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Occupation - Singer/songwriter
Date of Birth - March 27 1970
Birth Place - New York, NY, USA
Height - 5'5"
Eyes: Brown
Hair:
Auburn
Religion: Unknown
Education:
Harborfields High School,
Green Lawn, New York; graduated
1988.
Maritial Status:
Currently Single, Married once.
Husband: Tommy Mottola, 20 years Mariah's
senior;
married June 1993; separated 1997; divorced 1998.
Derek
Jeter: New York Yankee; dated; no longer together.
Dated Latin singer Luis Miguel.
Rumors of a relationship with Eminem.
Mariah
Angela Carey was born in Long Island, NY in March 1970.
The youngest child of an Irish-American mother, a former
opera singer turned voice tutor, and a African American
/ half-Venezuelan father, working as an aeronautical
engineer.
Her mother Patricia faced many racism's in the early 1960's.
She was disowned by her own family when she married Alfred
Roy Carey. Mariah's parents had 3 children 2 girls(Mariah
& Alison)and a boy(Morgan),
Mariah being the youngest her siblings are older by ten
years. Unfortunately,
her parents divorced when she was only three years old.
As a result of her Irish/African American/Venezuelan descent,
Mariah claims she encountered racial discrimination while
growing up in New York. Mariah was raised in a poverty-stricken
home and her parents divorce forced her mother to work multiple
jobs in order to make ends meet to raise Mariah.
One day, when her mother was rehearsing
her role of Maddalena in Verdi's Opera Rigolettos, she heard
Mariah imitating her singing perfectly. Even though she
was only three at the time, Mariah's mom began teaching
her how to develop her vocal skills. The proud mother nurtured
her daughter's talent by coaching her at home, all the while
trying not to force the issue too much. Mariah sang for
friends, and performed in talent shows and at folk-music
festivals; by the time she entered junior high, she had
begun to write her own songs. Carey didn't concentrate much
on her education and would frequently skip classes, and
write songs instead and dream about becoming a famous singer.
In high school, she started commuting to Manhattan in order
to study music with professionals, and upon her graduation,
in 1987, she moved to the city. In high school.
Before she got her big break, Mariah
completed 500 hours of beauty school and even worked as
a hair sweeper in a salon, she also worked as a waitress
and as a coat check girl. She paid the rent on her barren
apartment by working as a waitress (she claims to have been
fired from 20 restaurants because of her "attitude").
Mariah began singing on R&B sessions in New York when
she met keyboard player and songwriter Ben Margulies (b.
c.1963) who became her songwriting partner and close friend.
The 18 year old Carey began writing the melodies and most
of the lyrics, and Margulies arranging the songs, they developed
a simple blend of soul, gospel and pop that showed off Carey's
amazing vocal range to the full. She spent hours working
in a studio writing her music and making demo tapes. Still
Carey struggled as a waitress until one day fortune smiled
on her. In 1988, one of Mariah's friends, who played the
drums for Brenda K. Starr, urged her to try out as a backup
singer for Starr. Although Mariah was a little hesitant
at first, she quickly realized that it was better than what
she was doing at the present time.
After
a performance, while Mariah was singing for Starr, Sony
record executive producer Tommy Mottola was given Carey's
demo tape
at a show business party, a friend of the singer thrust
a demo cassette into the hands of Sony Music's US president
Tommy Mottola. While driving home from the party Mottola
played the cassette in the car and was so impressed that
he immediately set out on a Prince Charming-like quest to
find his Cinderella from Long Island.
Mariah after 11 months in the city
was signed immediately and her debut single, 'Visions Of
Love', was an instant smash hit, Mariah was just 20 years
old. It became the first of five US number 1 hits for Mariah.
Managed by Randy Hoffman (whose roster also includes Hall
And Oates) the success story thus far has proved swift and
efficient in construction. In addition to providing four
chart-topping singles ('Vision Of Love', 'Love Takes Time',
'Someday' and 'I Don't Wanna Cry'), her debut album stayed
on top of the US album charts for 22 weeks, as she duly
picked up two Grammys for Best Female Vocalist and Best
New Artist, an extraordinary start to a career. The title
track of Emotions gave Carey a record fifth consecutive
US number 1. Subsequent number 1 singles included a cover
of the Jackson Five 's 'I'll Be There' (from MTV Unplugged
), 'Dreamlover' and 'Hero' (both from Music
Box ). Her only UK number 1 to date, however, came with
a cover version of Badfinger 's
'Without You' in February 1994.
