Carey, Mariah (1970- )

US pop artist. Known for her vocal strength and range, she was dubbed one of the leading ‘pop divas’ of her generation. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1990s, with 14 number one hit singles. Her Grammy award-winning eponymous first album (1990) sold more than 6 million copies. Her later albums, in which she co-wrote most of the songs, lean away from pop and more toward R&B.

Her other albums include Emotions (1991), Music Box (1993), Merry Christmas (1994), Daydream (1995), Butterfly (1997), Rainbow (1999), Glitter (2001), and Charmbracelet (2002). She also collaborated with Whitney Houston on the single ‘When You Believe’ for the animated film Prince of Egypt (1998), and co-wrote the song ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ for the film Love Actually (2003). She starred in the film Glitter in 2001, but the soundtrack was much more successful than the film.

Carey was born in Long Island, New York, and began singing lessons at the age of four. She moved to Manhattan and took a number of day jobs while working on singing and song-writing at night. At the age of 18 she submitted a demo tape to Columbia Records and was immediately signed to the label.