Mottola, Tommy

views updated May 29 2018

Tommy Mottola

Record company executive

Started as Musician

New Direction in the Music Industry

Made President of CBS Records

More Control as President and COO

Married Mariah Carey

Personal and Professional Growth

Sources

Tommy Mottola is the president and chief executive officer at Sony Music Entertainment (SME), one of the dominant organizations in the music industry. Since his earliest years, music has played a notable part of the New York City natives life, moving from consumer and performer to manager and leading industry executive. Educated in the music industry and business through practical experience, Mottolas charisma and business savvy have made his desires and opinions remarkably influential on the careers of numerous individuals in the world of music. The hands-on executive has made headlines not just for the musical artists and business success he has helped build, but also for being the former husband (and manager) of pop superstar Mariah Carey, as well as the subject of underworld speculation. Whatever has taken place in his business practices and personal life, Mottola is, judged Timothy White in Billboard, one of the most accomplished figures in the modern history of the music industry.

Born Thomas David Mottola, Jr. on July 14, 1949, Mottola was the youngest (by more than 12 years) of four children in a Catholic, Italian-American family living in the Bronx. His father was a customs broker who worked in downtown New York City, while his mother, Peggy, was a homemaker whose urges frequently moved the family to different homes around New York City, as well as to Miami. According to Mottola in his interview with White, music accompanied all parts of his young life. Latin sounds, doo-wop, and R&B oozed out of the city streets he walked; and the vibrations of family members covering old-fashioned songs with their guitars, piano, and various instruments filled every family gathering. His earliest musical preference was for R&B, in particular James Brown and Elvis Presley.

Mottola received structured musical lessons at the schools he attended, which was first New York Citys Public School 97, then, for grades 1 and 2, the Sacred Heart School in the Bronx, followed by lona Grammar School and lona Prep School. Through grade school and junior high Mottola played the trumpet for the schools bands, including the marching band and the orchestra. His skills at trumpeting earned him a scholarship to lona from the fourth through the eighth grade. However, in eighth grade he stopped playing the trumpet because it was not a cool instrument, Mottola reflected to White. Instead, the adolescent musician focused his attention on the guitar.

Started as Musician

The guitar was Mottolas path to becoming a musician. As a young teenager, he played guitar in a band called the Exoticsan R&B cover band that played beach clubs and churches, entertaining people at dances, bar mitzvahs, and weddings. Mottolas parents were against the path guitar playing was taking their 14-year-old son. They forbid their youngest child to play

For the Record

Born Thomas David Mottola, Jr. on July 14, 1949, in New York, NY; son of Thomas Mottola Sr. (a customs broker) and Peggy Bonetti (a homemaker); married Lisa Clark (a homemaker), 1971; divorced, c. 1990; married Mariah Carey (a singer), June 1993; divorced, 1998; married Thalia (an actress/singer), December 2000; children: (with Clark) Michael, Sarah. Education: Attended Hofstra (University of Long Island), c. 1968; studied acting under Wynn Handman.

Worked in customs broker industry with father during summer before college; actor/extra in about eight films, including No Way to Treat a Lady, 1968, and Whats So Bad About Feeling Good?, 1968; singer, as T. D. Valentine, under contract with CBS Records, c. 1969; records released under the CBS label Epic included Woman Without Love and Evil Woman; worked in pop music division at music publisher Chappell Music, c. 1969-74; founder, Champion Entertainment (formerly called Don Tommy Enterprises; a music management company), 1974-88 (incorporated in 1975); president, CBS Records/Sony Music (U.S.), 1988-93; president and chief operating officer, Sony Music Entertainment Inc. (SME), 1993-98; chairman and chief executive officer, 1998; has also worked as a movie producer; acted as consultant to CBS for 15 years.

Addresses: Business Sony Music Entertainment Inc., 550 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10022-3211.

the guitar and at one point sent the tenth-grader to a New Jersey military school, Admiral Farragut Academy. After six months and three episodes of running away, Mottola eventually ended up back at home, finishing his secondary education at lona. In high school Mottola returned to guitar playing, started playing drums and singing, and began acting.

While obliging his parentss request for him to attend college, he fed his musical and theatrical interests, and dated his future wifeLisa Clark, the daughter of the ABC Records founder, Sam Clark. During his short time at Hofstra he took an acting class, played the upright bass in the universitys band, and maintained other activities, such as studying acting in New York City under Wynn Handman. As he told White, I was at Hofstra for six months and found the process not satisfying. I convinced my parents they could not hold me back any more, saying, Look, Ive tried everything else. I want to be a singer, a musician, and an actor. If you love me, youll support me. I was about 18. So I picked up gigs playing WMCA record hops.

In the following months Mottola pursued all three of his interests. As a musician he landed various jobs, including filling in for bands who visited radio stations. Around that time he also worked as an actor, being an extra or having very small parts in about eight films. His greatest desire, however, was to become a singer. In time, the aspiring vocalist landed a contract with CBS Records, leading him further into the music world and into the performance side of the record industry. Under CBSs Epic label, Mottola released two 45 records: Woman Without Love and Evil Woman. The records were pop songs that respected his interest in R&B. He recorded under the name T. D. Valentinea combination of his initials and the specific day he first recorded, Valentines Dayin order to avoid confusion with his second cousin, established musician Tony Mottola.

New Direction in the Music Industry

While promoting his records, Mottola began thinking about taking a different direction in the music industry. He related to White, The obsession with singing started to wear off, but I was still learning the industry, including the business of the songs. In other words, I started to get interested in music publishing. When he was about 20, Mottola took a job with Chappell Music, a music publisher. Working in the companys pop music division, Mottola became affiliated with artists such as Jim Steinman and Rod Stewart. In 1971, about two years after Mottola started at Chappell, he wed Clark, converting to her religion, Judaism, prior to the ceremony. During the years that followed, life advanced for the couple; they had two children, moved to a nicer house, and watched Mottolas career develop.

After a handful of years in the publishing arena of the music industry, Mottola moved into the role of manager. He left Chappell and formed his own management firm, first called Don Tommy Enterprises, then later known as Champion Entertainment. His first clients were those he initially interacted with while at Chappell; among them, the then-unknown Daryl Hall and John Oates, with whom he maintained a long and involved business relationship. Under Mottolas management the duo gained great popular success as Hall & Gates; however, they also went into debt while Mottola profited. Mottola and his management company worked for other notable clients, such as John Mellencamp and Carly Simon, before Mottola became a record company executive.

Made President of CBS Records

In 1988, after being courted by the head of CBS Records, Walter Yetnikoff, Mottola accepted a position as president of CBS Records and its domestic Sony Music subsidiary. According to Vanity Fair contributor Robert Sam Anson, it was Mottolas street experience and proximity to the-powers-that-be that got him the job. However, reported Anson, the choice to give Mottola the position boggled the industry. Around the time Mottola assumed control of CBS Records, it was bought by the Japanese-owned Sony Music Entertainment; thus, Mottola became president of the United States division of Sony Music.

Once in his presidential position, Mottola determined that his organization had two major problems: 1) it lacked development of new artists, remaining anchored by great talent that was, nevertheless, past its prime; and 2) its domestic and international arms were not operating as a coherent unit. So, despite coming off of a recent record low financial year, Mottola approached his Japanese bosses, asking to make large and expensive changes. Reorganization and the generation of new talent were the answers Mottola implemented to stimulate the falling success of Sonys music company.

As president of Sony Musics United States division, Mottola brought a number of new people into high level positions, focused on expanding two of the companys record labels, Columbia and Epic, and devoted resources to new talent. In discussing the changes he made to the company, Mottola told White, So that took us into the 90s, where we began to develop a lot of new bands, broke a lot of big pop acts like New Kids on the Block and Harry Connick Jr. I signed Mariah [Carey] in 88. We released her album a year and a half later, and it became the biggest phenomenon in the world.

The performances of most of Tommys other acts, however, were not cause for celebration, contended Anson, stating: Tommy crowed about bright spots, such as the breaking of Michael Bolton and New Kids on the Block (both of who were signed by [SMEs Al] Teller). He claimed that since he had come aboard the companys profits had tripled (an assertion The New York Times found inflated five fold). But as 1992 began, Mottolas bottom line was decidedly lackluster. Nevertheless, other industry analysts, as well as Mottola himself, recognized the record executives decisions regarding new talent as a cornerstone in the companys success.

More Control as President and COO

In 1993, Mottola gained more control of the companys business, serving as both president and chief operating officer of Sony Music Entertainment worldwide. In the industry, the promotion [to chief] was a symbolic gesture rewarding the executive for a job well done, reported Valerie Block, continuing in Crains New York Business: While insiders continue to grumble about his free-spending ways and flashy corporate style, theyve had to give him credit for his willingness to take chances. While remaining committed to developing new talent, Mottola became more focused on unifying the entire international organization under his leadership.

When I got more responsibility [as chief of Sonys worldwide music division], the first thing I did was break all the walls down, and I said that everybody in this company would work together. And that has made a huge difference in the success of a Celine or a Mariah, Mottola told White. In a June 1996 issue of Crains New York Business, Phyllis Furman made similar observations, lauding Mottolas influence on SME: [H]e seems to be transforming a stodgy music house into a hitmaking global music empire. Over the past several years, he has lured an aggressive management team, set up beachheads in foreign markets and latched on to some of the industrys hottest stars, namely [Mariah] Carey and Canadian songstress Celine Dion. Now he is enjoying the payoff.

Not only did Carey play a large part in the growth of the company under Mottolas management, she also became a pivotal part of the record executives personal life. Though there are disputes about how the business relationship was initiated, in 1988 Mottola became completely immersed in Careys professional lifepresiding over her record label, acting as her manager, and assigning his business affiliations to administer various functions of her professional life. He also entered her personal life. Some reports romantically linked Mottola and Carey soon after their professional relationship began, before Mottola had divorced his first wife. Mottolas first marriage did not end until around the time that Careys first album peaked in popularity.

Married Mariah Carey

In 1993, Carey and Mottola wed in an extremely elaborate fairytale ceremony. Their wedding, Bedford mansion, relationship, and reciprocal influence on each others career became topics of public conversation. Anson commented, Depending on which enemy is doing the alleging, she owes her career to him, he owes his job to her, and the arrangements that has brought riches to both may not last forever. In fact, after five years of marriage, following a ten-month separation, Carey and Mottola divorced in 1998. Both parties cited their 20-year age difference as a reason for the divorce. Allies of both agree on a few things: that Mottola didnt want the marriage to end; Carey was too young when she married; she felt indebted to him; and she tried to make the marriage work, reported Entertainment Weekly contributor Degen Pener noting, that the split sparked angry accusations of infidelity, abusive behavior, and artistic suppression. Various accounts indicate that during their relationship Mottola had a controlling and possessive approach to Careys personal and professional life.

After their divorce, Carey remained under contract with Mottolas company; however, the singer chose to part with many of the professional influences tied to her ex-husband. She released some of the key people with whom Mottola professionally surrounded her. She also altered the style of her next album, Butterfly, toward the rap genre, a style she had been discouraged from pursuing. There was speculation that the video for one of the albums song, Honey, was a reflection of her experience with Mottola and his questioned connection to the mob. However, as Pener quoted Carey, the singer publicly announced, [The Honey video is] not intended to be a dis to Tommy. All this speculation is really kind of crazythe media hyping it and feeding it.

The video, which Mottola publicly supported, paralleled much of what was presented in Ansons November of 1996 Vanity Fair article, which characterized Mottola as having shady business practices and associations. Of Mottolas business behavior, Anson stated, That at the very least, Tommy played the thug role well is widely remembered. Anson raised questions about the business associates of Mottolas father, his first wifes father, and other people. The Vanity Fair portrait was colored with information such as Tommy was showed up in a 1986 NBC report on Mob infiltration of the music industry [and] invested in a racehorse syndicate operated by the ubiquitous Morris Levy, who was about to get slapped with a dime term on a federal extortion rap and quotes like: There was always a sort of shadow about [Tommy], says a key aide to former CBS chairman Laurence Tisch, a consideration that he was not above board. No one at CBS produced any evidence to back up the suspicions. Anson also did not present any hard evidence for his shady characterization of Mottola; and, in his interview with Mottola, the record executive denied any unflattering rumors Anson brought forth.

