Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey became the third child in the family of Patricia Hickey, former opera singer, and Alfred Roy Carey, aeronautical engineer. Mariah got Irish, African and Venezuelan roots from her parents, who divorced when she was only three. Mariah's mother had to work at several jobs to support the children. Once she sang an opera part and noticed that her little daughter was trying to imitate her. Since that time Patricia started teaching Mariah to sing. The girl was often absent at the classes in the high school because of her work, and she was nicknamed Mirage for it. Carey headed to New York immediately after finishing the school. She was lucky to become the backing vocalist of famous singer Brenda K. Starr. According to the legend, Starr gave Carey's demo to Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola during some party. Mottola listened to the tape on his way home and was so impressed by it that he turned back and found Mariah.

Having signed the contract with the label, Carey put her hand to writing the material for her debut. The Mariah Carey album saw light in 1990 and made her a pop star in the USA. Single Vision Of Love gave her one Grammy, while she was given the second one as The Best New Artist. The MTV Unplugged concert of 1992 proved that Mariah's voice was something given by the nature, not synthesized. Her second attempt Emotions was stylized for the Motown soul. Cover for I'll Be There by The Jacksons became on of the singles from Emotions. The singer became everyone's favorite for her next door girl image and unusually rich vocals. Next Mariah's album Music Box became her breakthrough to the world fame. Audience appreciated such hits like love song Dreamlover, pop sensation Hero and covered Without You. Around the same time romance between Carey and Mottola resulted in their marriage in 1993.

Mariah celebrated Christmas with the holyday edition Merry Christmas. In 1995, she combined pop, R&B and hip hop on her new disc Daydream. Around the same time, Carey started to establish the fashion of remixing pop hits – this novelty proved to be priceless for night clubs. In 1997, Mariah released a brilliant album Butterfly and acquired a more sexual image. However, she parted Mottola the same year. After her hit compilation The 1's the artist recorded the R&B-oriented album Rainbow, noticeable for its playful single Heartbreaker. Nonetheless, Carey had to leave Columbia Records soon. The new contract with Virgin Records was torn by the studio itself after the failure of the Glitter film, starring Mariah, and negative reviews of her eponymous disc. Although Carey was paid out a pretty sum of money as compensation, her reputation suffered a severe harm. Restless job, unsuccessful love affairs and the Glitter disaster resulted in a nervous breakdown for the artist. The release of her new work Chamberbracelet also met serious criticism. However, in 2005, the singer made a forceful comeback on the top of glory with her disc The Emancipation Of Mimi. This year, she continued her shiny resurrection with the disc E=MC2, using the flawless combination of pop melodies and R&B aesthetics. A year later, Mariah premiered another new record that received the title Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel. In 2010 the record Playlist: The Very Best Of was released. The same year Carey presented her second album of Christmas songs Merry Christmas II You (2010), which included four original songs and many classical compositions. Curiously enough, the holiday atmosphere of that album cheers listeners up not only at the holiday eve, but during the whole year.