Meanwhile, back at the studio, love
had blossomed between Carey and Mottola. During the advanced
pace of recording, Carey sent a boyfriend packing and Mottola
did the same with his wife. In 1993 inspired by videotapes
of Charles and Diana at their royal wedding, Carey and Mottola
a kind of self-styled music royalty themselves put a half
a million dollars into their June 1993 nuptials. Fifty flower
girls, an eight-piece orchestra, and a boys' choir convened
with 300 VIPs (including Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand,
Robert De Niro, and Ozzy Osbourne) to heap their blessings
on the marriage. Carey remembered: "When I look back
and think about it, it's so unbelievable! I mean, it really
is like Cinderella."
Next Mariah released seasonal Merry
Christmas songs featured another hit single, 'All I
Want For Christmas Is You'. Her 1995 release, Daydream,
exceeded all expectations and notched up sales of over six
million in the USA within three months of it's release.
Some critics did question whether Daydream
was a controlled exercise in vacuous formula writing, with
little emotion or heart. Nevertheless, it produced two further
huge-selling number 1 singles, 'Fantasy' and 'One Sweet
Day', the latter a collaboration with Boyz
II Men that topped the American charts for a staggering
16 weeks.
Mariah's career was as redhot as her
new sexy street girl image. The then conservatively dressed
Mariah goes through a sexy transformation especially in
her MTV video's. She quickly went from the good girl next
door look to more of a bad girl rockstar look virtually
overnight. This may or not have put some stress on her marrige
with Tommy Mottola at the time. Rumors of problems within
the relationship surfaced.
She seemed to have it all a soaring career, a powerful husband,
and a huge mansion outside of Manhattan. But, alas, all
fairy tales must someday come to an end, and after nearly
five years of marriage, Mottola and Carey split for good
after separating in 1997. In March 1998, Carey flew to the
Dominican Republic to obtain a quickie divorce from the
record mogul (the house they shared reportedly sold for
$20.5 million). Immediately after obtaining the divorce,
the singer flew to Tampa to take in an exhibition game featuring
New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter, with whom, at the
time, she had been romantically linked. However team mates
of Jetter describe a slightly differant picture. Recalling
Derek complaining about Mariah showing up at his door at
3 am and keeping him awake all night. Unfazed by the fact
that he'd have a game the next day. Before long the owner
of the Yankee's had a little chat with his star shortstop
confronting him about the situation. That romance finally
fizzled in June, with Carey laying blame on the press. "Media
pressure was too much for them as a couple," a Carey
mouthpiece told USA Today, adding that the duo are now just
good friends.
Butterfly
released in 1997 featured Carey's most adventurous collection
of songs to date, and inevitably repeated the success of
her previous albums. The album was almost a declaration
of freedom after her divorce. 'My All' became Carey's thirteenth
American number 1, placing her behind only Presley, Elvis
and the Beatles (The) in the all-time US singles chart.
'When You Believe', a duet with Houston taken from the animated
DreamWorks movie The Prince Of Egypt , entered the UK charts
at number 4 in December 1998.
Mariah's eye candy image only became
sweeter as her outfits and sexy sheik designer gowns made
her one hot and tasty piece of man candy. Mariah's tight
white tanktop phase had delightfully begun and she was loving
the attention. April 1998 also saw Carey sharing the stage
with an impressive group of women Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan,
Aretha Franklin, and Shania Twain on VH1's Divas Live, a
concert special that subsequently became an album in September,
further cementing her stature among the diva elite.
Her
records have already sold over 80 million copies worldwide,
and she is the biggest-selling female solo artist of the
90s. Only the Beatles had more number one hits. Once she
was a success, Carey quickly got involved with the cause
of inner-city youth, donating large quantities of time and
money to what would be renamed "Camp Mariah."
The camp is a refuge for urban youth who rarely get the
chance to experience nature and embrace the arts.
Mariah has more recently tried her
hand at acting. She had a small role in 1999's The Bachelor,
starring Renee Zellweger. She also had a small role in the
film "Wiseguys" in 2002. On the set it was clear
Mariah doesn't work well with others and by the end of shooting
Actress Mira Sorvino wanted to slap her for being a pushy
demanding princess. Her starring debut came with the release
of the film "Glitter" in September 2001, which
chronicled the tumultuous rise of a singer in the 1980s.
