismissed the album 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". '']''. p. F.5, ] ] .</ref> while '']'' thought: "After years of trading her signature flourishes for a radio-ready purr, 's left with almost no presence at all".<ref>"''Glitter''". '']''. p. 118, August&ndash;September 2001.</ref> Lead single "]" reached number two on the Hot 100 thanks to a price cut,<ref name="CNN-Aug2001"/> but the album's follow-up singles all failed to chart.
==Track listings==
*U.S. CD single
#"A Thousand Miles" &ndash; 3:59
#"Twilight" (live) &ndash; 4:07


Shortly after the disastrous release of ''Glitter'' and just before Christmas, Columbia released a second compilation album, the 2-CD '']''. In early 2002, Virgin decided to drop Carey from their roster and they bought out her contract for $28 million, as an addition to the $21 million paid the previous year when signing, giving her another round of bad publicity. Later that year, she signed a three-album contract with ]' ]. To add further to Carey's emotional burdens, her father died of cancer.
==Charts==

Following a well-received supporting role in the independent film '']'' (see ]), Carey released a new album, '']'', which she said marked "a new lease on life" for her.<ref name="USAToday-Nov2002">Gardner, Elysa. . '']''. November 28, 2002. Retrieved August 19, 2005.</ref> ''Charmbracelet'' sold poorly, and the quality of Carey's vocals, which had previously been perceived as her strong point, 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". '']''. p. D.4, ] ] .</ref> and Barry Walters of ''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 watercolors that bleed into a puddle of brown".<ref>Walters, Barry. "''Charmbracelet''". '']''. New York: p. 93, ] ], iss. 911.</ref> Singles such as "]" failed both 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"/>

"]", Carey's 2003 duet with ] recorded for his eighth album, fared considerably better and reached the top five in the U.S. Columbia later included it on the remix collection '']'', which failed to find an audience and became Carey's lowest-selling album. That year, she was awarded the "Diamond Award" by the World Music Awards show in honour of selling over 150 million albums worldwide.<ref>. MariahCarey.com. Retrieved August 19, 2005.</ref><ref>. ]. Retrieved August 19, 2005.</ref> She was featured on rapper ]' single "]" in 2004, which reached the top ten of Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart.

===2005&ndash;present: "Return of the Voice"===
]" (2005) has tied Carey with ] for the most U.S. number-one singles by a solo recording artist.]]
Carey's ninth studio album, '']'', was released in 2005. It was advertised as "The Return of the Voice", though Carey maintained that the voice had always been there.<ref name="YahooMusic-Mar2005">. ]. March 28, 2005. Retrieved December 9, 2005.</ref> '']'' magazine wrote: "whatever the songs lack, they make up for in restraint &ndash; brevity keeps you wanting more".<ref></ref> A critic for '']'' 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. . '']''. April 1, 2005. Retrieved December 9, 2005.</ref> It became the year's best-selling album in the U.S. (the first by a female solo artist to do so since 1996)<ref></ref> and won a Grammy Award for ]. Its second single, "]," became the biggest hit of 2005 and Carey's career: it topped the U.S. charts for fourteen weeks, reached number one in several other countries, was honored as the world's most-played single of the year at the World Music Awards and received two Grammys. "]" became Carey's seventeenth number-one in the U.S., tying her with ] for the most number-ones by a solo artist according to ''Billboard'' magazine's revised methodology (their own statician, however, credits Presley with an eighteenth).<ref>Bronson, Fred. . '']''. ] ]. Retrieved ] ].</ref> By this count Carey is behind only ], who are currently credited with twenty number-one singles.

Producer ], Carey's frequent collaborator, reported in early 2006 that he had arranged for her to record a duet with fellow R&B singer ] for Jackson's ninth studio album.<ref>http://www.postchronicle.com/news/entertainment/tittletattle/article_2126217.shtml</ref>

==Acting career==
Carey made her film debut as an opera singer and one of the former girlfriends of Jimmie (]) in '']'' (1999), a romantic comedy starring O'Donnell and ]. Critical response to Carey's cameo appearance was lukewarm: Paul Tatara from ] derisively said Carey's casting as a talentless diva was "letter-perfect", and Tony Lee simply stated "no, she can't act".

Carey's first starring role was in ''Glitter'', a 2001 film that had been in ] as a vehicle for Carey since 1997. In it she played Billie Frank, a struggling singer and songwriter who breaks into the music industry after she meets ] Julian Dice (]). Reviews were scathing; while ] gave mild praise for Carey's performance, saying, "Her acting ranges from dutiful flirtatiousness to intense sincerity", most other critics panned it: Stephanie Zacharek called Carey "numbingly bland" in her role, and Michael Atkinson observed, "when she tries for an emotion&mdash;any emotion&mdash;she looks as if she's lost her car keys". ''Glitter'' was a box office failure, and Carey earned a ] for her role. She has since referred to the film as "a diva moment".<ref>. ]. April 12, 2005. Retrieved December 10, 2005.</ref>

] and ], in '']'' (2002).]]

