Born March 27, 1970, in Huntington, New York, Mariah Carey was named after the song, “They Call The Wind Mariah” from the musical, “Paint Your Wagon.” She is the third and youngest child of Patricia Hickey, a former opera singer of Irish Roman Catholic extraction and Alfred Roy Carey, an aeronautical engineer of Afro-Venezuelan descent. Her older brother, Morgan, suffered from cerebral palsy and her older sister, Allison, was a drug addict who became a prostitute. The multi-racial family suffered much from violence and racial slurs, and moved frequently around New York and Rhode Island. When Maria was three years old, her parents divorced and she had little contact with her father. Her mother worked several jobs to support the family.
Mariah began singing at the age of three, and she first performed in public during elementary school. In the sixth grade, she played Marie Von Trapp in her school’s production of “The Sound of Music.” By the time she was in junior high, she was writing her own songs. Her idols were Billy Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin and Al Green.
She moved to New York City after graduating from high school, and eventually auditioned as a back-up singer for Brenda K. Starr. She met Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola in 1988, and they were married in June of 1993. Her career actually began in 1990 with the release of her debut album, “Mariah Carey.” She wrote all of the songs featured on the album, and would continue to co-write nearly all of her material for the rest of her career. In 1991, she won Grammy Awards for “Best New Artist” and “Best Female Pop Vocal Performance” for her single “Vision of Love.”
Carey and Mottola divorced in 1998. Her 1997 album, “Butterfly,” was preceded by the number one single, “Honey,” the lyrics of which rendered a much more sexual image for Maria. She received Billboard’s “Artist of the Decade Award” and the World Music Award for “Best-Selling Female Artist of the Millennium.” In July of 2001, she suffered a physical and emotional breakdown, but she came back, stronger and more vibrant than ever. Her first starring film role was in “Glitter” in 2001.
Love is the subject of many of her lyrics, although she does touch upon darker subjects such as racism and death. Her critics call her work “NutraSweet Soul” but her fans refer to her as a “songbird supreme.”
She is a philanthropist on a large scale, has launched her own line of jewelry and accessories for teenagers and may soon release a new perfume!
What are some of YOUR favorite Mariah Carey songs? Please share.