Personal and Professional Growth

Regardless of the speculations of questionable business interactions, Mottolas professional and personal life is still moving forward. He became chairman and chief executive officer of Sony Music Entertainment in 1998, and on December 2, 2000, he married Thalia, an actress/singer from Mexico. With his third bride at his side, Mottola continues as president and chief executive officer of Sonys music corporation. In 2001, Mottola told White that he remained committed to keeping SME invigorated with new talent; feeding off of the pop-driven music marketwhere songs rule over particular bands, artists, or albums as a whole unit; and adapting to digital mediaadjusting SMEs structure and strategies to harness the digital media and figure out how were going to get the artists paid, ourselves paid, and how we can use it as a platform to broaden our business. Mottola has experience successfully restructuring and refocusing SME. The companys revenue tripled during [Mottolas] first 10 years, reported White, who noted, Mottola believes his past has prepared him to ride out the rough patches ahead and to locate the music that will serve as a worthy artistic and consumer-pleasing destination.

Sources

Billboard, July 28, 2001, p. 1.

Crains New York Business, June 17, 1996, p. 3; May 11, 1998, p. 3.

Entertainment Weekly, September 26, 1997, p. 24.

Forbes, November 28, 1988, p. 272.

Time, March 16, 1998, p. 25.

Vanity Fair, November 1996.

Shanna Weagle

Carey, Mariah

views updated May 29 2018

Mariah Carey

Singer, songwriter

For the Record

Selected discography

Sources

Pop vocalist and songwriter Mariah Carey set the music world ablaze when her self-titled debut album was released in 1990. Featuring the hit single Vision of Love, the disc provoked critics to rave over Careys seven-octave vocal range and gospel-toned voice, and eventually sold more than seven million copies worldwide. She has been compared to the late pop soprano Minnie Riperton, the Peruvian singer Yma Sumac, and, most often, to superstar Whitney Houston. As reviewer Ralph Novak asserted in People, Carey sings with extraordinary control, driving power, lovely pitch, and wide range.

Carey was born to a mother who had sung with the New York City Opera and remained a vocal coach throughout Careys childhood. Careys mother influenced her a great deal, the singer revealed in Seventeen. I knew from watching and listening to my mom that singing could and would be my profession. She recounted further that her mother had to tear me away from the radio each night just to get me to go to sleep. Carey also enjoyed listening to the record collection of her older brother and sister, especially albums by Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, and Stevie Wonder.

When Carey was 17 she left her family home on Long Island, New York, to live in New York City. Sharing an apartment with another aspiring musician, she waited on tables to earn her living while making demo tapes of original songs to give to music executives. Carey eventually got a job as a backup singer for a small record label. One of the vocalists she sang for, Brenda K. Starr, was sufficiently impressed with her abilities to introduce her to Tommy Mottola of Columbia Records. At Starrs insistence Carey gave him one of her demo tapes. Mottola listened to it in his car on the way home from the party where the meeting had taken place; he called Carey to sign her the next day.

Carey worked on recording her debut album for the next two years. Mariah Carey was released by the time the singer turned 20. Carey co-wrote and arranged all of the songs on the album, though critics have not been particularly impressed by her non-vocal efforts. Novak called the tunes uniformly forgettable, both melodical-ly and lyrically; Alanna Nash of Stereo Review commented that none of the ten songs sticks in the mind. Nevertheless, Careys single Vision of Love, raced up the pop and adult contemporary charts, eventually reaching Number One. She gained further exposure on national television by singing America, the Beautiful before the first game of the National Basketball Association finals at Michigans Palace of Auburn Hills. Careys debut album also contained the tracks Someday and Theres Got to Be a Way, which Nash described as social-consciousness raising.

For the Record

Born c. 1970; daughter of a vocal coach and former opera singer.

Worked as a waitress and backup singer c. 1987. Recording artist, 1988.

Awards: Two Grammy Awards; one for best new artist, 1991.

Addresses: Record company Columbia/CBS Records, 51 West 52nd St., New York, NY 10019.

What you remember about Carey, however, said David Gates in Newsweek, is the voiceall seven octaves or so of it, from purring alto to stratospheric shriek. Likewise, in spite of her criticism of Careys songwriting, Nash did affirm that Mariah Carey is as exhilarating as a ride on the Worlds Tallest Roller Coaster. Amusement parks came to the mind of a Seventeen reporter as well, who noted that the lissome diva carries the listener away on a riveting roller coaster of sound. Not surprisingly, in light of such comments, Careys efforts on the album garnered her a Grammy Award for best new artist 1991. As Novak concluded, She is just about a lock to become pop musics biggest sensation since Whitney Houston.

Selected discography

Mariah Carey (includes Vision of Love, Theres Got to Be a Way, I Dont Wanna Cry, Someday, Vanishing, and All in Your Mind), Columbia, 1990.

Sources

Glamour, October 1990.

Newsweek, August 6, 1990.

People, July 16, 1990.

Rolling Stone, August 23, 1990.

Seventeen, October 1990.

Stereo Review, October 1990.

Elizabeth Wenning

Carey, Mariah 1970–

views updated Jun 08 2018

Mariah Carey 1970

Singer, actress

At a Glance

Selected works

Sources

Diva (d-vä), n., a distinguished female singer; prima donna. Random House College Dictionary. Eventually, when you look-up the word diva in the dictionary, a picture of Mariah Carey will appear as the visual reference. In spite of the subtle reference to another famous female singer in the definition, Carey has displayed each of the characteristics that commonly describe a diva. She was named the worlds top selling female artist of the millennium. She married a multimillionaire record executive in a fairy-tale wedding. And she has taken the Beatles throne as artist with the most weeks at number one on Billboards top 100 singles chart. By the summer of 2001, the talented, classically trained, and hardworking singer had come full circle and reached a breaking point, but quickly rebounded.

Carey was born March 27, 1970, in Long Island, New York, to Patricia Carey, who was a soloist with the New York City Opera, and Alfred Roy Carey, an aeronautical engineer. And since the tender age of four, she knew she wanted to sing. By the time she was 18, Carey had a tape ready for the moment opportunity would come knocking. A brief meeting with Sony executive Tommy Mottola, at a party was all she needed to begin her catapult to 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.

Carey burst onto the scene with the rich and soulful single Vision of Love, in 1990. The first single from her first album Mariah Carey hit number one on the charts and began a distinguished precedent for the singer. Except for three albums, each of the first singles has hit number one on the charts for the artist. The incredible freshman effort 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 Billboards number one and moved more than seven million copies.

Careys album was responsible for four number one singles: Vision of Love, Love Takes Time, Someday, and I Dont Wanna Cry. With the release of her second album, Emotions, in 1991, Carey produced a record breaking fifth consecutive number one single. The other releases from her sophomore release also proved to be hit singles that reached the Top five in the charts. The next album for Carey was a live effort, MTV Unplugged, and it also produced a number one songa cover of the Jackson 5 Single Ill be There.

In June of 1993, Carey wed Tommy Mottola at the historic St. Thomas Church in New York. The grand wedding sparked even more comparisons of Careys success to a fairytale. Mottola, then 43, served as the prince who swept the young songstress off her feet. She also released Music Box in 1993, which sparked more chart topping success. This album produced the hit singles Dreamlover and Hero. However, the tale was a little tarnished by the fact that Mottola divorced his wife of 20 years to be with Carey.

At a Glance

Born May 27, 1970, Long Island, New York; daughter of Patricia Carey, (a former soloist with the New York City Opera) and Alfred Roy Carey, (a former aeronautical engineer); married Tommy Mottola (divorced.)

Career: Singer, actress. First single Vision of Love reached number one; first album Mariah Carey, 1990; Emotions, 1991, MTVs Unplugged, 1992; Music Box, 1993; released Merry Christmas, 1994; Daydream, 1995, Butterfly, 1997; #1s, 1998; Rainbow, 1999; Glitter, 2001. Films: The Bachelor, 2000; Glitter, 2001; Wise Girls, 2002.

Awards: Grammy, Best New Artist, 1990, Best Female Vocalist, 1990; named Best-Selling Female Artist of Millennium, World Music Awards, 2000.

Address; Record company Virgin Records, 338 N. Foothill Rd., Beverly Hills, California, 90210, (310) 2781181, fax (310) 2786231. Publicist PMK Public Relations, (212) 5821111

Also tarnishing Careys dreams were less than glowing reviews of her first tour. She was still able to rebound from the bad reviews with Merry Christmas, her fourth album. Although this was one of the three albums that did not produce a number one hit, the single All I Want for Christmas is You, was a bright moment. Carey also quickly rebounded with her next album Daydream in 1995. This time, Careys first single, Fantasy, debuted at number one. The single was a duet with embattled rap star, O.D.B. of the Wu Tang Clan. In spite of the strangeness of the combination, the two produced what was the beginning of Careys hip-hop pop sound. Years later Variety magazine would attribute Careys musical brillance to her ability to stay ever-so-slightly ahead of the teen beat curve. This single represented one of the trends in fusing the ever-growing popularity of hip-hop and rap with the pop music sounda practice that is standard in todays music.

She also scored another hit from Daydream with a collaboration song that paired the singer with Boys II Men. The song saw a good measure of success and remained at the top of the charts for four months. Despite the continuing success musically, Careys personal life was becoming troubled. She separated from husband Mottola in 1997 and was finally divorced in 1998. She spent the time immersing herself in what she called the music of her youth. Though best known for her pop sound, her next effort Butterfly was the most hip-hop laden of her releases. Carey was still topping the charts but critics questioned her leanings towards hip-hop and R&B. Carey told Newsweek International that critics dont understand that Im someone who grew up with this music. Its exciting to be able to work with [todays leading [h]ip [h]op artists.]

To mark the many years of number one singles and success with music, Careys next album was a compilation of her first 13 number one hits. It also highlighted a few duets, Whenever You Call, with Brian McK-night and When You Believe, a duet with Whitney Houston. The Carey and Houston collaboration represented the coming together of two of the most powerful female recording artists of the 1990s. The song was also featured on the Prince of Egypt soundtrack. What was also exceptional but rarely mentioned is that Carey had co-written all of her No.l songs with the exception of the Jackson 5 cover. She was also the co-producer of all the singles that where chart topping hits.

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, but 1999 proved to be a very good year for the star as well. She released her eighth album, Rainbow, and became the first artist to have hit songs at the top of the charts for each year in the 1990s with the single Heartbreaker. Careys monumental success also helped her dethrone the Beatles that year to become the artist 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 film The Bachelor, and began looking for other acting roles to broaden her already full horizon of talent. In addition to pumping out hit records and a film, Carey had launched another singing tour and was working on the premise behind the semi-autobiographical film Glitter which would be her first starring role.

The new millennium was looking bright for the artist after being honored as the best-selling female artist of the millennium at the 12th annual World Music Awards. She also began filming Glitter as well as the movie Wise Girls with Mira Sorvino. Carey was on her way to becoming the worlds highest-paid recording artist with a five-year, &100 million deal with Virgin Records.

But Careys nonstop hit making schedule would catch up with the diva by mid-2001. In addition to the music news, Carey had been making the headlines with bizarre behavior in the early months of the year. She performed an impromptu striptease that revealed a tank top and short shorts on MTVs Total Request Live and stories of minor arguments on the set of Wise Girls were making their way into headlines. The walls almost came tumbling down in late July when Carey was hospitalized for extreme exhaustion. She had always described herself as hard working with need for little sleep. According to her publicist, Cindi Berger, the fast pace caught up with the star.

A Time article quoted Berger saying that Carey had an emotional and physical breakdown. The star ultimately took time off of her busy schedule for recuperation at a hospital in Connecticut and later in the year at another hospital in Los Angeles. Careys Glitter landed with a thud in theaters and Loverboy, the first single from her Glitter soundtrack topped at number two. In early 2002 Virgin Records bought out Careys contract. Although the road looked a little rough for the star, Carey is still many steps ahead of her competition. The artist is so dedicated to her craft and fans that she regularly leaves voice messages of thanks and news of upcoming performances at her website, www.mariahcarey.com. She entered the new millennium with more then 140 million albums and singles sold and in spite of the drawback from the Glitter film, she was scheduled to appear in an episode of the hit courtroom drama Ally McBeal. Her career has been laden with so many successes that a chart-topping first single that makes it only to the second spot is considered a failure. Though many a star could not rebound from such setbacks, Mariah Carey has proven that she can withstand all that comes her way.