Carey next appeared co-starring with ] and ] as a tough-talking waitress in the ] ''WiseGirls'', which premiered at the ] in 2002. Critics who saw the film lauded Carey for her efforts: Kirk Honeycutt of the '']'' predicted "Those scathing notices for ''Glitter'' will be a forgotten memory for the singer once people warm up to Raychel", and Roger Freidman, referring to her as "a ] for the new millennium", said "her line delivery is sharp and she manages to get the right laughs". ''WiseGirls'' producer ] cast Carey in another film, ''The Sweet Science'', about an unknown but talented boxer who is recruited by a determined female boxing manager. However, the project later fell into development hell, while ''WiseGirls'' was not given a theatrical release and went straight-to-cable in the United States.

Carey became one of several musicians to make cameo appearances in the independently-produced ] films '']'' (2003) and '']'' (2005). Her small-screen work has been more limited: she played a legal client of the title character in '']'' in January 2002, and appeared in an episode of the animated children's series '']'' in October 2003.

==Voice==
Carey is credited as having a five-] ]; she can cover all the notes from the ] range leading to those of a ] ].<ref>. 12 April 2005.</ref> Her vocal trademark is her ability to sing in the ]. She has often been incorrectly credited as having a six or seven-octave vocal range. It has been suggested that Carey's publicists falsely claimed this at the start of her career,<ref>. Snopes.com.</ref> although it may also be a misstatement of the fact that Carey frequently accesses the notes situated in the ].

Carey's voice has come under minor scrutiny from some critics who believe that she does not effectively communicate the message of her songs. ''Rolling Stone'', in a negative review of the album ''Emotions'', wrote "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"<ref>. Rolling Stone.</ref>, while others have referred to her high notes as "dog whistles."<ref>. BBC. 4 April 2005. Retrieved 21 February 2006.</ref><ref>Rich Juzwiak. . Stylus magazine.</ref> In comparison, criticisms were levelled at what Carey herself described as "breathy" vocals in some of her later songs on albums such as ''Charmbracelet''. Said Carey, "Some people are of the opinion that if you have a big voice you should use it all the time... I don't want to hear someone scream at me all the time".<ref name="YahooMusic-Mar2005"/>

Carey's voice, which is a continual subject of both positive and negative debate, was voted as the greatest voice in music in ] and ]'s countdown of "]", and is believed to have influenced singers such as ]<!-- please do not add other names to this sentence without citing your sources, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/Wikipedia:Cite_sources to find out why --> and ]. In ]'s poll of the "100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists", she placed second behind Aguilera.<ref>. 100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists.</ref>

==Other activities==
Carey is a philanthropist who has donated both time and millions of dollars to organizations such as the ], the National Adoption Center, VH1's Save the Music Foundation, and the ] among many others. Carey is well-known nationally for her work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation in granting the wishes of the terminally ill Caleb Boulter, who called her "a very real person who overflows with compassion and love for others". As part of her involvement with the Fresh Air Fund, she is the co-founder of a camp located in ] that enables inner-city youth to embrace the arts, be introduced to career opportunities, and build self-esteem. The camp was named ] in honour of Carey's work with the Fresh Air Fund, and she received a Congressional Award titled the Horizon Award for her charity work on behalf of children.

Carey performed as part of the '']'' nationally televised fundraiser in the aftermath of the ], and in December 2001 she performed before U.S. peacekeeping troops in ].

She hosted the CBS television special ''At Home for the Holidays with Mariah Carey'', which documented real-life stories of adopted children and foster families. In July 2005, Carey performed for ] at the ] with the ]. She was also a participant in the '']'' telethon following ]'s damage to the U.S. Gulf Coast later that year.

Carey, who considered writing her autobiography with ], has instead chosen to fictionalize her life story and adapt it into a series of illustrated children's books titled ''Automatic Princess'', about an orphaned young girl who is biracial. Also forthcoming is a clothing and accessories line known as Automatic Princess, as well as a lingerie line, Kiss Kiss, which will be available for women in all sizes. Carey's fashion sense has itself often been criticized for exposing too much of her, or just being poorly put together.<ref></ref>

==Discography==
===Albums===
{{further|]}}
#'']'' (1990)
#'']'' (1991)
#'']'' (1992)
#'']'' (1993)
#'']'' (1994)
#'']'' (1995)
#'']'' (1997)
#'']'' (1998)
#'']'' (1999)
#'']'' (2001)
#'']'' (2001)
#'']'' (2002)
#'']'' (2003)
#'']'' (2005)

