The Making Of A Songbird: How Mariah Carey Sang Her Way To The Top

Christmas anthems, record-breaking hits, record-breaking vocal range, and glittery gowns — these are all the things we know and love Mariah Carey for. Dubbed as the best-selling female performer of all time, Mariah Carey has managed to sell over 200 million records over the course of her 31-year career. Today, Mariah continues to top the charts, and outside of her singing career, Mariah is busy expanding her business and investments.

We understand that it’s incredibly easy to view the songstress within the limited scope of Hollywood’s lens. However, much like the rest of the artists in the industry, Mariah’s success is also a collection of triumphs and failures that never quite made it into the glaring spotlight. So who is this Mariah before and now? How did this girl from Huntington, New York, make it all the way up the top of Hollywood’s highly elusive ladder? Keep reading to find out.

CHILDHOOD AND BEGINNINGS

Mariah Carey was born on May 27, 1969, in Huntington, New York. Her father was an African-American engineer, while her mother was a seasoned Irish Opera singer and vocal coach.

Growing up, Mariah had to endure a series of challenges presented by her mixed ancestry, starting with her maternal grandparents disowning her mother for marrying her father, which then trickled down to several more racial challenges over the years. This manifested several challenges on its own, but it was her father’s absence that impacted Mariah’s youth the most. Unfortunately, things did not go any easier for the young Mariah as her parents decided to split when she was still a child.

As a single parent with little to no investment, Mariah’s mother worked ten times harder to raise her and her siblings. However, despite their circumstances, Mariah’s mother was still able to help Mariah with her music. As a result of her mother’s tutelage, Mariah was able to start working as a demo artist and a lyricist as early as high school. This then led her to start working for artists like Brenda K. Starr.

BREAKING INTO THE INDUSTRY

While earning credits for working as a demo artist for Starr, Mariah also started working on her own demo tracks. Then in December of 1988, while at the CBS gala, Mariah had the opportunity to submit her demo record to Columbia Records’ Tommy Mottola. According to multiple reports, Mariah’s demo was so impressive that Tommy had his driver turn the car back around just to catch Mariah. He would find her weeks later, but not without competition. Other recording companies expressed an interest as well, but fortunately for Tommy, he succeeded.

1990 then became a big year for Mariah as her debut album titled Mariah Carey topped Billboard’s Top 200 for eleven straight weeks, beating the likes of Whitney Houston. That same year, she became America’s best-selling artist with over 15 million album sales worldwide and a Grammy award to top everything off.

The next year, Mariah started working on her sophomore album titled Emotions, for which she earned co-producer credits. However, despite the apparent success of Mariah’s personal career, her relationship with her team was going in the opposite direction. Her situation became even more challenging when criticism spread following her persistent refusal to embark on a promotional tour. She was able to salvage the situation by going on a live performance on MTV’s Unplugged. As expected, the performance was successful and was able to cement Mariah as a legitimate Hollywood talent, with critics going as far as calling her a “vocal Tour de force.” Sony put more investment money into her career after that, and before anyone knew it, Mariah’s success was spreading all throughout the globe.

FURTHER CAREER MOVES

Besides ballads and pop singles, Mariah was also famous for producing Christmas songs. Some of her most famous singles include All I Want For Christmas Is You and Oh Santa. Today, much of her holiday songs have become a cult classic in several countries besides the United States.

Outside of music, Mariah busied herself by going into acting and a few business investments. As an actress, Mariah starred in the films Tennessee, WiseGirls, Precious, and The Bachelor. As a businesswoman, Mariah collaborated with different brands to create products like perfumes and clothing merchandise.

LEGACY

Today, the singer continues to work on her career by releasing new music and engaging in new collaborations. Then in 2015, she embarked on a new journey as a permanent performing act in Las Vegas’ Ceasar Palace Colosseum following the footsteps of another legend, Celine Dion.

Although Mariah no longer has the need to further her career as her decades-long pursuit already made quite an impact on the industry and many artists within it, she still continues to venture into new projects. This relentless pursuit is a clear indication of her undying love for her craft and should serve as an inspiration to many artists who strive to leave an impact as big as Mariah Carey has.

Based on materials from All Music.