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Born
March 27, 1970, Long Island, New York
With a
stunning seven-octave voice that she put through
stratospheric gymnastics, Mariah Carey became an overnight
star. Her vocal prowess and range drew comparisons to
Minnie Riperton and Yma Sumac, but most often to her
contemporary, Whitney Houston. Yet unlike Houston, Carey
cowrote or coproduced her own gospel-inflected, dance-pop
songs and ardent ballads.
Carey was
born to a black Venezuelan aeronautics engineer father and
an Irish-American opera singer mother who also worked as a
voice coach. The couple divorced when Mariah was three,
and she moved with her mother to a succession of different
towns in Long Island, New York. At 17 she moved to New
York City and pursued a career in music while supporting
herself as the self-professed "world’s worst
waitress."
Carey
befriended keyboardist Ben Margulies, with whom she began
writing songs, and landed backup singing jobs. One, with
minor late-Eighties dance-music singer Brenda K. Starr,
proved crucial when Starr met Columbia Records chief Tommy
Mottola at a party and gave him a demo tape of Carey’s
songs. Mottola reportedly played the tape in his car on
his way home and doubled back to the party to seek out
Carey. He signed her and made her career development a top
priority. Carey’s debut album (#1, 1990) yielded #1 hit
singles in "Vision of Love" (1990), "Love
Takes Time" (1990), "Someday" (1991), and
"I Don’t Wanna Cry" (1991), and brought her
Grammy awards in 1991 for Best New Artist and Best Female
Vocalist. Emotions (#1, 1991) continued Carey’s
roll, with such hits as the title track (#1, 1991),
"Can’t Let Go" (#2, 1991), and "Make It
Happen" (#5, 1992). Unplugged produced a hit
cover of the Jackson 5’s "I’ll Be There"
(#1, 1992), which also led to a solo recording deal for
Trey Lorenz, the backup singer featured on the single with
Carey.
In June
1993 Carey married Mottola, a man 20 years her senior. She
then released the eight-million-selling Music Box (#1,
1993), which promptly yielded the #1 hits "Dreamlover"
and "Hero." In fall 1993 she embarked on her
first-ever tour, for which she received mixed reviews. Her
1994 Christmas album spawned the hit "All I Want for
Christmas Is You."
1990 -- Mariah
Carey (Columbia)
1991 -- Emotions
1992 -- MTV Unplugged EP
1993 -- Music Box
1994 -- Merry Christmas
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