===Number-one singles===
{{dablink|The following singles reached number one in the ], the ], ], ], and/or ]. For a complete discography of Carey's singles, see ].}}
{| class="wikitable" {| class="wikitable"
!align="left"|Chart (2002) !align="left"|Single
!align="left"|Position !align="left"|U.S. #1
!align="left"|UK #1
!align="left"|CAN #1
!align="left"|AUS #1
!align="left"|JPN #1
|- |-
|align="left"|U.S. ] |align="left"|"]" (1990)
|align="center"|5 |align="center"|1st
|align="center"|
|align="center"|1st
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|- |-
|align="left"|U.S. ] |align="left"|"]" (1990)
|align="center"|1 (7 weeks) |align="center"|2nd
|align="center"|
|align="center"|2nd
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|- |-
|align="left"|U.S. ] |align="left"|"]" (1991)
|align="center"|1 (4 weeks) |align="center"|3rd
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|- |-
|align="left"|Australian ] Singles Chart |align="left"|"]" (1991)
|align="center"|1 (2 weeks) |align="center"|4th
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|- |-
|align="left"|Brazil Singles Chart |align="left"|"]" (1991)
|align="center"|8 |align="center"|5th
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|- |-
|align="left"|"]" (1992) <br>''(featuring ])''
|align="left"|France Singles Chart
|align="center"|5 |align="center"|6th
|align="center"|
|align="center"|3rd
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|- |-
|align="left"|Germany Singles Chart |align="left"|"]" (1993)
|align="center"|14 |align="center"|7th
|align="center"|
|align="center"|4th
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|- |-
|align="left"|Netherlands Singles Chart |align="left"|"]" (1993)
|align="center"|6 |align="center"|8th
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|- |-
|align="left"|Japan Singles Chart |align="left"|"]" (1994)
|align="center"|15 |align="center"|
|align="center"|1st
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|- |-
|align="left"|Italy Singles Chart |align="left"|"]" (1994)
|align="center"|6 |align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|1st
|- |-
|align="left"|UK Singles Chart |align="left"|"]" (1995)
|align="center"|6 |align="center"|9th
|align="center"|
|align="center"|5th
|align="center"|1st
|align="center"|2nd
|- |-
|align="left"|Europe Official Top 100 |align="left"|"]" (1995) <br>''(Mariah Carey & ])''
|align="center"|9 |align="center"|10th
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|- |-
!align="left"|Chart (2003) |align="left"|"]" (1996)
!align="center"|Position |align="center"|11th
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|- |-
|align="left"|U.S. Adult Contemporary |align="left"|"]" (1997)
|align="center"|1 |align="center"|12th
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|3rd
|- |-
|align="left"|U.S. ] |align="left"|"]" (1998)
|align="center"|2 |align="center"|13th
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|- |-
|align="left"|"]" (1998) <br>''(Mariah Carey & ])''
!align="left"|Chart (2004)
!align="center"|Position |align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|4th
|- |-
|align="left"|"]" (1999) <br>''(featuring ])''
|align="left"|U.S. Top 40 Adult Recurrents
|align="center"|1 |align="center"|14th
|align="center"|
|align="center"|6th
|align="center"|
|align="center"|5th
|-
|align="left"|"]" (2000) <br>''(featuring ] and ])''
|align="center"|15th
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|-
|align="left"|"]" (2000) <br>''(Mariah Carey & ])''
|align="center"|
|align="center"|2nd
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|-
|align="left"|"]" (2001) <br>''(featuring ])''
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|6th
|-
|align="left"|"]" (2005)
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|7th
|-
|align="left"|"]" (2005)
|align="center"|16th
|align="center"|
|align="center"|<!--This is an email I received from www.Mariah-Charts.com

Hi Francois,

though WBT never was listed on the official sales chart, I guess it was never released as a commercial single in Canada. When you look at the Canadian single chart you will discover a lot of very old singles and many new songs are missing.

Kind Regards

Stephan

www.Mariah-Charts.com

-->
|align="center"|2nd
|align="center"|
|-
|align="left"|"]" (2005)
|align="center"|17th
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|8th
|} |}


==Credits== ==See also==
*]
*Vocals and piano &ndash; Vanessa Carlton
*]
*Drums &ndash; Abe Laboriel Jr.
*]
*Guitar &ndash; John Goux
*]
*Bass &ndash; Leland Sklar
*]
*Vibes, organ and harmonica &ndash; Ron Fair
*]
*Luis Conte &ndash; percussion
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]


==Notes== ==Notes==
<div style="font-size: 90%">
<references/> <references/>
</div>