The film was bashed by the critics, however if you really
like Mariah's work "Glitter" is decent attempt
by Mariah to make a film. Mariah's personality shines onto
the film and her fun sexy look makes it fun for a true fan.
Unfortunately,
Glitter failed to follow the commercial success of her single
and album releases. The film did poorly at the box office,
the critics were less than kind and even the soundtrack
didn't come close to matching the sales of her previous
releases. To add even more insult to injury, Virgin Records
dissolved its contract with her, paying her $28 million
to walk away from the original 100 million dollar 4 record
deal. While
promoting the film and its soundtrack album (and after several
bizarre public occurrences), Mariah suffered what her publicist
referred to as a "physical and emotional breakdown."
She was briefly hospitalized in a Connecticut mental hospital.
Mariah is released weeks later and appears to be embarassed
by the incident but looking as sexy as ever.
Later that year Mariah appeared on
television's America: A Tribute to Heroes, where she performed
what else but her classic No. 1 hit, "Hero" in
tribute to the 9/11 tragedy. Carey can also add Wisegirls
(co-starring Mira Sorvino) to her acting resume, as it premiered
at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and will air on HBO.
But in 2003 Carey bounced back with
a new record deal, this time with Island Def Jam (part of
Universal Music Group). Her latest release, Charmbracelet,
proves that she still has the gift for music to stay in
the game. It has already spawned moderate hits like "Through
The Rain" and "Boy (I Need You)," featuring
Cam'ron. Mariah Carey is also keeping busy with the start
of her own label, MonarC.
In recent years Mariah can be seen
modelling in the sexiest underwear money can buy more than
in the studio. Much to the delight of men everywhere, well
maybe some women as well. Seen in recent years in many men's
and fashion magazines looking hotter and as tasty as ever.
She has definitely blossomed into a full blown hottie and
the camera seems to love her. Again she appears on the cover
of FHM this time in the May 2005 issue. Mariah seems like
she might be kinky enough to pose for Playboy and has admitted
she considered it several times in fact. Certainly it would
be one of the highest selling issues ever. She is constantly
being criticized for some of the scantily clad outfits she
wears. Her ensembles are hot enough to almost make a stripper
blush but hey who complaining ? Her sex symbol status is
certainly secure but it is quite obvious she loves the attention.
Mariah is definitely a lot more than just a pretty voice.
Mariah seems to have an intamacy with the camera and ooh
baby it loves her right back.
In 2005 Mariah is working promoting her new album, The Emancipation
of Mimi, her 10th album is out now in April 2005. Buy
it Here
QUOTES
"Butterflies are always following me, everywhere I
go."
People all of a sudden just see me and hear me having hit
records and it seems to have come out of the blue. But really
I have been working towards this my whole life, and this
is what I say when people say I haven't paid my dues.
"People only get glimpses of me in the press, but I
wish they knew I actually am that girl, if I'm your freind
and you have a problem, you can call me at 5 a.m."
"I'm not one of those people that goes into details
of my
personal life on national TV to get attention.
Some things are better left unsaid"
There's never been anything else in my life that inspired
me at all. It's crazy, but I've always loved music and I've
always known this was what I wanted to do. I can't remember
a time when I didn't want to be a singer.
"There is a light at the end of the tunnel
...hopefully it's not a freight train!"
"I'm
not vain, I'm insecure."
"I really am the girl next door"
AWARDS
1990: Grammy: Best New Artist
1990: Grammy: Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female),
"Vision of Love"
In 1999 Mariah won the Horizon Award at the Congressional
Foundation Awards for her work with and for children.
Voted in at #36 in FHM's Sexiest Girls of 2002 poll,
American edition.
FACTS
Mariah Carey's songs have spent more weeks at Number 1 in
the Billboard charts than any other artist in history. Sixty-one
weeks total, the previous record was fifty-nine weeks held
by the Beatles. [2001] 
Is the most successful female singer of all time, with 15
#1 hits and more than 125 million records sold.
Mariah has a five-octave vocal range.
Released seven albums in seven years.
Had the nickname "Mirage" in high school, because
she never showed up for class.
Signed a $100,000,000 million deal with Virgin Records for
her next four albums. [2001]
Bought Marilyn Monroe's white lacquered baby grand piano
at auction in October, 1999 for $600,000 plus commission.
CONTACT
Mariah Carey
C/O William Morris Agency
151 El Camino Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
USA
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