Selected works

Albums

Mariah Carey, singles include Vision of Love, Love Takes Time, Someday, and I Dont Wanna Cry, Columbia, 1990.

Emotions, Columbia, 1991.

MTVs Unplugged, single includes Ill Be There, Columbia, 1992.

Music Box, singles include Dreamlover, and Hero, Columbia, 1993.

Merry Christmas, single includes All I Want for Christmas is You, Sony, 1994.

Daydream, single includes Fantasy, Columbia, 1995.

Butterfly, Columbia, 1997. #1 s, singles include Whenever You Call, and When You Believe, Columbia, 1998.

Rainbow, single includes Heartbreaker, Columbia, 1999.

Glitter, single include Loverboy, Virgin, 2001.

Films

The Bachelor, 2000.

Glitter, 2001.

Wise Girls, 2002.

Sources

Periodicals

Business Wire, October 7, 1999.

Entertainment Weekly, August 10, 2001, p. 8.

Jet, February 7, 2000, pp. 60; May 29, 2000, p. 24; September 24, 2001.

Money, June 1, 2001.

Newsweek International, November 22, 1999, p. 92.

Teen People, October 1, 2001.

Time, August 13, 2001, pp. 56.

Variety, March 27, 2000.

Online

All Music Guide, www.allmusic.com

E! Online, www.eonline.com

Mariah Carey, www.mariahcarey.com

Leslie Rochelle

Carey, Mariah

views updated Jun 27 2018

Mariah Carey

Pop, R&B singer

A Cinderella Story Marriage

Reaping Copious Rewards

Reaching out to the Rap Realm

Selected discography

Sources

Pop diva Mariah Carey sold more than eighty million albums between 1990 and 1997 by fusing her soaring, gospel-style vocals with melodious pop, rock, rhythm & blues, and soulful hip-hop music. Her vocal range is remarkably diverse, ranging between five and seven octaves, and she has been compared to Whitney Houston and other lauded female vocalists from the gospel-influenced tradition. Her early music was characterized by lyrics that champion optimism, unwavering devotion, undying love, and a follow-your-dreams chirpiness. Carey branched out in the musical realm of rap and hip-hop in 1997 with her fifth album, Butterfly, hoping to create a rougher, more urban sound and to appeal to a more youthful, cutting-edge audience. Butterfly features collaboration with many of rap and hip-hops prominent artists, and signals a fresh, new direction for Carey.

Carey was born and raised in the Long Island section of New York, the daughter of a white Irish woman and a black Venezuelan man. Her childhood, in sharp contrast to her young adult years, was marked by harsh poverty. Her mother, Patricia, was an opera singer and vocal coach, and her father, Alfred Roy Carey, was an aeronautical engineer. After years of staving off bigotry and weathering such incidents as having their dogs poisoned and a car destroyed by a bomb, the couple parted due to the stress. Mariah, then three years old, lived with her mother; her sister lived with her father, and her older brother soon went off to college. Careys mother was left to make ends meet on her own, and the struggle was so difficult that Carey and her mother sometimes lived with family friends for months.

Carey demonstrated a clear aptitude for music at an early age. She could sing on perfect pitch as a young child, exactly duplicating a given sound. Carey performed in talent shows as a girl, sang for friends, and performed at local folk-music festivals. By the time Carey was thirteen years old, she was writing her own songs. In high school she commuted to Manhattan to study music with music professionals, and after she graduated from high school in 1987, she moved to Manhattan to seek her fame and fortune as a singer.

A Cinderella Story Marriage

Carey worked as a waitress, coat check girl, beauty salon janitor, and part-time backup singer to pay the rent on her apartment in New York City in 1988. While she was working as a backup singer for rhythm-and-blues singer Brenda K. Starr, she attended a music industry party with her demo tape in hand. Sony Music Entertainment President and C.O.O. Tommy Mottola

For the Record

Born March 27, 1970, in New York, NY; daughter of Alfred Roy (an aeronautical engineer) and Patricia (opera singer and vocal coach) Carey; married Tom-my Mortola, 1993 (marriage ended, 1997).

Carey demonstrated an aptitude for music at an early age; performed in talent shows as a girl, sang for friends, and performed at folk-music festivals; by the time she was thirteen, she was writing her own songs; moved to Manhattan to seek a career as a singer, 1987; worked as a waitress, coat check girl, beauty salon janitor, and part-time backup singer in 1988; while working as a backup singer for rhythm-and-blues singer Brenda K.

Released Mariah Carey in 1990, Emotions in 1991, Mariah Carey: MTV Unplugged in 1992, Music Box in 1993, Merry Christmas in 1994, Daydream in 1995, and Butterfly in 1997; Butterfly featured collaboration with Sean Puffy Combs, The Ummah, Stevie J., Poke and Tone, Mace & The Lox, and Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone from Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony. In February 1997, Sonys Columbia Records presented Carey with her own label, Crave Records.

Awards: Grammy Awards: Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocalist (Vision of Love) in 1990. Soul Train Awards: Best new Artist, Best Album (Mariah Carey), and Best Single, Female (Vision of Love) in 1990. American Music Awards: Favorite Female Artist/R&B in 1992, Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock and Favorite Album, Adult Contemporary in 1993, Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock in 1995, and Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock and Favorite Female Artist, Soul/R&B, in 1996.

Addresses: Record company Columbia/Sony Records: 51 West 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019; (212) 833-4321.

was at the party too and ended up taking the tape home with him. According to Entertainment Weeklys Degen Pener, music industry folklore has it that Mottola fortuitously took the tape away from another guest at the party. Mottola, twenty years older than Carey, signed Carey to his label within days of meeting her and hearing her demo tape. Carey left a boyfriend for Mottola, Mottola left his wife for Carey, love blossomed into marriage, and Careys luminous career was sealed.

In 1990 Carey released Mariah Carey; her strong debut album sold over six million copies and forced many to take notice of an astounding new talent. Carey received Grammys in 1990 for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocalist for Vision of Love. The vocals on Vision of Love were so impassioned and strong that they sounded almost airborne. Careys debut album immediately solidified her career and popularity, and prompted comparisons with Whitney Houston, whose vocal style is similarly strident.

Reaping Copious Rewards

Carey released Emotions 1991, which was nominated for two Grammy nominations: Best Female Pop Vocalist and, with Walter Afanasieff, Best Producer. Emotions served to complement Careys debut album, underscoring her stature as the leading female vocalist of the vocals-driven pop domain. The songs on Emotions focus on love: the love-struck and the lovelorn. Then, after a successful live appearance on MTVs Unplugged series, Carey released her third album, Mariah Carey: MTV Unplugged in 1992.

Carey yielded a record-breaking four consecutive singles #1 hit singles from her debut album in 1990 on Billboards Top Pop Singles Chart for Vision of Love, Love Takes Time, Someday, and I Dont Wanna Cry. Emotions generated her fifth consecutive #1 hit single, rendering Carey as one of the top ten artists with the most consecutive #1 hits. In February of 1997, Sonys Columbia Records rewarded Carey with her own label, Crave Records. Carey generates up to $200 million in annual revenues for Sony-owned Columbia Records.

The number and diversity of musical awards that Carey has received is mind-boggling. In addition to her two Grammy Awards, she has garnered Soul Train Awards for Best new Artist, Best Album (Mariah Carey), and Best Single, Female (Vision of Love, 1990), Billboard Awards for Top Adult Contemporary Artist, Top Pop Artist, Top Album Artist, Top Pop Album Artist, Top Pop Singles Artist, and Top Pop Singles Artist, Female (1991), and Hot 100 Singles Artist of the Year and Special Hot 100 Singles Award for One Sweet Day (1996).

Carey has also received American Music Awards for Favorite Female Artist/R&B (1992), Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock and Favorite Album, Adult Contemporary (1993), Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock (1995), and Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock and Favorite Female Artist, Soul/R&B (1996). HerWorld Music Awards include Worlds Best-Selling Pop Artist and Worlds Best American Recording Artist, and Worlds Overall Best Performing Artist (1995), Worlds Best-Selling Overall Recording Female Artist of the Year, Worlds Best-Selling Pop Artist of the Year, Worlds Best-Selling American Female Artist of the Year, and Worlds Best-Selling Overall Recording Female Artist of the Year (1996). Finally, her Blockbuster Awards include Favorite Single (Fantasy) and, with Boyz 11 Men, Favorite Adult Contemporary Single (OneSweetDay,in 1996).

Reaching out to the Rap Realm

Carey and Mottola married with much pomp and circumstance in 1993, pouring a half a million dollars into their highly-publicized, fairy-tale style nuptials, and inviting celebrities such as Barbra Streisand and Robert De Niro. The couple then moved into a $10 million estate in the Westchester, NY, community of Bedford. Carey, became firmly ensconced in marriage at the youthful age of twenty-three. Mottola was both husband and boss, which sometimes presented a unique dilemma for the couple.

Carey released Music Box in 1993, which has sold over 23 million copies, and Merry Christmas in 1994; Merry Christmas sold over eight million copies shortly after its release. Daydream was released to critical acclaim in 1995. The multi-platinum Daydream album earned six Grammy nominations and edged her career sales close to the eighty million mark. Daydream also marked the first vocal departure from Careys tried-and-true range; she presented a softer version of her usual style, allowing the music to occasionally overpower or match her vocals. Critics who deemed her earlier style too overwhelming lavished praise on Daydreams softer sound.

Butterfly, released in 1997, ushered in a new era for the twenty-seven year old musical megastar. On May 30th in 1997, Mottola and Carey announced that they intended to divorce. Carey highlighted her newfound independence from Mottola by releasing an album with rap and hip hop undertonesin spite of the fact that Mottola would remain her boss at Sony. Butterfly was precisely the type of album Carey had wanted to release earlier in her career, but Mottola and her labels executives reportedly wanted Carey to stay true to the formula that worked for her from the onset of her career: sweet ballads, soaring vocals, and a wholesome, girl-next-door image.

Careys aptly-titled Butterfly album included collaboration with a roster of rap and hip hop artists that included Sean Puffy Combs, The Ummah, Stevie J., Poke and Tone, Mace & The Lox, and Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone from Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony. Her video for the albums single, Honey, was racier than her established fan base would have expected. In the video, she assumes the role of a James Bond type, clad in a nearly strapless black dress, who escapes from her captors only to be chased over land and sea.

It was inevitable, considering her recent divorce, that the media would draw parallels between the video for Honey and her marriage to Mottola, but in all interviews she denied any deeper, symbolic meaning beyond the videos entertainment value. Careys divorce from Mottola did not affect her artistic license or hamper their professional relationship. In addition, the critical acclaim of Butterfly reassured those at her label who worried that Careys established fan base might not accept Careys new musical direction.

With the release of Butterfly in 1997, its clear that Carey will be exploring new musical terrain and presenting her own, updated musical vision. Entertainment Weeklys Pener reported that Carey would like to pursue an acting career as well. She cowrites almost all of her songs, and with over twenty prestigious music awards under her belt at the age of twenty-seven, she has a bright musical future and follows an impressive muse.

Selected discography

Mariah Carey, Sony/Columbia, 1990.

Emotions, Sony/Columbia, 1992.

MTV Unplugged, Sony/Columbia, 1992.

Music Box, Sony/Columbia, 1993.

Merry Christmas, Sony/Columbia, 1994.

Daydream, Sony/Columbia, 1995.

Butterfly, Sony/Columbia, 1997.

Sources

Periodicals

Entertainment Weekly, September 28, 1997.

New York Post, September 19, 1997.

New York Times, September 18, 1997.

Time, September 25, 1995.

