Age, Biography, and Wiki
Mariah Carey was born on March 27, 1970, in Huntington, New York. She rose to fame in the early 1990s with her debut single "Vision of Love," which became a huge success. Throughout her career, Carey has released numerous hit albums and singles, earning her the title of the "Queen of Christmas" due to her perennially popular holiday song "All I Want for Christmas Is You." She has been recognized with numerous awards, including five Grammy Awards, ten American Music Awards, and fifteen Billboard Music Awards.
| Occupation | Autobiographer |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 27 March 1969 |
| Age | 56 Years |
| Birth Place | Huntington, New York, US |
| Horoscope | Aries |
| Country |
Height, Weight & Measurements
- Height: 5 feet 8 inches (173 cm)
- Weight: 145 lbs (66 kg)
- Hair Color: Blonde
- Eye Color: Hazel
Carey rose to fame in 1990 with her self-titled debut album and became the only artist to have their first five singles reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, from "Vision of Love" to "Emotions". She achieved international success with the best-selling albums Music Box (1993) and Daydream (1995), before adopting a new image with hip hop-inflected sounds, following a remix to "Fantasy" with Ol' Dirty Bastard, and more extensively on Butterfly (1997). With eleven consecutive years of US number-one singles, Billboard named Carey the Artist of the Decade. Following the failure of her film Glitter (2001) and a relative career decline, she made a comeback with one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century, The Emancipation of Mimi (2005).
Carey's fifth studio album, Daydream, found her consolidating creative control over her career, leading to tensions with Columbia. Songs from her prior two albums had been primarily shaped by Mottola's conceptualization of what Carey should sound like, as innocent and wholesome tracks dominated by her vocal performance. Daydream featured a departure from her allegiance to pop and gravitated heavily towards R&B and hip hop. Critically, the album was described as Carey's best to date. The New York Times named it one of 1995's best albums and wrote it "brings R&B candy-making to a new peak of textural refinement ... Carey's songwriting has taken a leap forward and become more relaxed, sexier and less reliant on thudding clichés." Its lead single, "Fantasy", became the first single by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and the second song overall after Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone". "One Sweet Day", a collaboration with R&B group Boyz II Men, served as the second single from Daydream and remained atop the Billboard Hot 100 for a record-breaking 16 consecutive weeks, becoming the longest-running number-one song in the history of the charts at the time. It also opened at the top spot, becoming Carey's second track to do so. The album's third single, "Always Be My Baby", became Carey's eleventh chart-topper, tying her with Madonna and Whitney Houston for the most number-one singles among female artists at the time.
Carey's subsequent musical releases followed the trend that began with Daydream. Her music began relying less on pop and adult contemporary-tinged balladry and instead incorporating heavy elements of hip hop and R&B. On Butterfly, she collaborated with a bevy of producers other than Afanasieff, such as Sean Combs, Q-Tip and Missy Elliott. Butterfly was released on September 10, 1997, and introduced a more subdued style of singing, with critics noting Carey's incorporation of breathy vocals. Some viewed her lack of propensity to use her upper range as a sign of maturity, while others questioned whether it forebode waning vocal prowess. The music video for the album's lead single, "Honey", her first since separating from Mottola, introduced a more overtly sexual image. Butterfly became Carey's best-reviewed album, with attention placed on the album's exploration of more mature lyrical themes. In their review of the album, Rolling Stone wrote it was "not as if Carey has totally dispensed with her old saccharine, Houston-style balladry ... but the predominant mood of Butterfly is one of coolly erotic reverie." AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine described Carey's vocals as "sultrier and more controlled than ever," and felt the album "illustrates that Carey continues to improve and refine her music, which makes her a rarity among her '90s peers.'" "Honey" and "My All", the album's fifth single, both topped the Hot 100, making Carey a female artist with the most number-one singles in the chart's history. Though a commercial success, Butterfly failed to reach the commercial heights of her previous albums, Music Box and Daydream.
| Height | 5 feet 8 inches |
| Weight | 145 lbs |
| Body Measurements | |
| Eye Color | |
| Hair Color |
Dating & Relationship Status
Mariah Carey has been married twice: first to Tommy Mottola from 1993 to 1998, and then to Nick Cannon from 2008 to 2016. She has two children with Nick Cannon. Currently, she is not publicly linked to anyone.
Her name is derived from the song "They Call the Wind Maria", originally from the 1951 Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon. She is the youngest of three children born to Patricia (née Hickey), a former opera singer and vocal coach of Irish descent, and Alfred Roy Carey, an aeronautical engineer of both African-American and Afro-Venezuelan lineage. The last name "Carey" was adopted by her Venezuelan grandfather, Roberto Núñez, after he emigrated to New York. Patricia's family disowned her for marrying a black man. Racial tensions prevented the Carey family from integrating into their community. While they lived in Huntington, their neighbors poisoned the family dog and set fire to their car. After her parents' divorce, Carey had little contact with her father and spent much of her time at home alone and began singing at age three, often imitating her mother's take on Verdi's opera Rigoletto in Italian. Her older sister Alison moved in with their father while Mariah and her elder brother Morgan lived with their mother.