==References== ==References==
<div style="font-size: 90%">
*

*
* Cole, Melanie. ''Mariah Carey'' (1997). UK: Mitchell Lane Publishers Inc. ISBN 1883845513 (UK).
*
* Nickson, Chris. ''Mariah Carey: Her Story'' (1995). UK: Saint Martin's Press. ISBN 0312131216 (UK).
*
* Nickson, Chris. ''Mariah Carey Revisited: An Unauthorised Biography'' (1998). UK: Saint Martin's Press. ISBN 0312195125 (UK).
*
* Parker, Judy. ''Mariah Carey'' (2001). UK: Franklin Watts Ltd. ISBN 0516296000 (UK).
*
* Shapiro, Marc. ''Mariah Carey'' (2001). UK: ECW Press, Canada. ISBN 1550224441 (UK).
*
* Wellman, Sam. ''Mariah Carey (Galaxy of Superstars)'' (2000). UK: Chelsea House Publishers. ISBN 0791053334 (UK).
* . '']''. Retrieved November 18, 2005.
* U.S. charts and sales compiled by ] (http://www.billboard.com) and ] (http://www.soundscan.com/).
* UK charts compiled by The Official UK Charts Company (http://www.theofficialcharts.com/).
* Canadian charts compiled by Jam Canoe (http://jam.canoe.ca/) and Members.aol.com (http://members.aol.com/SKrebs/chartdata/Canada.htm).
* Australian charts compiled by the Australian Recording Industry Association (http://www.aria.com.au/).
* Japanese charts compiled by Oricon (http://www.oricon.co.jp/) and Members.aol.com (http://www.mariah-charts.com/chartdata/Tokio.htm).
* Bedell, Geraldine. . '']''. November 17, 2002. Retrieved November 14, 2005.
* Rottenberg, Josh. . '']''. November, 1999. Retrieved July 11, 2005.
* Episode of ''People in the News''. ]. Aired April 30, 2005. retrieved November 18, 2005.
* Episode of '']''. ]. Aired December 19, 2002. retrieved November 18, 2005.
* . '']''. December 1997. Retrieved November 18, 2005.
* Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. . '']''. Retrieved August 18, 2005. (''Daydream'')
* Lamb, Bill. . ]. Retrieved August 18, 2005. (''Daydream'')
* Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. . '']''. Retrieved August 19, 2005. (''Rainbow'')
* Friedman, Roger. . ]. July 26, 2001. Retrieved December 9, 2005. (breakdown)
* (''The Emancipation of Mimi'')
* Tatara, Paul. . ]. November 9, 1999. Retrieved December 10, 2005. (''The Bachelor'')
* Young, Jeff. . '']''. Issue #17, August 2000. Retrieved December 10, 2005. (''The Bachelor'')
* ]. . '']''. September 23, 2001. Retrieved from the ] on December 10, 2005. (''Glitter'' film)
* Zacharek, Stephanie. . Salon.com. September 20, 2001. Retrieved December 10, 2005. (''Glitter'' film)
* Atkinson, Michael. . '']''. September 26&ndash;October 2, 2001. Retrieved December 10, 2005. (''Glitter'' film)
* Honeycutt, Kirk. . '']''. January 15, 2002. Retrieved December 10, 2005. (''WiseGirls'')
* Friedman, Roger. . ]. January 14, 2002. Retrieved December 10, 2005. (''WiseGirls'')
* Moss, Corey. . ]. February 20, 2002. Retrieved December 10, 2005. (''WiseGirls'')
* (''WiseGirls'')
* . ContactMusic.com. April 11, 2005. Retrieved December 10, 2005. (''WiseGirls'')
* Moody, Nekesa Mumbi . February 9, 2006. Retrieved February 9, 2006. ].
* (charity work)
* . Popdirt.com. December 23, 2002. Retrieved December 10, 2005. (Caleb Boulter)
* . ]. Retrieved December 10, 2005. (Camp Mariah)
* . ]. April 13, 1999. Retrieved December 10, 2005. (Horizon Award)
* Duffy, Mike. . '']''. December 21, 2001. Retrieved from the ] on December 10, 2005. (''At Home for the Holidays'')
* Vineyard, Jennifer and Norris, John. . ]. September 25, 2005. Retrieved December 10, 2005. (autobiography)
* Vineyard, Jennifer. . ] June 9, 2004. Retrieved December 10, 2005. (''Automatic Princess'' book series)
* (Automatic Princess fashion line)
* . Tonight.co.za. December 14, 2004. Retrieved December 10, 2005. (Kiss Kiss)
*. February 9, 2006.
</div>

==External links==
{{commons|Mariah Carey}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* &mdash; official website.
* at ].
* at Rock on the Net.
* {{imdb name|id=0001014|name=Mariah Carey}}.
* {{tvtome person|id=55012|name=Mariah Carey}}.
* articles debunking various Carey-related legends:
::*
::*
::*
* Clips of live preformances, videos and interviews.

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Revision as of 23:31, 3 March 2006

Extraordinary Machine/Sandbox
200px|Mariah CareyMariah Carey during a break in shooting of the "I Still Believe" (1999) music video.
Background information
OriginHuntington, New York, United States
Years active1990–present

Mariah Carey (born March 27 1970) is an American R&B and pop singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She made her debut in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, and became both the most successful and best-selling artist for that decade, according to Billboard magazine and the World Music Awards.

After marrying Mottola in 1993, albums such as Music Box (1993) and Daydream (1995) consolidated her position as one of Columbia's most successful acts. Carey separated from Mottola in 1997, and her proceeding albums presented her in an attempt to distance herself from the career trajectory that he had plotted for her; they presented a more overtly sexual and hip hop-oriented sound and image. In 2001, issues between Carey and her label executives led her to part ways with them, and she signed a lucrative deal with Virgin Records shortly after. However, she was dropped the following year after a highly publicised physical breakdown and the notoriously poor reception of Glitter, her film and soundtrack project. After signing to Island Def Jam Records in 2002, she returned to the forefront of popular music in 2005 with the success of her ninth studio album The Emancipation of Mimi.