Online

http://imusic.com/showcase/contemporary/maria.html

http://udel.edu/~jungles/mcpage.html

http://www.celebsite.com/people/mariahcarey/content/biocontent.html

http://www.eonline.com/Reviews/Music/Leaves/0,6,523,00.html

http://www.music.sony.com/Music/Artistlnfo/MariahCarey/news-flat.html

http://www.mrshowbiz.com/news/todays-stories/970829/8-29-974carey.html

http://www.wallofsound.com/reviews/stories/3088-51.html

B. Kimberly Taylor

Carey, Mariah 1970-

views updated May 17 2018

Carey, Mariah 1970-

PERSONAL

Born March 27, 1970, in Huntington, NY; daughter of Alfred Roy (an engineer) and Patricia (a singer and vocal coach; maiden name, Hickey) Carey; married Thomas "Tommy" Mottola (a record company executive), June 5, 1993 (divorced); married Nick Cannon (an actor, singer, and director), April 30, 2008.

Addresses:

Agent—Creative Artist Agency, 2000 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90067; Sony/ATV Music Publishing, 2100 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90404. Manager—Handprint Entertainment, 1100 Glendon Ave., Suite 1000, Los Angeles, CA 90024. Publicist—Baker, Winokur, Ryder, 9100 Wilshire Blvd., 6th Floor, West Tower, Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

Career:

Singer, composer, and actress. Worked as a backup singer for Brenda K. Starr. Sang the U.S. national anthem at various events, including the NBA Basketball Finals. Founder of the record label Crave Records. Appeared in television commercials for Fresh Air Fund Charity, 1995, Kose lipstick, 1995; also in the Sony MiniDisc promotional campaign, 1994; launched fragrance line, 2006; signed endorsement deal with Pepsi, 2006. Founder of Camp Mariah, a summer camp for children; also involved with the children's fund-raising organization Fresh Air Fund and other charities. Also worked as a waitress, hostess, beauty salon janitor, and coat-check person.

Awards, Honors:

Grammy Award, best pop vocal performance by a female, and Soul Train Award, best single—female, both 1990, for "Vision of Love"; Soul Train Award, best album, 1990, for Mariah Carey; Grammy Award and Soul Train Award, both best new artist, 1990; Billboard Awards, top pop artist, top adult contemporary artist, top album artist, top pop singles artist, top pop singles artist—female, all 1991; named best new singer, Rolling Stone, 1991; named one the twenty-five most intriguing people, People Weekly, 1991; American Music Award, favorite female artist soul/R & B, 1992; Grammy Award nominations, best pop vocal, female, and best producer (with Walter Afanasieff), both 1992, for "Emotions"; American Music Award, favorite female artist pop/rock, 1993; American Music Award, favorite album—adult contemporary, 1993, for Mariah Carey: MTV Unplugged; World Music Awards, favorite female artist—R& B, 1992, favorite album-adult contemporary, 1993, favorite female artist—pop/rock, 1993 and 1995, world's best selling pop artist, world's overall best performing artist, and world's best American recording artist, all 1995, and world's best selling pop artist, world's best-selling overall recording female artist, world's best-selling R & B female artist, world's best selling American female artist of the year, and favorite female artist soul/R & B, all 1996; American Music Awards, favorite female artist pop/rock, 1995; American Music Awards, favorite female artist pop/rock and favorite female artist—soul/R & B, both 1996; Billboard Award, Hot 100 singles artist of the year, 1991; Billboard Award (with Boyz II Men), hot 100 singles award, 1991, for "One Sweet Day"; Image Award nomination, outstanding performance in a variety series/special, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 1996, for Mariah Carey at Madison Square Garden; Blockbuster Award, favorite single, 1996, for "Fantasy"; Blockbuster Award, favorite adult contemporary single, 1996, for "One Sweet Day"; Aretha Franklin Entertainer Award and named Entertainer of the Year, Lady of Soul Awards, both 1998; Legend Award, 1998; ALMA Award nomination, outstanding performance by an individual in a music special, American Latino Media Arts Awards, 1999, for Mariah Carey: Around the World; ALMA Award nomination (with Whitney Houston), outstanding performance of a song for a feature film, 1999, and Blockbuster Entertainment Award nomination (with Houston), favorite song from a movie, 2000, both for The Prince of Egypt; World Music Award, best-selling female artist of millennium, 2000; ALMA Award nomination, outstanding performance in a music, variety or comedy special, 2002, for America: A Tribute to Heroes; MTV Video Music Award for International Video Icon, 2005; Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards, best solo single and best album, 2005; Vibe Awards, best artist, best R&B voice, 2005; Vibe Award, best R&B song, 2005, Grammy Awards, best female R&B vocal performance and best R&B song (with Jermaine Dupri and Manuel Seal), 2006, all for "We Belong Together"; Vibe Award, best album, 2005, Grammy Award, best contemporary R&B album, 2006, both for The Emancipation of Mimi; American Music Award, favorite female R&B artist, 2005; named favorite comeback artist in the XM nation music awards, 2005. Named Artist of the Decade [the 1990s], Billboard Music Awards. Several of her albums have been certified gold, platinum, and multiplatinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

CREDITS

Film Appearances:

Ilana, The Bachelor, New Line Cinema, 1999.

Billie Frank, Glitter (also known as All That Glitters), Columbia/TriStar, 2001.

Raychel, Wise Girls, Lions Gate Films, 2002.

Herself and Raychel, Behind the Scenes of "Wisegirls," 2002.

Herself, Death of a Dynasty, 2003.

Professional dressed woman, State Property 2, 2005.

Herself, George Michael: A Different Story, 2005.

Herself, Definition of a Diva, 2006.

Herself, The Adventures of Mimi, 2007.

Herself, Lovers & Haters, 2007.

Krystal, Tennessee, 2008.

Herself, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, 2008.

Film Work:

Executive music producer, Glitter, Columbia/TriStar, 2001.

Executive producer, The Adventures of Mimi, 2007.

Executive producer, Lovers & Haters, 2007.

Television Appearances; Specials:

The 18th Annual American Music Awards, ABC, 1991.

MTV Video Music Awards 1991, MTV, 1991.

The 33rd Annual Grammy Awards, CBS, 1991.The 1991 Billboard Music Awards, Fox, 1991.

Entertainers '91: The Top 20 of the Year, ABC, 1991.

The 34th Annual Grammy Awards, CBS, 1992.

The American Music Awards, ABC, 1992.

Here Is Mariah Carey (also known as Mariah Carey), NBC, 1993.

The 1995 World Music Awards, ABC, 1994.

Luther Vandross: An "In the Spotlight" Special, PBS, 1994.

Especial Nochevieja 1994, 1995.

Mariah Carey Rockumentary, 1995.

Fantasy: Mariah Carey at Madison Square Garden, 1995.

Mariah Carey: Daydream from New York to Tokyo, Fox, 1995.

The 38th Annual Grammy Awards, CBS, 1996.

The 23rd Annual American Music Awards, ABC, 1996.

The 1996 World Music Awards, ABC, 1996.

Presenter, The 1996 MTV Video Music Awards, MTV, 1996.

The 1996 Billboard Music Awards, Fox, 1996.

The 1997 VH1 Fashion Awards, VH1, 1997.

The Gift of Song, TNT, 1997.

Nobel Peace Prize Concert, 1997.

Presenter, The 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, MTV, 1997.

Mariah Carey: Around the World, UPN, 1998.

Motown 40: The Music Is Forever, ABC, 1998.

Divas Live: An Honors Concert for VH1 Save the Music (also known as VH1 Divas Live and Celine, Aretha, Gloria, Shania, and Mariah: Divas Live), VH1, 1998.

The 1998 Billboard Music Awards, 1998.

MTV Video Music Awards 1998, MTV, 1998.

Host, When You Believe: Music from "The Prince of Egypt," NBC, 1998.

The 4th Annual Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards, syndicated, 1998.

Presenter, The 40th Annual Grammy Awards, CBS, 1998.

The 25th Annual American Music Awards, ABC, 1998.

The 1998 World Music Awards, ABC, 1998.

The 1998 MTV Video Music Awards, MTV, 1998.

The 1998 Essence Awards, Fox, 1998.

Patti LaBelle Live! One Night Only, PBS, 1998.

My Favorite Christmas Songs, PAX, 1998.

Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, UPN, 1998.

Host (with others), 30th NAACP Image Awards, Fox, 1999.

Mariah Carey's Homecoming Special, Fox, 1999.

Pavarotti & Friends 99 for Guatemala and Kosovo, PBS, 1999.

VH1 to One: Mariah Carey, VH1, 1999.

The 71st Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1999.

Gala de la hispanidad 1999, 1999.

MTV Europe Music Awards 1999, MTV, 1999.

The 1999 Billboard Music Awards, 1999.

The 1999 MTV Europe Music Awards, MTV, 1999.

Presenter, The 1999 Essence Awards, Fox, 1999.

The 5th Annual Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Fox, 1999.

Big Holiday Help-a-Thon, Nickelodeon, 1999.

VH1 Divas 2000: A Tribute to Diana Ross (also known as VH1 Divas 2000), VH1, 2000.

The 2000 World Music Awards, ABC, 2000.

Mariah T.V., 2000.

Total Access 24/7, Fox Family, 2000, 2001.

The BET 20th Anniversary Celebration, Black Entertainment Television, 2000.

The 27th Annual American Music Awards, ABC, 2000.

Rankin File: Sex Sells, VH1, 2000.

Greatest TV Moments: Sesame Street Music A-Z, VH1 and The N, 2000.

Greatest Rock & Roll Moments: 2000, VH1, 2000.

An Evening of Stars: A Celebration of Educational Excellence, syndicated and NBC, 2000.

The 6th Annual Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Fox, 2000.

United We Stand, ABC, 2001.

America: A Tribute to Heroes, 2001.

2001 Top of the Pops Awards, BBC, 2001.

Stars 2001—Die Aids-Gala, 2001.

It's Your New Year's Eve Party, 2001.

Mariah Carey: The E! True Hollywood Story, E! Entertainment Television, 2001.

The VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards, VH1, 2001.

The 2001 Radio Music Awards, ABC, 2001.

Everybody Talks About … Pop Music!, MTV, 2001.

Christmas Remembrances, Black Entertainment Television, 2001.

Host, A Home for the Holidays with Mariah Carey, CBS, 2001.

Muhammad Ali's All-Star 60th Birthday Celebration!, CBS, 2002.

National anthem performer, Super Bowl XXXVI, Fox, 2002.

The 8th Annual Walk of Fame Honoring Stevie Wonder, 2002.

The 5th Annual Sears Soul Train Christmas Starfest, The WB, 2002.

The 30th Annual American Music Awards, ABC, 2003.

50 Sexiest Video Moments, VH1, 2003.

The 17th Annual Soul Train Music Awards, The WB, 2003.

Eurobest, 2003.

Intimate Portrait: Mariah Carey, Lifetime, 2003.

I Love the '80s Strikes Back, VH1, 2003.

World Music Awards 2003, The WB, 2003.

Maxim Hot 100, VH1, 2004.

Fashion Rocks, 2005.

Save the Music: A Concert to Benefit the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, VH1, 2005.

The 2005 MTV Movie Awards, MTV, 2005.

Uncut Mariah Carey, 2005.

BET Awards 2005, Black Entertainment Television, 2005.

Live 8, 2005.

Performer, Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular, 2005.

The Teen Choice Awards 2005, Fox, 2005.

MTV Video Music Awards 2005, MTV, 2005.

Performer, Tickled Pink, ITV, 2005.

MTV Europe Music Awards 2005, 2005.

The 3rd Annual Vibe Awards, 2005.

The 2005 American Music Awards (also known as The 33rd Annual American Music Awards), ABC, 2005.

The 2005 Billboard Music Awards, Fox, 2005.

The 2005 Radio Music Awards, NBC, 2005.

New Year's Rockin' Eve (also known as Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve), ABC, 2005.

World Music Awards 2005, ABC, 2005.

Presenter, The 63rd Annual Golden Globe Awards, NBC, 2005.

The 2005 Teen Choice Awards, Fox, 2005.

The 2005 MTV Movie Awards, MTV, 2005.

Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast, CBS, The WB, Fox, UPN, PBS, ABC, and NBC, 2005.

MTV's New Year of Music, MTV, 2005.

