Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey was married to music executive Tommy Mottola from 1993 to 1998. She later married rapper and actor Nick Cannon in 2008, and their divorce was finalized in 2016. Carey and Cannon have fraternal twins, daughter Monroe and son Moroccan, who were born in 2011.

Carey was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder in 2001 and discussed the diagnosis publicly in 2018. She has described using therapy and medication as part of managing the condition.

Carey began singing as a child and wrote poetry and lyrics while attending Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York. After moving to Manhattan, she worked as a backup singer for Brenda K. Starr and gave her demo tape to Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola at a record-industry party in 1988. Mottola signed her after hearing the tape.

Her self-titled debut album, Mariah Carey, was released in 1990 and produced four number-one singles, including “Vision of Love” and “Love Takes Time.” At the 1991 Grammy Awards, Carey won Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Vision of Love.” Her first five singles reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first artist to achieve that feat.

Carey reached new commercial heights with Music Box in 1993 and Daydream in 1995. “Fantasy” became the first single by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, while “One Sweet Day,” recorded with Boyz II Men, spent 16 consecutive weeks at the top of the chart. Her late-1990s albums Butterfly and Rainbow incorporated stronger hip-hop and R&B influences, including collaborations with Sean Combs, Missy Elliott, Jay-Z, Joe, and 98 Degrees.

After the difficult period surrounding Glitter and Charmbracelet, Carey returned to the top of the charts with The Emancipation of Mimi in 2005. Its single “We Belong Together” became a career-defining hit, spent 14 non-consecutive weeks at number one, and won Grammy Awards for Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The album won the Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album and was the best-selling album in the United States in 2005.

Carey released Merry Christmas in 1994, combining traditional songs with original material. Its lead single, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” became a modern holiday standard and helped establish Carey as the “Queen of Christmas.”

The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2019, 25 years after its release, giving Carey her 19th number-one single as a solo artist. She has also built a recurring live tradition around the song through concert tours, holiday residencies, and television specials, including Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special on Apple TV+.

Carey has acted in films including Glitter, WiseGirls, Tennessee, Precious, and The Butler. Her performance as a social worker in Precious received positive critical attention, and she won the Breakthrough Actress Performance Award at the 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival. She also appeared in The Lego Batman Movie, The Star, and Girls Trip, and directed and starred in the Hallmark holiday film A Christmas Melody.

In 2012, Carey joined the judging panel of American Idol alongside Randy Jackson, Nicki Minaj, and Keith Urban. She later appeared in the E! docuseries Mariah's World, which followed her touring and wedding-planning activities. Her books include the children's title All I Want for Christmas Is You, the memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey, and The Christmas Princess. The Meaning of Mariah Carey reached number one on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Carey has also supported youth and humanitarian causes. She co-founded Camp Mariah with the Fresh Air Fund in 1994, a program that gives inner-city young people opportunities to explore the arts and career development. She has additionally participated in benefit concerts and relief efforts connected with the September 11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina, cancer research, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Carey is known for a five-octave vocal range, melismatic phrasing, layered background vocals, and extensive use of the whistle register. Her music blends pop, R&B, soul, gospel, hip-hop, and house influences. She has emphasized her role as a songwriter and producer, co-writing and co-producing much of her recorded work.

Carey was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and has received Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, World Music Awards, and Billboard Music Awards. She holds the record for the most Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles by a solo artist, with 19, and has spent 101 weeks at number one. Her influence has been linked to the wider use of melisma in contemporary pop and R&B, while “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has become a defining piece of modern holiday culture.