Since her debut, Carey has scored seventeen number-one singles on the U.S Billboard charts, tying the record with Elvis Presley for the most U.S. number-one hits by a solo artist. In 2003, she was declared as "the most successful" and "number-one selling female artist in the history of recorded music" by the IFPI. She is also well-known for her five-octave vocal range, where the use of the whistle register and melisma are central features of her singing style. In 2003 she was voted as having the "the greatest voice in music" by MTV.

Biography and music career

Early life and discovery

Carey was born in Huntington, 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 (né Núñez), an aeronautical engineer of mixed African American and Hispanic-Venezuelan descent. She was named after the song "They Call the Wind Maria", from the musical Paint Your Wagon. Carey's older brother Morgan suffered from epilepsy, while her older sister Alison developed a drug addiction and was arrested for prostitution in 2005. As a multiracial family, the Carey household was met with racial slurs, hostility, and sometimes violence, causing the family to move frequently around the New York area. 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, 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 the age of four, and first performed in public at the age of six. She began writing songs while in grade school, and her mother and the members of her opera company were impressed with her talents when Carey hit a cue note that her mother had missed. Carey attended and graduated from Oldfield Middle School and Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York, although she was frequently absent due to efforts to break into the music business. After moving to New York City and completing five hundred hours of beauty school, she eventually landed a role as a backup singer for Brenda K. Starr.

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

1990–1992: Early commercial success

Carey's professional music career began with the release of her eponymous debut album, Mariah Carey, in 1990. Carey co-wrote all of the compositions on the album with songwriter-producers such as Ric Wake and Rhett Lawrence, and would continue to co-write nearly all of her material for the rest of her career. The album ascended to number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart a year after its release, where it remained for eleven weeks. It produced four number-one singles, making Carey a star in the United States. Elsewhere, however, the album's success was limited. In 1991, Carey won her first two Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her debut single "Vision of Love". ]

Emotions, Carey's second album, was released in the fall of 1991 to critical and commercial success. Britain's Q magazine described Emotions as "a technically perfect example of mainstream R&B... sashays with the customary elegance of a multi-million dollar production, and Carey's pipes are...in fine fettle". Its first single, the title track "Emotions", gave Carey the distinction of being the only recording act in history to have their first five singles reach number-one on the U.S. Hot 100 chart, but the album's follow-up singles failed to maintain this feat. Carey had been lobbying for the ability to produce her own songs, and beginning with Emotions, would co-produce most of her material. She would also begin writing and producing for other artists, such as Penny Ford and Daryl Hall, within the coming year.

Although she had fulfilled several concert dates to support her debut album, Carey had not embarked on any major public tours. Her first widely-seen concert appearance was on the television show MTV Unplugged in May 1992, and her performance proved that 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" on the special with back-up singer Trey Lorenz. The duet was released as a single and became Carey's sixth number-one hit in the U.S., while her Unplugged setlist was later released on the EP MTV Unplugged. Entertainment Weekly called it "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, then 23, and Tommy Mottola, 43, had become romantically involved, and in June 1993 they were married in an Episcopalian ceremony in Manhattan. Her third studio album, Music Box, was released later that year, and became her most successful album worldwide. It yielded her first UK number-one hit, a cover of Badfinger's "Without You", as well as the U.S. number-one singles "Dreamlover" and "Hero". Carey's attempt at a mellower work than her previous efforts was met with generally positive reviews, with Billboard magazine proclaiming it as "heart-piercing...easily the most elemental of Carey's releases, her vocal eurythmics in natural sync with the songs". Some were less praiseful: All Music Guide said Carey "blended into the background and let the tracks guide her, instead of pushing and exploding through them", and Rolling Stone's Stephen Holden criticised "Carey's lyrics, which are made up entirely of pop and soul clichés".

]

Following a hit duet with Luther Vandross of Diana Ross' "Endless Love", Carey released the holiday album Merry Christmas in late 1994. In addition to covers of traditional Christmas songs, it contained a very successful original holiday song, "All I Want for Christmas Is You". The single became her first number-one hit in Japan and was described as "a well-crafted Phil Spector tribute" by Roch Parisien, who dismissed Merry Christmas as an "otherwise vanilla set". The album was popular with the public, becoming one of the most successful Christmas albums of all time.

In 1995 Carey released Daydream, which combined the pop sensibilities of Music Box with modern R&B and hip hop influences. It became her largest-selling LP in the U.S., and its singles achieved similar success: "Fantasy" became only the second single to debut at number-one in the U.S. and spent twelve weeks at number one in Canada, "One Sweet Day" (a duet with Boyz II Men) spent a still-record sixteen weeks at number one, and "Always Be My Baby" appeared at number one on the 1996 year-end airplay charts. Daydream generated career-best reviews for Carey and was named one of 1995's best albums by publications such as the New York Times, who wrote that its "best cuts bring pop candy-making to a new peak of textural refinement" and noted that Carey's songwriting "has taken a leap forward, becoming more relaxed, sexier and less reliant on thudding cliches". Carey was the recipient of several awards following the success of the album and received six Grammy nominations, but lost in all categories.