During her years in elementary school, she excelled in the arts, such as music and literature. Carey began writing poetry and lyrics while attending Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York, where she graduated in 1987. Carey began vocal training under her mother's guidance. Though she was a classically trained opera singer, Patricia Carey never pressured her daughter to pursue a career in classical opera, with Mariah Carey stating that "I respect opera like crazy, but it didn't influence me." In high school, Mariah Carey was often absent because of her work as a demo singer. Working in the Long Island music scene gave her opportunities to work with musicians such as Gavin Christopher and Ben Margulies, with whom she co-wrote material for her demo tape. After moving to New York City, she worked part-time jobs to pay the rent and completed 500 hours of beauty school. Carey moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan with four female students as roommates. She landed a gig singing backup for freestyle singer Brenda K. Starr.
Carey co-wrote, co-produced, and recorded her second studio effort, Emotions, during 1991. She described it as a homage to Motown soul music and employed the help of Walter Afanasieff, who only had a small role on her debut, as well as Robert Clivillés and David Cole, from the dance group C+C Music Factory. Carey's relationship with Margulies deteriorated over a songwriting royalties dispute. After he filed a lawsuit against Columbia's parent company, Sony Music Entertainment, the songwriting duo parted ways. Emotions was released on September 17 that year. Its title track served as the album's lead single and became Carey's fifth chart topper on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first artist whose first five singles reached the chart's summit. Though critics praised the album's content and described it as a more mature effort, the album was criticized as calculated and lacking originality. While the album managed sales of eight million copies globally, Emotions failed to reach the commercial and critical heights of its predecessor.
Following years of dating, Carey and Mottola got married on June 5, 1993. After Emotions failed to achieve the commercial heights of her debut album, Carey's subsequent release was to be marketed as adult contemporary and pop-friendly. Music Box was produced by Carey and Afanasieff, and it began a songwriting partnership that would extend until 1997's Butterfly. The album was released on August 31, 1993, to mixed reviews from music critics. Carey's songwriting was derided as clichéd and her vocal performances were described as less emotive and lazier in their delivery. In his review of the album, AllMusic's Ron Wynn concluded: "sometimes excessive spirit is preferable to an absence of passion". In promotion of the album, Carey embarked on her debut tour, a six-date concert series, the Music Box Tour. Music Box's first and second singles, "Dreamlover" and "Hero", became Carey's seventh and eighth chart-toppers in the United States, while her cover of Badfinger's "Without You" became her first number-one single in Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Music Box remains Carey's best-seller and one of the best-selling albums, with worldwide sales of over 28 million copies.
With only one album left to fulfill her contract with Sony, and with a desire to separate herself professionally from the record label her ex-husband still headed, Carey completed the album in three months in mid-1999. Titled Rainbow, the album found Carey exploring with producers whom she had not worked with before. Rainbow became Carey's first album to not feature a collaboration with her longtime writing partner, Walter Afanasieff. She instead chose to work with David Foster and Diane Warren. "Heartbreaker" and "Thank God I Found You" both topped the Billboard Hot 100, while her rendition of Phil Collins' "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" with Irish boy band Westlife became her second number-one song on the UK charts. Rainbow was released on November 2, 1999, to the highest first-week sales of her career at the time, and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Carey's tense relationship with Columbia grew increasingly fractious; she began posting messages on her website, sharing inside information with fans on the dispute, as well as instructing them to request "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" on radio stations.
Carey received Billboard's Artist of the Decade Award and the World Music Award for Best-Selling Pop Female Artist of the Millennium, and parted from Columbia Records. She signed an unprecedented $80 million five-album recording contract with Virgin Records (EMI Records) in April 2001. Glitter was a musical departure, recreating a 1980s post-disco era to accompany the film, set in 1983. Carey was given full conceptual and creative control over the project. She said that Columbia had regarded her as a commodity, with her separation from Mottola exacerbating her relations with label executives. Carey's three-year relationship with Latin singer Luis Miguel ended.