The 4th Annual TRL Awards, MTV, 2006.

Performer, The 48th Annual Grammy Awards, CBS, 2006.

Oprah Winfrey's Legends' Ball, ABC, 2006.

Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2006, ABC, 2006.

Celebrity Debut, ABC, 2006.

Sean "Diddy" Combs: The E! True Hollywood Story, E! Entertainment Television, 2006.

Forbes 20 Richest Women in Entertainment, 2007.

Happy Birthday Elton! From Madison Square Garden, New York, MyNetwork, 2007.

Idol Gives Back 2, Fox, 2008.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

The Arsenio Hall Show (also known as Arsenio), syndicated, 1990.

Saturday Night Live (also known as NBC's Saturday Night, Saturday Night, and SNL), NBC, 1990, 1991, 1997, 2008.

Wogan, BBC, 1990, 1991.

ABC in Concert, ABC, 1991.

Top of the Pops, BBC, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006.

TV-AM, 1991, 1992.

"Mariah Carey Unplugged," Unplugged (also known as MTV Unplugged), MTV, 1992.

Des O'Connor Tonight, 1992.

Verstehen Sie SpaB?, 1994.

Wetten, dass …, 1996, 2000, 2005.

The Rosie O'Donnell Show, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000.

The National Lottery (also known as The National Lottery Live), 1997.

Howard Stern, 1998.

Musica si, 1998.

20/20 (also known as ABC News 20/20), ABC, 1998, 2002.

La llamada de la suerte, 1998.

The Oprah Winfrey Show, syndicated, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005.

Sen Kvall med Luuk, 1999.

Die Lotto-Show, 1999.

The Howard Stern Radio Show, 1999.

"Mariah Carey: Heartbreaker," Making the Video, MTV, 1999.

Mundo VIP, 1999, 2001.

TRL Italy, 2000.

Mad TV, Fox, 2000.

BETTestimony (also known as Testimony), Black Entertainment Television, 2001.

Total Request Live (also known as TRL and TRL UK), MTV, 2001, 2005.

Rove Live, Ten Network, 2001.

SM:TV Live (also known as SM:TV Gold and Saturday Morning Television Live), ITV1, 2001, 2002.

Late Show with David Letterman (also known as The Late Show), CBS, 2001, 2005.

CD:UK, 2001, 2003, 2005.

Candy Cushnip, "Playing with Matches," Ally McBeal, Fox, 2002.

Operacion triunfo, 2002.

Exclusif, 2002.

Millionar gesucht! Die SKL Show, 2002.

Fame Academy, 2002.

Children in Need, BBC, 2002.

Cribs, MTV, 2002, 2005.

V Graham Norton, Channel 4, 2003.

The National Lottery Wright Ticket, 2003.

Good Day Live, syndicated, 2003.

Ride with Funkmaster Flex, Spike TV, 2003.

Voice of herself, "Monkey Business," The Proud Family (animated), Disney Channel, 2003.

Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, ITV, 2003, 2005.

"Echo 2005—Deutscher Musikpreis," Echo—Deutscher Musikpreis, 2005.

Store studio, 2005.

"It's Like That," Making the Video, MTV, 2005.

Tout le monde en parle, 2005.

Best Hit USA, 2005.

"Entertainment," Gottschalk & Friends, 2005.

Top of the Pops: Reloaded, 2005.

Today with Des and Mel, ITV, 2005.

"Liveshow #1," Idols! (also known as Dutch Idols and Pop Idol NL), 2005.

Corazon de …, 2005, 2006.

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, NBC, 2005, 2006.

The View, ABC, 2005, 2007.

Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show, syndicated, 2005, 2007.

The Paul O'Grady Show (also known as The New Paul O'Grady Show), ITV, 2005, 2008.

The Advocate Newsmagazine, 2006.

"All Access Pass with LL Cool J," The Tyra Banks Show, UPN, 2006.

"The 25th Annual Oscar Edition," The Barbara Walters Special, ABC, 2006.

Taff, 2007.

Corazon, corazon, 2007.

Access Hollywood, syndicated, 2008.

Guest host, The Friday Night Project, Channel 4, 2008.

"3, Mottoshow—Mariah Carey & Take That," Deutschland sucht den Superstar), 2008.

Fama a bailar, 2008.

American Idol: The Search for a Superstar (also known as American Idol), Fox, 2008.

Entertainment Tonight (also known as E.T.), syndicated, 2008.

Live with Regis and Kelly, syndicated, 2008.

Also appeared in The Week in Rock, MTV; as herself, "It's Good to Be Mariah Carey," It's Good to Be …, E! Entertainment Television.

Television Executive Producer; Specials:

Here Is Mariah Carey (also known as Mariah Carey), NBC, 1993.

Mariah Carey at Madison Square Garden, 1995.

Maria Carey: Around the World, UPN, 1998.

Mariah Carey's Homecoming Special, Fox, 1999.

RECORDINGS

Albums:

Mariah Carey, Columbia, 1990.

Emotions, Columbia, 1991.

Mariah Carey: MTV Unplugged, Columbia, 1992.

(With others) MTV Unplugged (EP), 1992.

Dreamlover, Columbia, 1993.

Music Box, Columbia, 1993.

Merry Christmas, Sony, 1994.

Daydream, Columbia, 1995.

Mariah Carey at Madison Square Garden, Columbia, 1996.

Butterfly, Sony, 1997.

# 1s, Columbia, 1998.

Mariah Carey Around the World, Columbia, 1999.

# 1s, Columbia, 1999.

Rainbow, Columbia, 1999.

Glitter (soundtrack), Virgin, 2001.

Mariah Carey/Emotions/Music Box, Legacy Records, 2001.

The Emancipation of Mimi, Island, 2005.

Videos:

Mariah Carey: The First Vision, 1991.

Herself, Tina Turner: Celebrate Live 1999 (also known as Happy Birthday Tina!), 1999.

Videos (As Director):

"Fantasy" and "Always Be My Baby," Mariah # 1s, 1999.

Music Videos:

Mariah # 1s, 1999.

"Breakdown," Bone Thugs-N-Harmony: Greatest Video Hits, 2000.

"Everytime I Close My Eyes," Babyface: A Collection of Hit Videos, 2001.

"Endless Love," Luther Vandross: From Luther with Love—The Videos, 2004.

WRITINGS

Film Music:

"Where Are You Christmas?" How the Grinch Stole Christmas (also known as Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and The Grinch), Universal, 2000.

Television Music:

The single "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was used in a Christmas program broadcast on Fuji TV.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Contemporary Black Biography, Vol. 32, Gale Group, 2002; Vol. 53, Thomson Gale, 2006.

Contemporary Musicians, Vol. 55, Thomson Gale, 2006.

Dictionary of Hispanic Biography, Gale Research, 1996.

Newsmakers 1991 Issue Cumulation, Gale Research, 1991.

Notable Hispanic American Women, Book 2, Gale Research, 1998.

St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, St. James Press, 2000.

Periodicals:

Movieline, August, 2001, pp. 46-51.

Carey, Mariah

views updated May 21 2018

Mariah Carey

Singer

Pop diva Mariah Carey sold nearly one hundred million albums between 1990 and 2005 by fusing her soaring, gospel-style vocals with melodious pop, rock, rhythm & blues, and soulful hip-hop music. Her vocal range is remarkably diverse, ranging between five and seven octaves, and she has been compared to Whitney Houston and other lauded female vocalists from the gospel-influenced tradition. Her early music was characterized by lyrics that champion optimism, unwavering devotion, undying love, and a follow-your-dreams chirpiness. Carey branched out in the musical realm of rap and hip-hop in 1997 with her fifth album, Butterfly, hoping to create a rougher, more urban sound and to appeal to a more youthful, cutting-edge audience. Butterfly, in which she collaborated with many of rap and hip-hop's prominent artists, signaled a fresh, new direction for Carey who went on to appear in two motion pictures by 2001. She hit a rough patch in her career in the early years of the new millennium but regained her footing with the success of her "comeback" album, The Emancipation of Mimi.

Carey was born and raised in the Long Island section of New York, the daughter of a white Irish woman and a black Venezuelan man. Her childhood, in sharp contrast to her young adult years, was marked by harsh poverty. Her mother, Patricia, was an opera singer and vocal coach, and her father, Alfred Roy Carey, was an aeronautical engineer. After years of staving off bigotry and weathering such incidents as having their dogs poisoned and a car destroyed by a bomb, the couple parted due to the stress. Mariah, then three years old, lived with her mother; her sister lived with her father, and her older brother soon went off to college. Carey's mother was left to make ends meet on her own, and the struggle was so difficult that Carey and her mother sometimes lived with family friends for months.

Carey demonstrated a clear aptitude for music at an early age. She could sing on perfect pitch as a young child, exactly duplicating a given sound. Carey performed in talent shows as a girl, sang for friends, and performed at local folk-music festivals. By the time Carey was thirteen years old, she was writing her own songs. In high school she commuted to Manhattan to study music with music professionals, and after she graduated from high school in 1987, she moved to Manhattan to seek her fame and fortune as a singer.

A Cinderella Story Marriage

Carey worked as a waitress, coat check girl, beauty salon janitor, and part-time backup singer to pay the rent on her apartment in New York City in 1988. While she was working as a backup singer for rhythm-and-blues singer Brenda K. Starr, she attended a music industry party with her demo tape in hand. Sony Music Entertainment President and C.O.O. Tommy Mottola was at the party and ended up taking the tape home with him. According to Entertainment Weekly's Degen Pener, music industry folklore has it that Mottola fortuitously took the tape away from another guest at the party. Mottola, twenty years older than Carey, signed Carey to his label within days of meeting her and hearing her demo tape. Carey left a boyfriend for Mottola, Mottola left his wife for Carey, love blossomed into marriage, and Carey's luminous career was sealed.

Carey and Mottola married with much pomp and circumstance, pouring a half a million dollars into their highly-publicized, fairy-tale style nuptials, and inviting celebrities. The couple then moved into a $10 million estate in the Westchester, New York, community of Bedford. Carey became firmly ensconced in marriage at the youthful age of twenty-three. Mottola was both husband and boss, which sometimes presented a unique dilemma for the couple.

In 1990 Carey released Mariah Carey; her strong debut album sold over six million copies and forced many to take notice of an astounding new talent. Carey received Grammys in 1990 for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocalist for "Vision of Love." The vocals on "Vision of Love" were so impassioned and strong that they sounded almost airborne. Carey's debut album immediately solidified her career and popularity, and prompted comparisons with Whitney Houston, whose vocal style is similarly strident.

Carey released Emotions in 1991, which was nominated for two Grammy nominations: Best Female Pop Vocalist and, with Walter Afanasieff, Best Producer. Emotions served to complement Carey's debut album, underscoring her stature as the leading female vocalist of the vocals-driven pop domain. The songs on Emotions focus on love: the love-struck and the lovelorn. Then, after a successful live appearance on MTV's "Unplugged" series, Carey released her third album, Mariah Carey: MTV Unplugged in 1992.

Reaped Copius Awards

Carey yielded a record-breaking four consecutive singles number one hit singles from her debut album in 1990 on Billboard's Top Pop Singles Chart for "Vision of Love," "Love Takes Time," "Someday," and "I Don't Wanna Cry." Emotions generated her fifth consecutive number one hit single, rendering Carey as one of the top ten artists with the most consecutive number one hits. In February of 1997, Sony's Columbia Records rewarded Carey with her own label, Crave Records. Carey generates up to $200 million in annual revenues for Sony-owned Columbia Records. The number and diversity of musical awards that Carey has received is mind-boggling.

For the Record …

Born on March 27, 1970, in Long Island, NY; daughter of Alfred Roy and Patricia Carey; married Tommy Mottola, 1993 (divorced, 1997).

