Mariah Carey's Profile and Biography,aslo include Mariah Carey's pictures,videos etc.

Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey was born on March 27, 1970, in Long Island, New York, to parents Patricia and Alfred. Unfortunately, her parents divorced when she was only three years old. As a result of her Irish/African-American/Venezuelan descent, Mariah encountered some racial discrimination while growing up.

Carey was raised in a poverty-stricken home and her mother was forced to work multiple jobs in order to make ends meet. Conveniently enough, it was Mariah's mom who noticed her daughter's vocal talents.

mariah carey signs a record deal

One day, when Patricia was rehearsing her role of Maddalena in Verdi's opera Rigoletto, she heard Mariah imitating her singing. Even though she was only 3 at the time, Mariah's mom began teaching her how to develop her vocal skills.

In high school, Carey didn't concentrate much on her education and would frequently skip class; instead, she wrote songs and dreamt about becoming a famous singer. Before she got her big break, Mariah completed 500 hours of beauty school and even worked as a hair sweeper in a salon, as a waitress and as a coat check girl.

After she graduated from high school in 1987, Carey moved to New York in order to pursue her dream of becoming a famous singer. She spent hours working in a studio writing her music and making demo tapes. In 1988, one of Mariah's friends, who played the drums for Brenda K. Starr, urged her to try out as a backup singer for Starr. Although Mariah was a little hesitant at first, she quickly realized that it was better than what she was doing at that time.

One day, while Carey was singing for Starr, Sony record executive producer Tommy Mottola was given Carey's demo tape, and her wish of becoming a singer was soon realized.

mariah carey releases her debut

Mariah Carey's first self-titled album uncovered a high-octave voice that could break sound barriers, as well as record sales. Although people initially labeled her as a "white girl with a black girl's voice," Carey quickly squashed all the hearsay and set the record straight. Nevertheless, all the media hype ultimately contributed to her selling over six million albums.

Thanks to her debut album, she landed at No. 1 with four of her singles and won a couple of Grammys. Her following two albums, 1991's Emotions and 1992's Unplugged, were just as successful. In 1993, Mariah wed Tommy Mottola, then-chairman of Sony. Media hounds were quick to criticize the age difference between the couple (Tommy is 20 years her senior).

Once she was a success, Carey quickly got involved with the cause of inner-city youth, donating large quantities of time and money to what would be renamed "Camp Mariah." The camp is a refuge for urban youth who rarely get the chance to experience nature and embrace the arts.

mariah carey has more no. 1 singles

In 1993, Mariah's fourth album, Music Box, and fifth album, 1994's Merry Christmas, burned up the charts just as strongly as did her previous releases. In 1995, Carey released Daydream, which earned her six Grammy nominations and began to uncover a Mariah that the world had never seen before.

Mariah began to develop a hip-hop feel in her music and began frequenting other hip-hoppers like Da Brat and Ol' Dirty Bastard. At the same time, Mariah's music started gaining popularity in clubs, and her fan base became wider in range.

mariah carey releases rainbow

Carey quickly became one of the most powerful women in the music industry, with career sales topping 80 million units. Throughout 1997, Mariah watched her professional image evolve, even though her marriage to Tommy took a turn for the worst. Although they denied rumors of marital problems, Mariah released Butterfly, and the video for the first single depicted Mariah as a prisoner in an estate. This video only fueled the fire of rumors surrounding the couple's marriage. They ultimately divorced in March of 1998.

In 1999, Carey released Rainbow, which spawned the hits "Heartbreaker" and a cover of "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)."

mariah carey has a breakdown

Next, Carey tried her hand at acting. She had a small role in 1999's The Bachelor, starring Renee Zellweger. Her starring debut came with the release of Glitter in September 2001, which chronicled the tumultuous rise of a singer in the 1980s.

While promoting the film and its soundtrack album (and after several bizarre public occurrences), Mariah suffered what her publicist referred to as a "physical and emotional breakdown." She was briefly hospitalized and announced she was taking a break from performing.

Unfortunately, Glitter failed to follow the success of her single and album releases. The film did poorly at the box office, and even the soundtrack didn't come close to matching the sales of her previous releases. To add even more insult to injury, Virgin Records dissolved its contract with her, paying her $28 million to walk away.

mariah carey records charmbracelet

But Carey bounced back with a new record deal, this time with Island Def Jam (part of Universal Music Group). Her next release, Charmbracelet, proved that she still had the vocal chops to stay in the game, although it it didn't come close to the success of her previous albums. Mariah also kept busy with the start of her own label, MonarC.

Carey then added Wisegirls (co-starring Mira Sorvino) to her acting resume, as it premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO.

mariah returns with the emancipation of mimi

After a few years in relative obscurity, Mariah burst back onto the music scene in April 2005 with her 10th studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi (the second album for Island Def Jam). Her first single, "It's Like That," exploded onto the charts, and the album itself sold more copies -- about 404,000 -- in its first week than any of her previous albums. As her latest album continues to climb the charts, Mariah is proving that she's back and here to stay.

In 2005, she was back on the big screen with roles in State Property 2 and The Sweet Science.