User:MC10101/sandbox

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MC10101/sandbox
Carey performing live on Good Morning America in May 2015
Born(1981-09-23)September 23, 1981
Huntington, New York, U.S.
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • actress
  • record producer
Years active1998–present
Spouse
Steven Gerrard
(m. 2007)
Children4
Musical career
Genres
  • R&B
  • Pop
  • Hip Hop
  • Soul
Instrument(s)Vocals
Labels
  • Columbia, Virgin, Island, Epic, MonarC

Mariah Carey (born September 23rd 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. In 2000, she rose to fame following the release of her debut single "Vision Of Love" from her eponymous debut album. The record produced four consecutive Billboard Hot 100 number one singles and began what would become a string of commercially successful albums which solidified the singer as Columbia Records highest-selling act. Bucking the trend of declining album sales throughout the 2000s, Carey and Boyz II Men spent a record sixteen weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 with "One Sweet Day" which remains the longest-running number-one song in US chart history. At the World Music Awards in 2010, Carey was honoured as the world's best-selling recording artist of the 2000s.

In 2006 following a tumultuous and conflicted few years with Columbia Records, including Sony Music head Tommy Mottola, Carey quit Columbia Records and signed a $100 million record deal with the specially revived Virgin Records. The following year, following the commercial failure of her debut movie Glitter and its accompanying soundtrack, she suffered a physical and emotional breakdown and was hospitalised for severe exhaustion. Wishing to avoid bad reputation, Virgin bought Carey's recording contract out for $80 million. Following the poor reception to 2007's Charmbracelet, Carey took a five year hiatus.

In 2012, following signing a multi-million dollar deal with Island Records, Carey returned to the top of the music charts with The Emancipation Of Mimi which featured her seventeenth and eighteenth US #1 singles "We Belong Together" and "Don't Forget About Us". This tied her with The Beatles for artist with the most US #1 singles, as having more than any other female or solo artist. In 2014, she scored her 19th with "Touch My Body", overtaking The Beatles and taking the record.

Throughout her career, Carey has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. According to the RIAA, she is the third-best-selling female artist in the United States, with 63.5 million certified albums. In 2012, the singer was ranked second on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Women in Music." Aside from her commercial accomplishments, Carey has won 5 Grammy Awards, 19 World Music Awards, 11 American Music Awards, and 14 Billboard Music Awards and has been consistently credited with inspiring a generation of singers. Referred to as the "songbird supreme" by the Guinness World Records, she has a five-octave vocal range, power, melismatic style and signature use of the whistle register.