Carey demonstrated an aptitude for music at an early age; by the time she was thirteen, she was writing her own songs; in high school she commuted to Manhattan to study music with professions, and after she graduation in 1987, she moved to Manhattan to seek a career as a singer; worked as a waitress, coat check girl, beauty salon janitor, and part-time backup singer in 1988; released Mariah Carey, 1990; Emotions, 1991; Mariah Carey: MTV Unplugged, 1992; Music Box, 1993; Merry Christmas, 1994; Daydream, 1995; Butterfly in 1997; Sony's Columbia Records rewarded Carey with her own label, Crave Records, 1997; signed with Virgin Records, 2001; starred in the film Glitter, 2001; hospitalized for extreme exhaustion, summer of 2001; Virgin/EMI paid Carey $29 million to void their contract, signed to Island Def Jam Records, 2002; released Charmbracelet, 2002; The Emancipation of Mimi, 2005.

Awards: Grammy Awards, Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocalist, 1990; Soul Train Awards, Best New Artist, Best Album, and Best Single, Female, 1990; Billboard Awards, Top Adult Contemporary Artist, Top Pop Artist, Top Album Artist, Top Pop Album Artist, Top Pop Singles Artist, and Top Pop Singles Artist, Female, 1991; Hot 100 Singles Artist of the Year and Special Hot 100 Singles Award, 1996; Artist of the Decade, 1999; American Music Awards (AMA), Favorite Female Artist/R&B, 1992; Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock and Favorite Album, Adult Contemporary, 1993; Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock, 1995; Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock and Favorite Female Artist, Soul/R&B, 1996; Favorite Soul/R&B Female, 1998; numerous World Music Awards; MTV Video Music Award, International Video Icon, 2005; Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards, Best Solo Single and Best Album, 2005.

Addresses: Record company—Island Def Jam, 825 Eighth Ave., New York, NY 10019, website: http://www.defjam.com. Website—Mariah Carey Official Website: http://www.mariahcarey.com.

Carey released Music Box in 1993, which has sold over 23 million copies, and Merry Christmas in 1994; Merry Christmas sold over eight million copies shortly after its release. Daydream was released to critical acclaim in 1995. The multi-platinum Daydream album earned six Grammy nominations and edged her career sales close to the eighty million mark. Daydream also marked the first vocal departure from Carey's tried-and-true range; she presented a softer version of her usual style, allowing the music to occasionally overpower or match her vocals. Critics who deemed her earlier style too overwhelming lavished praise on Daydream's softer sound.

Reached Out to Rap Realm

Butterfly, released in 1997, ushered in a new era for the twenty-seven year old musical megastar. On May 30, 1997, Mottola and Carey announced that they intended to divorce. Carey highlighted her newfound independence from Mottola by releasing an album with rap and hip-hop undertones—in spite of the fact that Mottola would remain her boss at Sony. Butterfly was precisely the type of album Carey had wanted to release earlier in her career, but Mottola and her label's executives reportedly wanted Carey to stay true to the formula that worked for her from the onset of her career: sweet ballads, soaring vocals, and a wholesome, girl-next-door image.

Carey's aptly-titled Butterfly album included collaboration with a roster of rap and hip hop artists that included Sean "Diddy" Combs, and Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone from Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony. Her video for the album's single, "Honey," was racier than her established fan base would have expected. In the video, she assumes the role of a "James Bond" type, clad in a nearly strapless black dress, who escapes from her captors only to be chased over land and sea.

It was inevitable following Carey's divorce, that the media would draw parallels between the video for "Honey" and her marriage to Mottola, but in all interviews she denied any deeper, symbolic meaning beyond the video's entertainment value. Carey's divorce from Mottola did not affect her artistic license or hamper their professional relationship. In addition, the critical acclaim of Butterfly reassured those at her label who worried that Carey's established fan base might not accept Carey's new musical direction.

Following the release of Butterfly, Carey teamed with pop diva Whitney Houston on a hit tune, "When You Believe," from the animated film Prince of Egypt in 1998. Carey's 1999 album, Rainbow, also featured a hit single, called "Heartbreaker," which marked a major milestone for Carey who had successfully released a top-of-the-chart song in every calendar year of the 1990s. Late in that decade Entertainment Weekly's Pener reported Carey's intent to pursue an acting career. She made her feature film debut in a 1999 remake of The Bachelor and in 2001 appeared in Glitter, the story of a fictional singer whose life beared more than a passing similarity to Carey's. Carey meanwhile also scored a number two hit song, "Loverboy," that same year.

Carey, who cowrites and produces much of her own material, suffered from extreme exhaustion during the summer of 2001 and required hospitalization for some weeks, which forced her to cancel some performance engagements. This occurred after public displays of erratic behavior, and many people speculated that Carey's hospitalization was for an emotional breakdown. She returned to the stage in late September in order to contribute personal appearances to disaster relief benefit programs to raise money for the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist bombing of New York City.

In early 2002, Virgin/EMI paid Carey a reported $29 million to void the contract signed a year early, which was worth around $100 million dollars. Carey signed with predominantly hip hop label Island Def Jam in the fall of 2002, and began immediately working on her debut for the label. The album, Charmbracelet, released in late 2002, features production by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Jermaine Dupri. It also included a cover of Def Leppard's "Bringin' On The Heartbreak." Although many people in the music industry saw Carey's breakdown and the huge disappointment that was Glitter as a sign the end of Carey's career, Island Def Jam president Lyor Cohen is optimistic, "She's one of pop music's most beloved performers," he told Billboard. "That doesn't change overnight."

Made a Huge Comeback

In April of 2005, Carey released The Emancipation of Mimi. The album signified a triumphant return to Carey's chart-topping days with an album that glided with pop ballads and bumped with R&B and hip-hop production. Recorded in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Carey's favorite spot, the Mediterranean island of Capri, Carey got the best of the best to work on the album, including Jermaine Dupri, Kanye West, The Neptunes, Snoop Dogg, and Nelly. The title of the record meant a rebirth to Carey, who is called Mimi by her closest friends. "Nobody calls me Mariah except my mother and she doesn't even really call me that…. Mimi was a really personal nickname that only people I really love and care about call me. When I proposed the concept of the title to L.A. Reid, the CEO of Island Def Jam, he was like, 'I love that, because it's the side of you that I'm hearing in this album, a free-spirited person,'" Carey told VH1.com.

In its first two weeks, Mimi sold more than 600,000 copies and landed a number one spot on the Billboard charts. Carey's number one album was a landmark for Island Records; it was the first time a solo act on the label had a number one. The hip-hop dance track "It's Like That," sped up the charts and became a number one track on Billboard's Club Play Chart. In the video for the album's second single, the emotional ballad, "We Belong Together," Carey actually donned the Vera Wang wedding dress she wore when she married Tommy Mottola.

With the help of the club-friendly single "It's Like That," Carey has seemed to recapture her audience. The New York Post called Mimi: "a bold, classy R&B album that will appeal to both adults and kids" and "the best album Carey has made in years."

Selected discography

Mariah Carey, Sony/Columbia, 1990.

Emotions, Sony/Columbia, 1992.

MTV Unplugged, Sony/Columbia, 1992.

Music Box, Sony/Columbia, 1993.

Merry Christmas, Sony/Columbia, 1994.

Daydream, Sony/Columbia, 1995.

Butterfly, Sony/Columbia, 1997.

Rainbow, Columbia, 1999.

Glitter, Virgin, 2001.

Charmbracelet, Island Def Jam, 2002.

The Emancipation of Mimi, Island Def Jam, 2005.

Sources

Periodicals

Billboard, May 18, 2002.

Entertainment Weekly, September 28, 1997.

New York Post, September 19, 1997; April 10, 2005.

New York Times, September 18, 1997.

Time, September 25, 1995.

Online

Mariah Carey Official Website, http://www.mariahcarey.com (May 23, 2005).

MTV.com, http://www.mtv.com (May 23, 2005).

VH1.com, http://www.vh1.com (May 23, 2005).

Carey, Mariah

views updated Jun 27 2018

Mariah Carey

1970—

Singer, actor

Mariah Carey has displayed each of the characteristics that commonly describe a diva. She possesses both a five-octave vocal range and award-winning music business skills. She cowrote all but one of her number-one songs (which was a cover of a Jackson 5 song) and coproduced all of her chart-topping hits. She was named the world's top selling female artist of the millennium. By the summer of 2001, the talented, classically trained, and hardworking singer had come full circle and reached a breaking point, but quickly rebounded. With the release of her 2008 album E=MC2, which debuted at the top of the charts, Carey tied Janet Jackson and Madonna for the number-two spot for all-time number-one albums by a female artist, trailing only Barbra Streisand in that category. Her eighteen number-one singles are second only to the Beatles among all performers.

Carey was born on March 27, 1970, in Long Island, New York, to Patricia Carey, who was a soloist with the New York City Opera, and Alfred Roy Carey, an aeronautical engineer. Since the tender age of four, she knew she wanted to sing. By the time she was eighteen years old, Carey had a tape ready for the moment that opportunity came knocking. A brief meeting with Sony executive Tommy Mottola at a party was the catalyst to her successful career. 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.

Made Chart-Topping Entrance

Carey burst onto the scene with the rich and soulful single "Vision of Love" in 1990. The first single from her first album, Mariah Carey, hit number one on the charts. This incredible freshman effort led Carey to become the third artist to be nominated in the same year for best album, best song, and best new artist. Mariah Carey earned twenty-two weeks at Billboard's number one, sold more than seven million copies, and was responsible for four number-one singles: "Vision of Love," "Love Takes Time," "Someday," and "I Don't Wanna Cry."

On her second album, Emotions, in 1991, Carey produced a record-breaking fifth consecutive number-one single with the album's title track. Two other songs from her sophomore release reached the top five in the charts. The next album for Carey was a live effort, MTV Unplugged, and it also produced a number one-song—a cover of the Jackson 5 single "I'll Be There."

In June of 1993 Carey wed Mottola at the historic St. Thomas Church in New York. The grand wedding sparked even more comparisons of Carey's success to a fairytale. Mottola, then age forty-three, served as the prince who swept the young songstress off her feet. She also released Music Box in 1993, which sparked more chart-topping success. This album produced the hit singles "Dreamlover" and "Hero."

While Carey suffered poor critical reviews of her first tour, the bad reviews did not deter her. She released Merry Christmas in 1994. Although this was one of the three albums that did not produce a number one hit, the single "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was a bright spot.

Mixed Musical Styles

In 1995 Carey released Daydream, and its lead single, "Fantasy," debuted at number one. The single was a duet with embattled rap star O.D.B. of the Wu Tang Clan. In spite of the strangeness of the combination, the two produced what was the beginning of Carey's hip-hop pop sound. Years later Variety magazine would attribute Carey's musical brilliance to "her ability to stay ever-so-slightly ahead of the teen beat curve." This single represented one of the trends in fusing the ever-growing popularity of hip-hop and rap with the pop music sound—a practice that has since become standard in the music industry. She also scored another hit from Daydream with "One Sweet Day," a collaboration that paired the singer with Boys II Men. The song saw a good measure of success and remained at the top of the charts for four months.

Despite the continuing success musically, Carey's personal life was becoming troubled. She separated from Mottola in 1997 and was finally divorced in 1998. She spent the time immersing herself in what she called the music of her youth. Though best known for her pop sound, her next effort, Butterfly, was the most hip-hop laden of her releases to date. Carey was still topping the charts, but critics questioned her leanings towards hip-hop and R&B. Carey told Newsweek International that critics "don't understand that I'm someone who grew up with this music. It's exciting to be able to work with [hip-hop artists] Jay-Z or Nas or Missy Elliott."

To mark the many years of number-one singles and success with music, Carey's next album, #1's, was a compilation of her first thirteen number-one hits. It also highlighted a few duets, including "Whenever You Call" with Brian McKnight and "When You Believe" with Whitney Houston. "When You Believe" was featured on the soundtrack of Disney's animated film The Prince of Egypt and met with worldwide success. With so many record-breaking successes under her belt and an album of greatest hits, it seemed that Carey had accomplished all that any one person could in music. 1999, however, proved to be a very good year for the star as well. She released her eighth album, Rainbow, and became the first artist to have hit songs at the top of the charts for each year in the 1990s with the single "Heartbreaker."

At a Glance …

Born on March 27, 1970, in Hamilton, Long Island, New York; daughter of Patricia Carey (a former soloist with the New York City Opera) and Alfred Roy Carey (a former aeronautical engineer); married Tommy Mottola (a record executive), 1993 (divorced, 1998); married Nick Cannon (an actor and singer), 2008.

