R&B: Researching a Famous R&B act

Mariah Carey

Biography and Career:

Mariah Carey was born in Long Island, New York. Her parents are Patricia Hickey (irish-american) and Alfred Roy Carey (African-American/Venezuelan). Being a multiethnic family, the Careys edured racial slurs, hostility and sometimes even voilence, causing the family to frequently relocate throughout New York and Rhode Island areas. The strain on the family resulted in the divorce of Mariah's parents when she was just three years old.

She spent much of her time home alone so she turned to music as an outlet. Mariah Carey began singing at around the age of three, performing for the first time in public during primary school and she began writing her own songs by secondary school. Mariah Carey was absent from school frequently because of her popularity as a demo singer for local recording studios. Her renown within the Long Island music scene gave her opportunities to work with musicians such as Gavin Christopher and Ben Margulies; she co-wrote material with them for he demo tape. After moving to New York City, Mariah Carey worked numerous part time jobs to pay for her rent and she completed five hundred hours of beauty school. She eventually became a backup singer for Brenda K.Starr.

In 1988, Mariah met Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola at a party, where Starr gave him Carey's demo tape. Mottola played the tape while leaving and was very impressed with what he heard. He returned to the party to find Mariah, but she had left. However, mottola tracked her down and signed her to a recording contract. This surreal story became part of the standard publicity surrounding Mariah's entrance into the music indrusty.

In June of 1990 Mariah Carey made her debut with "Mariah Carey" which entered at 73, but on August 4 1990 it reached 1. Mariah Carey is the only artist since the Beatles and Elvis Presley to have so many 1 singles and albums. Along with numerous awards, she is the most successful selling female artist in music history and is the only female artist to have straight 1 singles and albums.
Mariah Carey married Tommy Mottola on June the 5th 1993, but they divorced 5 years later (5 March 1998).

Discography:

Mariah Carey (1990)
Emotions (1991)
Music Box (1993)
Merry Christmas (1994)
Daydream (1995)
Butterfly (1997)
Rainbow (1999)
Glitter (2001)
Charmbracelet (2002)
The Emancipation of Mimi (2005)
E=MC (2008)
Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009)