Carey's record deal with Virgin Records was bought out for $28 million. Carey described her time at Virgin "a complete and total stress-fest." She signed a contract with Island Records, valued at more than $24 million, and launched the record label MonarC. Carey's father, Alfred Roy, with whom she had had little contact since childhood, died of cancer that year. Her song "Sunflowers for Alfred Roy" from Charmbracelet is dedicated to his memory. In 2002, she was cast in the independent film WiseGirls alongside Mira Sorvino and Melora Walters, who co-starred as waitresses at a mobster-operated restaurant. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and received negative reviews, though Carey's performance was praised. Roger Friedman of Fox News described her as "a Thelma Ri
| Parents | |
| Husband | Tommy Mottola (m. 1993-1998) Nick Cannon (m. 2008-2016) |
| Sibling | |
| Children |
Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Mariah Carey's net worth is estimated at around $350 million to $600 million depending on the source. Her annual salary includes an estimated $2.5 million to $3 million from royalties alone, largely due to her holiday hit "All I Want for Christmas Is You," which has become a staple of the holiday season. This song has earned her over $60 million in streaming royalties.
Career, Business, and Investments
Mariah Carey's career has been marked by incredible success in the music industry. She is one of the best-selling artists of all time, with over 200 million records sold worldwide. Her music career has included numerous chart-topping albums and singles, and she holds the record for the most number-one singles by a solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
In addition to her music, Carey has ventured into acting, appearing in films like "Glitter" and "Precious." She has also been involved in various business ventures, including fragrance lines and endorsement deals. Her residencies in Las Vegas have further contributed to her wealth.
Carey's life and career have received widespread media coverage. She has been dubbed the "Queen of Christmas" due to the enduring popularity of her holiday music, particularly Merry Christmas (1994), one of the best-selling holiday albums, and its single "All I Want for Christmas Is You", which is one of the best selling singles of all time. Outside of music, she co-founded Camp Mariah with the Fresh Air Fund in 1994; starred in films such as Precious (2009), The Butler (2013), and The Lego Batman Movie (2017); and served as a judge on American Idol (2013). Her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, reached number one on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Carey did not embark on a world tour to promote the album. Although she attributed this to stage fright and the vocally challenging nature of her material, speculation grew that Carey was a "studio worm" and incapable of producing the perfect pitch and five-octave vocal range for which she was known. In hopes of ending any speculation of her being a manufactured artist, Carey booked an appearance on MTV Unplugged. Days prior to the show's taping, Carey and Afanasieff chose to add a cover of the Jackson 5's 1970 song "I'll Be There" to the set-list. On March 16, 1992, she played and recorded an intimate seven-song show at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, New York. The acclaimed revue was aired more than three times as often as the average episode, and critics heralding it as a "vocal Tour de force". Carey's live version of "I'll Be There" became her sixth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Sony capitalized on this success and released an extended play (EP) of her performance. It earned a triple-Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and earned Gold and Platinum certifications in several European markets.
Ultimately, the song was only given a very limited and low-promotion release. Critical reception of Rainbow was generally positive, with the general consensus finding: "what began on Butterfly as a departure ends up on Rainbow a progression – perhaps the first compelling proof of Carey's true colors as an artist." Though a commercial success, Rainbow became Carey's lowest selling album at that point in her career.
Social Network
Mariah Carey is active on major social media platforms:
- Instagram: @mariahcarey
- Twitter: @MariahCarey
- Facebook: @MariahCarey
Daydream became Carey's biggest-selling album in the United States, and her second album to be certified Diamond by the RIAA, after Music Box. The album continued Carey's dominance in Asian music markets and sold in excess of 2.2 million copies in Japan alone and over 20 million copies globally. Daydream and its singles were nominated in six categories at the 38th Grammy Awards. Though considered a favorite to win the top awards of the evening, Carey was shut out, prompting her to comment "What can you do? I will never be disappointed again." In early 1996, she embarked on her first international string of concerts, the Daydream World Tour. Its seven dates spanned three in Japan and four throughout Europe. Forbes named Carey the top-earning female musician of 1996, collecting an estimated $32 million.
In July 2001, Carey suffered a physical and emotional breakdown. She began posting disturbing messages on her website and behaved erratically in live promotional outings. On July 19, Carey made a surprise appearance on the MTV program Total Request Live (TRL). As the show's host Carson Daly began taping following a commercial break, she came out pushing an ice cream cart while wearing a large men's shirt and began a striptease that revealed a tight ensemble. She credited exhaustion for the appearance going awry. Days later, Carey posted irregular voice notes on her website. On July 26, she was hospitalized due to exhaustion and a "physical and emotional breakdown". Carey was admitted to a hospital in Connecticut and remained under doctor's care for two weeks, followed by an extended absence from the public. Virgin Records and 20th Century Fox delayed the release of Glitter and its soundtrack. Critics panned Glitter and its soundtrack; both were unsuccessful commercially. The soundtrack became Carey's lowest-selling album to that point. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch condemned it as "an absolute mess that'll go down as an annoying blemish on [her] career". She attributed the poor performance to her state of mind, its postponement and the soundtrack having been released on September 11.
Education
Mariah Carey attended Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York. Despite her early success, she never pursued higher education, focusing instead on her music career.
