Mariah Carey: Beauty with substance

What happens when you feel short of words for somebody? Someone who is sensuous, glamorous and flamboyant in addition to being an excellent singer and presenter? This holds true for the March 1970 born Mariah Carey. Eventually, when you look-up the word "diva" in the dictionary, picture of Mariah Carey appears as the visual reference. In spite of the subtle reference to other female singers in the definition, Carey displays all characteristics of a diva. Mariah Carey is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, and became the first recording artist to have her first five singles top the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Family life and past circleCarey was born in Long Island, New York, to Patricia Carey, who was a vocalist and Alfred Roy Carey, an aeronautical engineer. Since the tender age of four, she knew she wanted to sing. After her parents divorce Mariah was reared by her mother an Irish-American mother, Patricia who was a vocal coach and former singer with New York city Opera. Her older sister, Allison and her brother Morgon both stayed with their father. During her childhood, Mariah only periodically saw her father. Her father's mother was Black and his father was Venezuelan. Therefore, she had to go through the stress of being an inter-racial couple’s child in the '60s and ‘70s, which put her under tremendous strain. Over the years, their dogs were poisoned and cars were set on fire and blown up. By the time she was 18, Carey had a tape ready for the moment when the opportunity would come knocking. After her High School graduation she got her big break singing for Brenda K Starr, which lead to her eventual deal with the Columbia Records. A brief meeting with Sony executive Tommy Mottola, at a party was all she needed to begin her rendezvous with superstardom. Mottola told Ebony magazine that he knew right away that she had star potential. "When I first heard and saw Mariah, there was absolutely no doubt she was in every way destined for stardom," he said. Musical journeyHer early commercial success came with her debut album Mariah Carey. Carey burst onto the scene with the affluent and soulful single "Vision of Love," in 1990. It was the first single from her first album, which distinguished her as a talented singer. Except for three albums, each of her first singles has hit number one on the charts. The incredible freshman efforts lead Carey to become the third artist to ever be nominated in the same year for best album, best song and best new artist. This effort earned 22 weeks at Billboard's number one and moved more than seven million copies. It was while making her debut album, Carey and Tom Motolla got involved with each other and finally they were married in June 1993. Her second album Emotions was claimed by Rolling Stone as 'one of the same with less interesting material'. The title track "Emotions" made Carey the only recording act to have her first five singles reach number one on the US Hot 100 chart, though the album's follow-up singles failed to match this feat. After which she began writing and producing for other artists including Penny Ford and Daryl Hall. Her first widely seen appearance was featured on the television show 'Unplugged'. Mariah has sold more than 12 million albums worldwide and yielded a record setting four consecutives on the No 1 position with songs like 'Vision of love', 'Love takes time', 'Somebody' and 'I don't wanna cry'. Butterfly is the most popular album and the title song is the most tracked. It marked the maturation of the actor. The songs took her music and fans in a bold direction as it was a mixture of the Rap and the hip hop with sophisticated lyrics and production technologies. With so much record-breaking successes under her belt and an album of greatest hits that included 13 number one singles, it seemed that Carey had accomplished all that any one person could in music. Carey's monumental success also helped her dethrone the Beatles that year to become the artists with the most weeks on top of Billboards Hot 100 singles list. By 2000, Carey began to spread her wings into the acting field as well. She finished a small part in the Rene Zellweger film, The Bachelor, and began looking for other acting roles to broaden her already full horizon of talent. Her bag of Grammies American singer Mariah Carey has received five Grammy Awards and a total of thirty-three nominations since the start of her career in 1990. She is the second most-nominated female artist in Grammy Award history behind Aretha Franklin, who has thirty-eight nominations. Carey won her first two awards in 1991, and at the 1996 show she had been nominated in six categories. She did not win any awards that year, and it marked the last time that she attended a Grammy Awards ceremony until 2006, when she was nominated for eight awards, the highest number of nominations that she has received for a single year. She appeared and performed at the awards show, and won three more awards. Emotional breakdownsIt is said that ‘success comes with pain’ and Mariah’s life reflects the statement. Her journey was certainly not on smooth ends. Be it her childhood or adulthood, her life was filled with miseries and sorrows but like a fighter she always remained unmoved. Critics panned ‘Glitter’, Carey's much delayed semi-autobiographical film, and it was a box office failure. The lead single, ‘Loverboy’ (featuring Cameo), reached number two on the Hot 100 thanks to a price cut, but the album's follow-up singles failed to chart. Following a well-received supporting role in the 2002 film ‘WiseGirls’, Carey released the album Charmbracelet, which she said marked "a new lease on life" for her sales of Charmbracelet were moderate, and the quality of Carey's vocals came under severe criticism. "Through the Rain", was a failure on pop radio, which had become less open to maturing "diva" stylists such as Celine Dion, or Carey herself in favour of younger singers such as Kelly Clarkson or Christina Aguilera, who had vocal styles very similar to Carey's. Best of her songs''Vision of Love'' (Mariah Carey, 1990)''You're So Cold'' (Emotions, 1991) ''Always Be My Baby'' (Daydream, 1995''Butterfly'' (Butterfly, 1997) ''The Beautiful Ones'' (Butterfly, 1997) ‘‘Fantasy’’ (featuring O.D.B.) (#1s, 1998) ''I Still Believe'' (#1s, 1998) ''Heartbreaker'' (Rainbow, 1999) ''Last Night a DJ Saved My Life'' (Glitter, 2001) ''We Belong Together'' (The Emancipation of Mimi, 2005) ''Shake It Off'' (The Emancipation of Mimi, 2005) ''Your Girl'' (The Emancipation of Mimi, 2005) FilmographyThe Bachelor (1999) Glitter (2001) Ally McBeal (episode: "Playing with Matches", 2002) WiseGirls (2002) Death of a Dynasty (cameo, 2003) The Proud Family (herself, 2003) State Property 2 (2005) Tennessee (2008) You Don't Mess with the Zohan (filming) Push (2008)