1997–2000: Independence and new image

Carey and Mottola separated in 1997. Although she had often projected the image of a happy marriage to the public, in reality she had felt emotionally and psychologically abused by Mottola, whom she often described as controlling. Their divorce became final the following year.

]

Carey's 1997 album Butterfly saw her continuing to move in an R&B/hip hop direction, while the lyrics and music video for lead single "Honey" presented a more overtly sexual image of Carey than had been previously seen. "My All" (the album's fifth single) was her thirteenth U.S. number-one, an unprecedented feat for a female artist. J.R. Reynolds said Butterfly "pushes the envelope", a move that he thought "may prove disconcerting to more conservative fans", but Reynolds still praised the album as "a welcome change". A review in the Los Angeles Times said: " is easily the most personal, confessional-sounding record she's ever done...Carey-bashing just might become a thing of the past". 1997 also marked the year that Carey became a major songwriter and producer for other artists, contributing to the debut albums of Allure, 7 Mile and Blaque. She also wrote songs for the soundtracks to the films Men in Black (1997) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), and began to develop her own film/soundtrack project, All That Glitters. Towards the turn of the millennium Carey became a prominent figure in hip hop music, and collaborated with both new and established rappers.

During 1998, Carey had a romance with New York Yankees baseball player Derek Jeter, who was also biracial. She would state later that while the timing was not right for their relationship, it did teach her that multiracial families could function well. That year saw the release of the album #1's, a collection of her U.S. number-one singles up to that point. Included amongst the new material on the album was "When You Believe", a duet with Whitney Houston recorded for the soundtrack to The Prince of Egypt that won an Academy Award for Best Song. The album sold well, but a review in NME magazine 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". Also that year she appeared on the first televised VH1 Divas benefit concert program with singers such as Aretha Franklin and Shania Twain, though Carey's alleged prima donna behavior had already led many to consider her a diva. By the following year, she had begun a relationship with singer Luis Miguel.

Rainbow, Carey's sixth studio album, was released in 1999. Like Butterfly, it was comprised of pop and more R&B/hip hop-oriented songs; Carey intended them to express her feelings about her divorce two years previously. Both "Heartbreaker" and "Thank God I Found You" — the former featuring Jay-Z, the latter featuring Joe and boyband 98 Degrees — reached number one in the U.S. However, despite several other collaborations with artists such as Usher and Snoop Dogg, Rainbow became her lowest-selling LP up to that point. Reviews were not as favourable as those of her previous releases, with The Washington Post characterising the album as "a major disappointment". Although the recipient of several awards in recognition of her decade-spanning career such as Billboard's Artist of the Decade Award and the World Music Award for the world's Best-Selling Female Artist of the Millennium, a further sign of decline appeared when the double A-side "Crybaby"/"Can't Take That Away" (the final release from Rainbow) became her first single to peak outside of the U.S. top twenty. Via her website, Carey publicly accused Sony of mishandling the release of the single.

2001–2004: Personal and career struggles

Following a successful decade at Columbia Records, Carey finally ended her contract and signed a five-album deal with EMI's Virgin Records worth a reported US$80 million. Just a few months later in July 2001, it was widely reported that Carey had suffered a physical and emotional breakdown. She had left voicemail messages on her website (which were quickly removed) to her fans complaining of being overworked, and her relationship with Luis Miguel was ending. Carey made a notorious appearance on MTV's Total Request Live, where she handed out popsicles to the teen-aged audience and began what was later described by some as a "strip tease". By the month's end Carey had checked into a psychiatric hospital, and her publicist announced that she would be taking a break from public appearances.

]

Her much delayed semi-autobiographical film, titled Glitter, was panned by most critics upon its release and became a box office failure (see below). Its soundtrack album Glitter, released by Virgin, generated her worst showing to date on the U.S. charts. Kevin C. Johnson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch dismissed the album 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", while Blender thought: "After years of trading her signature flourishes for a radio-ready purr, 's left with almost no presence at all". Lead single "Loverboy" reached number two on the Hot 100 thanks to a price cut, but the album's follow-up singles all failed to chart.

Shortly after the disastrous release of Glitter and just before Christmas, Columbia released a second compilation album, the 2-CD Greatest Hits. In early 2002, Virgin decided to drop Carey from their roster and they bought out her contract for $28 million, as an addition to the $21 million paid the previous year when signing, giving her another round of bad publicity. Later that year, she signed a three-album contract with Island Records' Def Jam. To add further to Carey's emotional burdens, her father died of cancer.

Following a well-received supporting role in the independent film WiseGirls (see below), Carey released a new album, Charmbracelet, which she said marked "a new lease on life" for her. Charmbracelet sold poorly, and the quality of Carey's vocals, which had previously been perceived as her strong point, came under severe criticism. The Boston Globe declared the album as "the worst of her career, revealing a voice no longer capable of either gravity-defying gymnastics or soft coos", and Barry Walters of 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 watercolors that bleed into a puddle of brown". Singles such as "Through the Rain" failed both on the charts and with pop radio, whose playlists had become less open to maturing "diva" stylists such as Carey, Whitney Houston and Céline Dion.