Career: Singer and recording artist, 1990—; actor, 2000—; record producer; has worked as a television and music video producer and director.

Awards: Grammy Awards, best new artist and best female vocalist, 1990; World Music Award, bestselling female artist of millennium, 2000; four Vibe Awards, including best artist, best R&B voice, best R&B song for "We Belong Together," and best album for The Emancipation of Mimi, 2005; American Music Award, favorite female R&B artist, 2005; favorite comeback artist in the XM Nation Music Awards voting, 2005; Grammy Awards, best female R&B vocal performance, best R&B song (with Jermaine Dupri and Manuel Seal) for "We Belong Together," and best contemporary R&B album for The Emancipation of Mimi, 2006; NAACP Image Award, best album for The Emancipation of Mimi, 2006; received "recording star" on Hollywood Walk of Fame, 2007.

Addresses: Record label—Island Records, 825 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10019.

Life Took a Turn

The new millennium was looking bright for Carey after being honored as the best-selling female artist of the millennium at the twelfth annual World Music Awards. Carey broadened her work to include acting in 2000.

She made her film debut with a small part in The Bachelor. At the same time Carey launched another singing tour and began work on the semiautobiographical film Glitter. Soon after, she started filming the movieWise Girls, with Mira Sorvino. Carey was on her way to becoming the world's highest-paid recording artist with a five-year, $100-million deal with Virgin records.

But Carey's nonstop hit-making schedule would catch up with the diva by mid-2001. In addition to the music news, Carey had been making the headlines with bizarre behavior in the early months of the year. She performed an impromptu striptease that revealed a tank top and short shorts on MTV's Total Request Live, and stories of minor arguments on the set of Wise Girls were making their way into headlines. In late July Carey was hospitalized for extreme exhaustion. She had always described herself as hard working with need for little sleep, but according to her publicist, Cindi Berger, the fast pace caught up with her. A Time article quoted Berger as saying that Carey had "an emotional and physical breakdown." The star ultimately took time off from her busy schedule to recuperate at a hospital in Connecticut, and later in the year at another hospital in Los Angeles.

Carey's Glitter landed with a thud in theaters, and "Loverboy," the first single from her Glitter soundtrack, topped out at number two. Although the road looked a little rough for the star, Carey remained many steps ahead of her competition. She regained her health and soon began working again. In 2002 she released Charmbracelet, which reached number two on the charts, followed by an album of remixed favorites.

By 2005 Carey had regained her momentum. With the release of The Emancipation of Mimi, Carey enjoyed over-the-top sales in the album's first week and had her first number-one album on the Billboard charts since 1997. Besides winning an American Music Award for favorite female R&B artist, the artist garnered four Vibe Awards, including best artist, best R&B voice, best R&B song (for "We Belong Together"), and best album. She also won three Grammy Awards, for best female R&B vocal performance, best R&B song, and best R&B album. For her effort on Mimi, Carey was also declared the favorite comeback artist in the XM Nation Music Awards voting in December of 2005. Mimi eventually became the best-selling album of the year; fans had purchased about five million copies by the end of 2005. As Billboard magazine wrote: "Go ahead and call it a comeback."

The comeback did not end there. Carey's 2006 tour in support of Mimi was her most successful yet. The following year, she received a "recording star" on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In the spring of 2007 Carey began work on her eleventh studio album, E=MC2. In April of 2008, a couple of weeks before the release of the full album, the single "Touch My Body" hit number one on the Billboard singles chart. This brought Carey's tally of chart-topping singles to eighteen, surpassing Elvis Presley's career total and leaving her just two hits behind the Beatles for the all-time record. The album itself was a monster hit as well. Nearly half a million copies of E=MC2 were sold in its first week in stores, marking the best first-week album sales of Carey's stellar career thus far. It was her sixth number-one album. 2008 was a banner year for Carey in other respects as well. Right around the time of her album's release, she tied the knot with actor/rapper Nick Cannon at her estate on Windermere Island in the Bahamas. Carey's own acting career was in high gear in 2008 as well. She appeared in the independent film Tennessee, and made a cameo appearance as herself in Adam Sandler's hit movie You Don't Mess with the Zohan. With her so-called comeback complete, nearly two decades into her illustrious career, Carey's star was still clearly on the rise.

Selected works

Albums

Mariah Carey, Columbia, 1990.

Emotions, Columbia, 1991.

MTV's Unplugged, Columbia, 1992.

Music Box, Columbia, 1993.

Merry Christmas, Sony, 1994.

Daydream, Columbia, 1995.

Butterfly, Columbia, 1997.

#1's, Columbia, 1998.

Rainbow, Columbia, 1999.

Glitter, Virgin, 2001.

Charmbracelet, Columbia, 2002.

The Remixes, Island, 2003.

The Emancipation of Mimi, Island, 2005.

E=MC2, Island, 2008.

Films

The Bachelor, 2000.

Glitter, 2001.

Wise Girls, 2002.

State Property 2, 2005.

Tennessee, 2008.

You Don't Mess with the Zohan (as herself), 2008.

Sources

Periodicals

Allure, July 20, 2005.

Billboard, April 23, 2005, p. 6; April 5, 2008, p. 27.

Business Wire, October 7, 1999.

Ebony, August 2006, p. 164.

Entertainment Weekly, August 10, 2001, p. 8.

Interview, September 2007, p. 154.

Jet, February 7, 2000, p. 60; May 29, 2000, p. 24; September 24, 2001; April 25, 2005, p. 58; April 21, 2008, p. 58; May 26, 2008, p. 38.

Money, June 1, 2001.

New York Times, August 5, 2005.

Newsweek International, November 22, 1999, p. 92.

Teen People, October 1, 2001.

Time, August 13, 2001, p. 56.

Variety, March 27, 2000.

Online

Eliscu, Jenny, "Mariah after Midnight," Rolling Stone, February 9, 2006, http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/mariah_after_midnight (accessed July 17, 2008).

Laudadio, Marisa, "Mariah Carey's Album Debuts at No. 1," People, April 23, 2008, http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20194801,00.html (accessed July 17, 2008).

"Mariah Carey: Biography," allmusic, http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hvfpxqq5ld0e (accessed July 17, 2008).

Mariah Carey Web site, http://www.mariahcarey.com (accessed July 17, 2008).

—Ashyia Henderson, Leslie Rochelle, Sara Pendergast, and Bob Jacobson

Carey, Mariah

views updated May 21 2018

Mariah Carey

1970-

Singer, actor

Mariah Carey has displayed each of the characteristics that commonly describe a diva. She possesses both a five-octave vocal range and award-winning music business skills. She co-wrote all but one of her No.1 songs (which was a cover of a Jackson 5 song) and co-produced of all of her chart-topping hits. She was named the world's top selling female artist of the millennium. By the summer of 2001, the talented, classically trained, and hardworking singer had come full circle and reached a breaking point, but quickly rebounded.

Carey was born March 27, 1970, in Long Island, New York, to Patricia Carey, who was a soloist with the New York City Opera, and Alfred Roy Carey, an aeronautical engineer. And since the tender age of four, she knew she wanted to sing. By the time she was 18, Carey had a tape ready for the moment that opportunity came knocking. A brief meeting with Sony executive Tommy Mottola at a party was the catalyst to her successful career. 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.

Made Chart-Topping Entrance

Carey burst onto the scene with the rich and soulful single "Vision of Love," in 1990. The first single from her first album Mariah Carey hit number one on the charts. The incredible freshman effort led Carey to become the third artist to be nominated in the same year for best album, best song, and best new artist. Mariah Carey earned 22 weeks at Billboard's number one, sold more than seven million copies, and was responsible for four number one singles: "Vision of Love," "Love Takes Time," "Someday," and "I Don't Wanna Cry."

On her second album, Emotions, in 1991, Carey produced a record-breaking fifth consecutive number-one single with the album's title track. Two other songs from her sophomore release reached the top five in the charts. The next album for Carey was a live effort, MTV Unplugged, and it also produced a number one song—a cover of the Jackson 5 single "I'll Be There."

In June of 1993, Carey wed Tommy Mottola at the historic St. Thomas Church in New York. The grand wedding sparked even more comparisons of Carey's success to a fairytale. Mottola, then 43, served as the prince who swept the young songstress off her feet. She also released Music Box in 1993, which sparked more chart-topping success. This album produced the hit singles "Dreamlover" and "Hero."

While Carey suffered poor critical reviews of her first tour, the bad reviews did not deter her. She released Merry Christmas in 1994. Although this was one of the three albums that did not produce a number one hit, the single "All I Want for Christmas Is You," was a bright moment.

Mixed Musical Styles

In 1995 Carey released Daydream, and its lead single, "Fantasy," debuted at number one. The single was a duet with embattled rap star, O.D.B. of the Wu Tang Clan. In spite of the strangeness of the combination, the two produced what was the beginning of Carey's hip-hop pop sound. Years later Variety magazine would attribute Carey's musical brilliance to "her ability to stay ever-so-slightly ahead of the teen beat curve." This single represented one of the trends in fusing the ever-growing popularity of hip-hop and rap with the pop music sound—a practice that has become standard in the music industry. She also scored another hit from Daydream with "One Sweet Day," a collaboration song that paired the singer with Boys II Men. The song saw a good measure of success and remained at the top of the charts for four months.

Despite the continuing success musically, Carey's personal life was becoming troubled. She separated from Mottola in 1997 and was finally divorced in 1998. She spent the time immersing herself in what she called the music of her youth. Though best known for her pop sound, her next effort Butterfly was the most hip-hop laden of her releases. Carey was still topping the charts but critics questioned her leanings towards hip-hop and R&B. Carey told Newsweek International that critics "don't understand that I'm someone who grew up with this music. It's exciting to be able to work with [today's leading [h]ip [h]op artists.]"

To mark the many years of number one singles and success with music, Carey's next album, #1, was a compilation of her first 13 number-one hits. It also highlighted a few duets, including "Whenever You Call" with Brian McKnight and "When You Believe" with Whitney Houston. "When You Believe" was featured on the soundtrack of Disney's animated film, The Prince of Egypt, and met with worldwide success. With so many 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. However, 1999 proved to be a very good year for the star as well. She released her eighth album Rainbow and became the first artist to have hit songs at the top of the charts for each year in the 1990s with the single "Heartbreaker."

Life Took a Turn

The new millennium was looking bright for the artist after being honored as the best-selling female artist of the millennium at the 12th annual World Music Awards. Carey broadened her work to include acting in 2000. She made her film debut in a small part in The Bachelor. At the same time, Carey launched another singing tour and began work on the semiautobiographical film Glitter, and soon started filming the movie Wise Girls, with Mira Sorvino. Carey was on her way to becoming the world's highest-paid recording artist with a five-year, $100 million deal with Virgin records.

But Carey's nonstop hit making schedule would catch up with the diva by mid-2001. In addition to the music news, Carey had been making the headlines with bizarre behavior in the early months of the year. She performed an impromptu striptease that revealed a tank top and short shorts on MTV's Total Request Live and stories of minor arguments on the set of Wise Girls were making their way into headlines. In late July Carey was hospitalized for extreme exhaustion. She had always described herself as hard working with need for little sleep, but according to her publicist, Cindi Berger, the fast pace caught up with the star. A Time article quoted Berger saying that Carey had "an emotional and physical breakdown." The star ultimately took time off of her busy schedule for recuperation at a hospital in Connecticut and later in the year at another hospital in Los Angeles.

Carey's Glitter landed with a thud in theaters and "Loverboy," the first single from her Glitter soundtrack, topped at number two. Although the road looked a little rough for the star, Carey remained many steps ahead of her competition. She regained her health and soon began working again. In 2002 she released Charmbracelet that topped the charts at number two, followed by an album of remixed favorites.

At a Glance …

Born on May 27, 1970, in Long Island, New York; daughter of Patricia Carey, (a former soloist with the New York City Opera) and Alfred Roy Carey, (a former aeronautical engineer); married Tommy Mottola (divorced).

Career: Singer, 1990-; actress, 2000-.

