Mariah Carey was born in Long Island, New York on March 27, 1969. Her parents are Patricia Hickey (Irish-American) and Alfred Roy Carey (African-American/Venezuelan). Mariah attended Greenlawn's Harborfields High School. In June of 1990 Mariah made her debut with "Mariah Carey" which entered at #73, but on August 4 1990 it reached #1. Her 1990 self-titled debut album went multi-platinum and spawned an extraordinary four consecutive #1 singles: "Vision of Love," "Love Takes Time," "Someday" and "I Don't Wanna Cry," and led to Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Vocalist. Her 1993 album titled Music Box went ten-times platinum. On September 30th 1995, she made music history. Her single "Fantasy" from her 1995 Daydream album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first female artist to accomplish a number one debut in the U.S. Her other Daydream's single "One Sweet Day" remained for 16 weeks at the top of the charts. She is the only artist since The Beatles to have so many #1 singles and albums. With "Heartbreaker", the first single from her 1999 album Rainbow and also her 14 #1 single, she became the only artist to top the charts in each year of the 1990s, and with "Heartbreaker" at its 60th week atop the Billboard's charts, she pushed ahead of The Beatles's 59-week record as the only artist with the most cumulative weeks spent atop Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. Following "Heartbreaker", her second single "Thank God I Found You" also from her Rainbow album became her 15th #1. "We Belong Together" from her 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi became her 16th #1 single and was also her first #1 without any guest artists since her song "My All" (also a #1 single) captured the top spot in May 1998. The single "Don't Forget About Us" also from her 2005 album Emancipation of Mimi became her 17th #1 single, tying her with Elvis Presley's 17 #1 singles. Three more Grammy Awards were gained from The Emancipation of Mimi album. She is the most successful selling female artist in music history and is the only female artist to have the most #1 singles and albums and also holds the record for straight #1 singles and albums each year. Along with numerous awards and incredible vocal range, she also composes all of her own material, with the exception of song covers.

In April 2008, the single "Touch My Body" became her 18th #1 single, pushing her ahead of Elvis Presley's 17 #1 singles. Now she is the only artist since The Beatles to have as many number one singles and the only singer alive likely to succeed them.


Bought Marilyn Monroe's white lacquered baby grand piano at auction in October, 1999 for $600,000 plus commission. Worked a variety of odd jobs to support herself, including hat/coat-checker, hostess, hair sweeper in hair salons, and waitress. She stated that she got fired from all her jobs because of her attitude and was concentrating of becoming a backing singer and mixing demos. Attended Oldfield Middle School and Harborfield High School. Honored by the Congressional Award in Washington, DC with the 1999 Horizon Award. The Horizon Award is a special recognition from the Joint Leadership of the United States Congress and the Congressional Award Board of Directors. The Horizon Award is presented to individuals from the private sectors who have contributed to expanding opportunities for all Americans through their own personal contributions, and who have set exceptional examples for young people through their successes in life. Made her singing debut, age 20. [1990] According to her spokesperson, Mariah suffered a physical and emotional breakdown, and spent the next couple weeks recovering in a Connecticut mental hospital. [25 July 2001] Signed an $80 million deal with Virgin Records for her next four albums. [2001] Named one of People Magazine's '25 Most Intriguing People of 2001'. Single "One Sweet Day" holds the record for the single staying most weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (a record 16 weeks). Owns a three-floor apartment in New York City. Voted in at #36 in FHM's Sexiest Girls of 2002 poll, American edition. Is the most successful female singer-songwriter of all time, with 17 #1 hits and more than 160 million records sold worldwide. Used to be a backup singer for Brenda Starr. Has worked with an extensive amount of musicians, including: Brian McKnight, Whitney Houston, Boyz II Men, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Cam'ron, Carole King, Céline Dion, Michael Jackson, 98 Degrees, Joe, Da Brat, Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott, Aretha Franklin, Shania Twain and many, many more. Her mother Patricia Hickey is a former mezzo-soprano New York City opera singer and a freelance vocal coach. Patricia was also Mariah's vocal coach. Her father Alfred Roy Carey was an aeronautical engineer. Her siblings are Alison and Morgan, and are significantly older by eight years. Her wedding to Tommy Mottola was modeled after the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Her excuse for using the royal wedding as basis for her own was that she never really had much interest in weddings as a girl, and she wanted to know what such a gala affair should be like. Even the tiara she wore, a family heirloom, was redesigned to look like Princess Diana's. Her wedding dress was an ivory-silk duchess satin gown designed by Vera Wang, with a 8.25 m (27') train and matching satin pumps. The whole affair cost almost $US0.5M, not including the 1893 sixpence Mariah put in one of her shoes for luck. Made music history when "Fantasy" (from her 1995 album Daydream) became a #1. With "Fantasy," Mariah became the first female artist to debut at number one in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100s. "Heartbreaker," the first single from her 1999 album Rainbow became her 14th #1 single, and with "Heartbreaker," it marked Mariah's 60th week atop the charts, which broke a long-standing 59-week record established by The Beatles as the artist with the most weeks at #1 in the 41-year history of the Billboard's Hot 100. "Thank God I Found You" also from Rainbow album was her 15 #1. "We Belong Together" from her 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi became her 16th #1 single, is also Hot 100's Greatest Airplay Gainer, and moved to #1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart to become her ninth #1 chart topper there. It is also her first #1 without any guest artists since her song "My All" captured the top spot in May 1998. "Don't Forget About Us" became her 17th #1 single, tying her with Elvis Presley's 17 #1 singles. She beat Elvis Presley's record with "Touch My Body" as her 18th #1 single. Her mother Patricia discovered Mariah's talent in 1972 while rehearsing at home for her New York City Opera debut as Maddalena in Verdi's Rigoletto. Patricia said, "From the time Mariah was a tiny girl. she sang on true pitch; she was able to hear sound and duplicate it exactly. I missed my cue, but Mariah didn't. She sang it - in Italian - at exactly the right point. She wasn't even yet 3." From then on, Patricia began coaching Mariah. Ranked #47 in Askmen's "Most Desirable Woman" (2001) Ranked #17 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women" (2000) The Emancipation Of Mimi, named the biggest-selling album of 2005, generated an all-time career-high 8 Grammy nominations for Mariah. The album includes Mariah's 16th and 17th #1 career singles, "We Belong Together" and "Don't Forget About Us," respectively - which tied one of the most enduring chart records in Billboard Hot 100 history, Elvis Presley's 17 #1's. She passed Elvis Presley with her 18th #1 single "Touch My Body". Mariah is now positioned as the only active recording artist in the 50 years of the Hot 100 (which began in 1958) with the potential to match or surpass the Beatles' all-time high 20 #1 hits. Was among the guests at Usher Raymond's 26th birthday party. Named #15 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement. (2005) Studied over 500 hours of beauty school and hair salon prior to becoming a singer. Named #28 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement. (2006). The first presents that Mariah indulged herself, were a Ford Mustang convertible and an apartment with a stunning view in New York's Upper East Side on the 21st floor of a high-rise building. She decorated it with her idol's posters (Marilyn Monroe) and lived there with her two cats Ninja and Thompkins. Ranked #19 on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists. Is mentioned in the Vanessa Hudgens song, "Promise" and the Freeway song "Flipside". Is the only act to have had a number one single in the US every year of the 1990's. 1998: Toured Australia and said the highlight of her trip was swimming with dolphins. Admires Marilyn Monroe. Failed her driver's license test three times. Wanted to be a genie when she was a kid. Merited a place in Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World" (Artists & Entertainers section) with a tribute written by Stevie Wonder (Issue May 12, 2008). Has a dog named JJ.