"I Know What You Want", Carey's 2003 duet with Busta Rhymes recorded for his eighth album, fared considerably better and reached the top five in the U.S. Columbia later included it on the remix collection The Remixes, which failed to find an audience and became Carey's lowest-selling album. That year, she was awarded the "Diamond Award" by the World Music Awards show in honour of selling over 150 million albums worldwide. She was featured on rapper Jadakiss' single "U Make Me Wanna" in 2004, which reached the top ten of Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart.

2005–present: "Return of the Voice"

] Carey's ninth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi, was released in 2005. It was advertised as "The Return of the Voice", though Carey maintained that the voice had always been there. Slant magazine wrote: "whatever the songs lack, they make up for in restraint – brevity keeps you wanting more". A critic for The Guardian 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". It became the year's best-selling album in the U.S. (the first by a female solo artist to do so since 1996) and won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album. Its second single, "We Belong Together," became the biggest hit of 2005 and Carey's career: it topped the U.S. charts for fourteen weeks, reached number one in several other countries, was honored as the world's most-played single of the year at the World Music Awards and received two Grammys. "Don't Forget About Us" became Carey's seventeenth number-one in the U.S., tying her with Elvis Presley for the most number-ones by a solo artist according to Billboard magazine's revised methodology (their own statician, however, credits Presley with an eighteenth). By this count Carey is behind only the Beatles, who are currently credited with twenty number-one singles.

Producer Jermaine Dupri, Carey's frequent collaborator, reported in early 2006 that he had arranged for her to record a duet with fellow R&B singer Janet Jackson for Jackson's ninth studio album.

Acting career

Carey made her film debut as an opera singer and one of the former girlfriends of Jimmie (Chris O'Donnell) in The Bachelor (1999), a romantic comedy starring O'Donnell and Renée Zellweger. Critical response to Carey's cameo appearance was lukewarm: Paul Tatara from CNN derisively said Carey's casting as a talentless diva was "letter-perfect", and Tony Lee simply stated "no, she can't act".

Carey's first starring role was in Glitter, a 2001 film that had been in development as a vehicle for Carey since 1997. In it she played Billie Frank, a struggling singer and songwriter who breaks into the music industry after she meets DJ Julian Dice (Max Beesley). Reviews were scathing; while Roger Ebert gave mild praise for Carey's performance, saying, "Her acting ranges from dutiful flirtatiousness to intense sincerity", most other critics panned it: Stephanie Zacharek called Carey "numbingly bland" in her role, and Michael Atkinson observed, "when she 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 has since referred to the film as "a diva moment".

]

Carey next appeared co-starring with Mira Sorvino and Melora Walters as a tough-talking waitress in the independent film WiseGirls, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2002. Critics who saw the film lauded Carey for her efforts: Kirk Honeycutt of 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 Freidman, 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 another film, The Sweet Science, about an unknown but talented boxer who is recruited by a determined female boxing manager. However, the project later fell into development hell, while WiseGirls was not given a theatrical release and went straight-to-cable in the United States.

Carey became one of several musicians to make cameo appearances in the independently-produced Damon Dash films Death of a Dynasty (2003) and State Property 2 (2005). Her small-screen work has been more limited: she played a legal client of the title character in Ally McBeal in January 2002, and appeared in an episode of the animated children's series The Proud Family in October 2003.

Voice

Carey is credited as having a five-octave vocal range; she can cover all the notes from the alto range leading to those of a coloratura soprano. Her vocal trademark is her ability to sing in the whistle register. She has often been incorrectly credited as having a six or seven-octave vocal range. It has been suggested that Carey's publicists falsely claimed this at the start of her career, although it may also be a misstatement of the fact that Carey frequently accesses the notes situated in the seventh octave.

Carey's voice has come under minor scrutiny from some critics who believe that she does not effectively communicate the message of her songs. Rolling Stone, in a negative review of the album Emotions, wrote "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", while others have referred to her high notes as "dog whistles." In comparison, criticisms were levelled at what Carey herself described as "breathy" vocals in some of her later songs on albums such as Charmbracelet. Said Carey, "Some people are of the opinion that if you have a big voice you should use it all the time... I don't want to hear someone scream at me all the time".

Carey's voice, which is a continual subject of both positive and negative debate, was voted as the greatest voice in music in MTV and Blender Magazine's countdown of "The 22 Greatest Voices in Music", and is believed to have influenced singers such as Christina Aguilera and Kelly Clarkson. In Cove Magazine's poll of the "100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists", she placed second behind Aguilera.

Other activities

Carey is a philanthropist who has donated both time and millions of dollars to organizations such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the National Adoption Center, VH1's Save the Music Foundation, and the Fresh Air Fund among many others. Carey is well-known nationally for her work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation in granting the wishes of the terminally ill Caleb Boulter, who called her "a very real person who overflows with compassion and love for others". As part of her involvement with the Fresh Air Fund, she is the co-founder of a camp located in Fishkill, New York that enables inner-city youth to embrace the arts, be introduced to career opportunities, and build self-esteem. The camp was named Camp Mariah in honour of Carey's work with the Fresh Air Fund, and she received a Congressional Award titled the Horizon Award for her charity work on behalf of children.