Awards: Grammy, Best New Artist, 1990, Best Female Vocalist, 1990; World Music Award, Best-Selling Female Artist of Millennium, 2000; Lady of Soul Awards, nominated for Best R&B/Soul Single, for "We Belong Together" and for Best R&B/Soul Album, for The Emancipation of Mimi, 2005.

Addresses: Record Label—Island Records, 825 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10019.

By 2005 Carey had regained her momentum. With the release of The Emancipation of Mimi, Carey enjoyed record sales in the album's first week and had her first number one album on the Billboard charts since 1997. As Billboard magazine wrote: "Go ahead and call it a comeback."

Selected works

Albums

Mariah Carey, Columbia, 1990.

Emotions, Columbia, 1991.

MTV's Unplugged, Columbia, 1992.

Music Box, Columbia, 1993.

Merry Christmas, Sony, 1994.

Daydream, Columbia, 1995.

Butterfly, Columbia, 1997.

#1's, Columbia, 1998.

Rainbow, Columbia, 1999.

Glitter, Virgin, 2001.

Charmbracelet, Columbia, 2002.

The Remixes, Island, 2003.

The Emancipation of Mimi, Island, 2005.

Films

The Bachelor, 2000.

Glitter, 2001.

Wise Girls, 2002.

Sources

Periodicals

Allure, July 20, 2005.

Billboard, April 23, 2005, p. 6.

Business Wire, October 7, 1999.

Entertainment Weekly, August 10, 2001, p. 8.

Jet, February 7, 2000, pp. 60; May 29, 2000, p. 24; September 24, 2001, April 25, 2005, p. 58.

Money, June 1, 2001.

Newsweek International, November 22, 1999, p. 92.

New York Times, August 5, 2005.

Teen People, October 1, 2001.

Time, August 13, 2001, pp. 56.

Variety, March 27, 2000.

On-line

All Music Guide, www.allmusic.com.

Mariah Carey, www.mariahcarey.com.

—Ashyia Henderson, Leslie Rochelle, and Sara Pendergast

Carey, Mariah

views updated Jun 27 2018

MARIAH CAREY

Born: Long Island, New York, 27 March 1970

Genre: Pop, Disco, Rock

Best-selling album since 1990: Music Box (1993)

Hit songs since 1990: "Hero," "Dreamlover," "Fantasy"


As one of the most successful artists of the 1990s, Mariah Carey has reached the same pop star status as other females such as Celine Dion, Janet Jackson, and Whitney Houston. Known for a singing style that draws on soul and rock, Carey has had a number of dance-pop hits.

Raised in a musical family, with a mother who was a former opera singer and voice coach, Carey started her career at a young age by singing on R&B sessions while still at school. Having moved from Long Island, New York, to New York City at the age of seventeen, she started writing songs with arranger Ben Margulies. Her songs fused pop, gospel, and soul in a way that maximized her vast vocal range. Carey's break came when she signed with Columbia Records and started on her debut album, Mariah Carey, in 1990. With a string of top hits, "Vision of Love," "Love Takes Time," "Someday," and "I Don't Wanna Cry," the album became a great success, winning her Grammy Awards for Best Female Artist and Best New Artist.

Carey's talent as a singer became obvious to millions of fans. With a strong soul vocal style that exuded exuberance through its wide register, and a stylishly sexy image, she continued to produce albums that sold well. Her next two releases included Emotions in 1991 and MTV Unplugged in 1992. The latter included a live performance recorded for MTV within an intimate setting where the audience was able to respond to her spontaneously. Backed by a group of talented musicians, Carey managed to pull off a mannered and reflective performance that was epitomized by tracks such as the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There."

In 1993 she released her best-selling album, Music Box, with which she went on tour. This album consists of two of her most memorable hits, "Hero" and "Dreamlover," which reached the top of the charts all around the world. In both of these songs Carey's delivery is overdramatic and impassioned with her squeezing out every drop of sentimentality in a style not unlike that of Barbra Streisand. While the songs on the album are stylishly performed and well produced, there is a lack of imagination in the lyrics, which mainly deal with themes of love and yearning. In addition, Carey's vocal parts are not profiled enough in the mixes of these songs. As a result, the songs lack a sense of conviction and direction. It was perhaps the oversentimentality and excessive performance that resulted in mixed reviews during her first tour.

Following her marriage to producer Tommy Mottola in 1993, her next album, Merry Christmas, was released, featuring the number one single "All I Want for Christmas Is You." The appeal of this song lies in its clever production with catchy chords, overdone bell sounds, and sleighbell connotations. Even more success was enjoyed by Carey with her next hit single, "Fantasy," from her 1995 album Daydream. The other big hit from this album was "One Sweet Day," a collaboration with Boyz II Men, which topped the U.S. charts for sixteen weeks. For many, the material on this album signified a maturity in her style, not least for an adult-oriented public impressed by her musical craftsmanship.

In 1997, having separated from Mottola (whom she later divorced), Carey released her next album, Butterfly, which showed a determination to succeed alone. All sorts of references are found in the songs that relate to the theme of her survival and freedom at the breakup of her marriage. Not as up-tempo as her previous dance-style hits, these songs are intended for listening, hence their ballad style. Tracks such as "Butterfly," "Babydoll," "Break Down," and the Prince cover "The Beautiful Ones" are all poignantly delivered in a controlled and sensual manner. With this album, Carey finally sealed her credibility as pop diva.

Her star status was evidenced by the recording of a duet with Whitney Houston in 1998, "The Prince of Egypt (When You Believe)," for her forthcoming greatest hits album, #1's. The chemistry of these two stars visible in the promo video was enough to confirm Carey's standing as pop diva. In fact, Carey's peak in terms of fame came at the end of the 1990s. With the hit "Heartbreaker," from her 1999 album Rainbow, she became the only artist to ever have topped the charts each consecutive year of a decade. Stylistically, this hit is a blend of hip-hop and R&B, with a melodramatic expression forcing its sassy delivery. In contrast, the duet with Snoop (Doggy) Dogg on the track "Crybaby" shows off the groove-based panache of Carey's material and represents one of the high points on this album.

During the early 2000s Carey's popularity waned. Her next album, Glitter (2001), the soundtrack for the film of the same name, in which she starred, struggled to achieve its intended commercial success. As it was her Virgin Records debut, a breakdown between artist and record company resulted. She subsequently formed her own label, MonarC. With her ninth album, Charmbracelet, released in 2002, there was little sign of a comeback as a disappointing collection of tracks characterized a notable decline through a jaded performance.

Having become one of the best-selling female artists of the 1990s, Carey's success at the beginning of the new millennium dwindled. Negative critical response to Glitter and Charmbracelet did not help her career, and only time will tell whether she can make a comeback to her previous superstar status.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Mariah Carey (Columbia, 1990); Emotions (Columbia, 1991); Music Box (Columbia, 1993); Merry Christmas (Sony, 1994); Daydream (Columbia, 1995); Butterfly (Columbia, 1997); #1's (Columbia, 1998); Rainbow (Columbia, 1999); Charmbracelet (Mercury, 2002). Soundtrack: Glitter (Virgin, 2001).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

M. Cole, Mariah Carey (Bear, Delaware, 1997); C. Nickson, Mariah Carey Revisited: Her Story (New York, 1998); M. Shapiro, Mariah Carey (Ontario, 2001).

stan hawkins

Carey, Mariah

views updated May 11 2018

Carey, Mariah

Carey, Mariah the most successful female artist of the 1990s, her six-octave voice selling over 80 million albums worldwide; b. N.Y.C., March 22, 1970. Mariah Carey’s mother, Patricia Carey, was a solist with the N.Y.C. Opera in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and continued to work as a vocal coach. Her father, a black Venezuelan aeronautical engineer, divorced her mom when she was just three years old. From a very young age, Mariah was convinced she would be a star. She left her home in Long Island the day after graduating high school to prove it.

While waiting tables, Mariah hooked up with Ben Margulies, a friend of her older brother’s. They started writing songs together and cut a demo tape. Through another friend, she found out that dance artist Brenda K. Starr was looking for a background vocalist. Carey sought and got the job. Starr became her mentor, taking her to music business parties and events. At one such soiree, Starr gave Carey’s demo to Columbia records president Tommy Mattola. Legend has it that Mattola popped the tape into his limo’s cassette player and liked what he heard so much he had his driver go back to the party so he could start the signing process.

Carey’s eponymous 1990 debut generated four chart-topping singles in a row, “Vision of Love” (also #1 R&B), “Love Takes Time” (also #1 R&B), “Someday,” and “I Don’t Wanna Cry” (also #1 AC). All but the last went gold. The album went octuple platinum and stayed on the top of the album charts for 11 weeks. At the Grammy’s that year, Mariah took home the Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Performance Female statuettes.

Carey managed to avoid the Best New Artist curse, however, following that success up with Emotions a little over a year later. The gold title track topped both the pop and R&B charts, “Can’t Let Go” hit #2 pop and topped the AC charts, and “Make It Happen” got as high as #5. The album sold four million copies and rose as high as #4.

Despite her enormous success, Carey had yet to appear widely in concert, creating rumors that her phenomenal vocal range was somehow manufactured in the studio. Admittedly not fond of performing live, Carey had only done so in limited settings—for video cameras in upstate N.Y., at trade events promoting her records, and small “boutique” concerts. Her next recording, however, was a live performance for MTV’s Unplugged series. The triple platinum EP featured her version of the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There” that topped the pop and AC charts. It also helped launch the career of her background singer, Trey Lorenz.

In 1993 Carey became Mrs. Tommy Mattola. She also released her third studio album, Music Box. The first single from the album, “Dreamlover” spent eight weeks at the top of the pop charts and sold platinum. “Hero” also went platinum and spent four weeks atop the charts. The gold “Without You” only got as high as #3 and “Anytime You Need a Friend” rose to #12. The album sold 10 million copies and spent eight weeks at #1.

The next year, Carey duetted with Luther Vandross on “Endless Love,” taking the tune to a gold #2. After releasing a triple platinum Christmas record in 1994, she followed with Daydream. The album featured a series of duets, pairing Carey with rapper ODB from the Wu Tang Clan, on the double platinum single “Fantasy.” The single became only the second in chart history to enter at #1. Her next single, another double platinum duet from the album, “One Sweet Day” found Carey accompanied by the vocal group Boyz II Men. It also entered the charts at #1 and stayed there for a record-breaking 16 weeks. The album sold over 10 million copies and topped the charts.

Having sold 80 million records worldwide, Carey next tried her hand at a custom label. She started Crave records through Sony Music. However, she was unable to translate her hit-making talents to other artists. Within two years, the operation had shuttered. Shortly after, Carey and Mattola separated and divorced.

Back to her forte of recording, Carey’s next album, Butterfly, entered the charts at #1, as did the debut single from the record, “Honey.” “My All” also topped the charts and sold platinum. The album featured a who’s who of the hip-hop scene, including Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott, members of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and Sean “Puffy” Combs.

Carey next released a collection of her chart-topping singles, simply called Ones. The album went triple platinum and topped off at #4 on the charts. It featured the #1 platinum single “I Still Believe.”

Carey and Whitney Houston performed a duet on “When You Believe” for the Prince of Egypt soundtrack. The record, pairing the two most successful female artists in pop music history, reached #1 and went gold. In fall 1999 Carey returned once again to the top of the charts with “Heartbreaker,” featuring the rapper Jay-Z. This was her fourteenth #1 single, giving her a total of over 60 weeks at the #1 position, a new record for a pop act. Her record label bragged that Carey was the only artist to have a #1 pop song in every year of the decade of the 1990s, a feat matched only once before: by Paul Whiteman’s jazz orchestra in the 1920s!

One of the most ambitious singers working in pop music, Carey’s technique and talent often get lost in the gloss of her popularity. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Carey writes or co-writes the bulk of her material. She has also directed many of her videos, all of which tend to focus on her considerable physical charms. She has a reputation for being in the studio and in control from the beginning of a project until the end. Her success only looks easy.

Discography

Mariah Carey (1990); Emotions (1991); Mariah Carey MTV Unplugged (1992); Music Box (1993); Merry Christmas (1994); Daydream (1995); Butterfly (1997); No. l’s (1998).

—Hank Bordowitz