Carey performed as part of 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 U.S. peacekeeping troops in Kosovo.

She hosted the CBS television special At Home for the Holidays with Mariah Carey, which documented real-life stories of adopted children and foster families. In July 2005, Carey performed for Live 8 at the Live 8 concert, London with the African Children's Choir. She was also a participant in the Shelter from the Storm telethon following Hurricane Katrina's damage to the U.S. Gulf Coast later that year.

Carey, who considered writing her autobiography with David Ritz, has instead chosen to fictionalize her life story and adapt it into a series of illustrated children's books titled Automatic Princess, about an orphaned young girl who is biracial. Also forthcoming is a clothing and accessories line known as Automatic Princess, as well as a lingerie line, Kiss Kiss, which will be available for women in all sizes. Carey's fashion sense has itself often been criticized for exposing too much of her, or just being poorly put together.

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

See also

Notes

  1. 2003 World Music Awards show Video clip. Retrieved on February 26 2006.
  2. . Retrieved February 24, 2006.
  3. "Emotions". Q magazine. p. 142, October 1991.
  4. The Guinness Book of Records 1998 (1997). UK: Guinness Publising Ltd. ISBN 0851120474 (UK).
  5. Sandow, Greg. "MTV Unplugged EP". Entertainment Weekly. June 19 1992.
  6. White, Timothy. "Mariah Carey's stirring 'Music Box'". Billboard. New York: p. 5, August 28 1993, Vol. 105, Iss. 35.
  7. Wynn, Ron. Music Box - Review. All Music Guide. Retrieved August 18, 2005.
  8. Holden, Stephen. Music Box. Rolling Stone. 1993. Retrieved August 18, 2005.
  9. Parisien, Roch. Merry Christmas - Review. All Music Guide. Retrieved August 18, 2005.
  10. Holden, Stephen. "Mariah Carey Glides Into New Territory". New York Times. p. 76, October 13 1995.
  11. Reynolds, J.R. Album Review: Butterfly. Yahoo! Music. September 16, 1997. Retrieved August 19, 2005.
  12. Johnson, Connie. Los Angeles Times. p. 58, September 14 1997.
  13. Rader, Dotson. I Had To Get My Faith Back. PARADE. June 5, 2005. Retrieved August 19, 2005.
  14. http://www.nme.com/reviews/mariah-carey/435
  15. Haring, Bruce. Mariah: I'm Not A Diva. Yahoo! Music. May 14, 1998. Retrieved December 9, 2005.
  16. Harrington, Richard. "Mariah Carey's Lackluster 'Rainbow'". The Washington Post. p. C.01, November 3 1999 .
  17. Carey Shocked by MTV Striptease Fuss. Internet Movie Database. December 3, 2002. Retrieved August 19, 2005.
  18. Strip Tease MTV video Clip. Retrieved February 26, 2006.
  19. ^ Cook, Shanon. Mariah before breakdown -- 'It all seems like one continuous day'. CNN. August 14, 2001. Retrieved August 19, 2005.
  20. Johnson, Kevin C. "Mariah Carey's New "Glitter" Is a Far Cry from Golden". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. F.5, September 16 2001 .
  21. "Glitter". ]. p. 118, August–September 2001.
  22. ^ Gardner, Elysa. Mariah Carey, 'standing again'. USA Today. November 28, 2002. Retrieved August 19, 2005.
  23. Anderman, Joan. "For Carey, the Glory's Gone but the Glitter Lives On". Boston Globe. p. D.4, September 10 2003 .
  24. Walters, Barry. "Charmbracelet". Rolling Stone. New York: p. 93, December 12 2002, iss. 911.
  25. Awards. MariahCarey.com. Retrieved August 19, 2005.
  26. Diamond Award. World Music Awards. Retrieved August 19, 2005.
  27. ^ Mariah Carey Ads Say The Voice Will Be Back, But She Says It Never Left. Yahoo! Music. March 28, 2005. Retrieved December 9, 2005.
  28. Sullivan, Caroline. Mariah Carey, The Emancipation of Mimi. The Guardian. April 1, 2005. Retrieved December 9, 2005.
  29. Bronson, Fred. "Chart Beat Chat". Billboard. December 22 2005. Retrieved February 16 2006.
  30. http://www.postchronicle.com/news/entertainment/tittletattle/article_2126217.shtml
  31. Carey: 'Glitter' Was a Lighthearted Distraction From 9/11. Internet Movie Database. April 12, 2005. Retrieved December 10, 2005.
  32. More like a screaming 'Mimi'. 12 April 2005.
  33. Debunking rumor: Mariah Carey possesses a seven-octave vocal range. Snopes.com.
  34. . Rolling Stone.
  35. Review: The Emancipation Of Mimi. BBC. 4 April 2005. Retrieved 21 February 2006.
  36. Rich Juzwiak. Mariah Carey's Return to Formlessness. Stylus magazine.
  37. Cover Magazine. 100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists.

References

External links

  • Mariah Carey Clips of live preformances, videos and interviews.
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