Mariah Carey was born March 27th, in Huntington, New York, on Long Island to Alfred Roy Carey, a Venezuelan aeronautical engineer, and Patricia Carey, a voice coach and opera singer. Alfred and Patricia divorced when Mariah was 3 years old.
Her parents had three kids together before their split, and Mariah is the youngest. She has an older brother named Morgan, and her older sister was Alison. Alison died in August 2024, on the same day that Mariah’s mother died. Her father died in 2002.
Young Mariah stunned her mother by imitating Patricia’s operatic singing as early as age 2. She began singing lessons at age 4. Eventually, Mariah developed a voice that spanned five octaves. Few singers have achieved this vocal feat; David Lee Roth and Yma Sumac are among the handful of people to have done so.
After graduating in 1987 from Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York, Mariah moved to Manhattan. There, she worked as a waiter and a coat check attendant and studied cosmetology while writing songs and actively pursuing a music career at night.
When she was 18 years old, Carey attended a CBS Records party with Brenda K. Starr, who Carey had started singing back-up for in concerts. Starr convinced Carey to bring along one of her demo tapes. She intended to give the tape to Columbia’s Jerry Greenberg, but Tommy Mottola, the president of Columbia Records (later Sony), intercepted it before she could hand it to Greenberg. After listening to the tape on the way home from the party, Mottola signed Carey immediately.
Since then, Carey has released 15 studio albums (including one soundtrack). All but one of those has made it into the Billboard 200’s top 5, and six albums have reached No. 1. Worldwide, the pop diva has sold more than 200 million albums. She is the fourth best-selling female artist of all time in the United States, behind Rihanna, Taylor Swift, and Beyonce.
Mariah Carey and Emotions
After signing her first record contract, the burgeoning star set to work on her first album. Mariah Carey (1990) included four No. 1 singles: “Vision of Love,” “Love Takes Time,” “Some Day,” and “I Don’t Wanna Cry.” The self-titled album, debuting that June, went platinum within two months and sold nine million copies by the end of the decade. A critical success to boot, Carey garnered five Grammy nominations, including in all four major categories (Album, Song, and Record of the Year as well as Best New Artist. She won the latter category at the 1991 Grammy Awards as “Vision of Love” won the trophy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Her second album, Emotions, was released in September 1991. The title track became her fifth No. 1 single while “Can’t Let Go” and “Make it Happen” were additional hits. The following March, Carey appeared on MTV’s Unplugged. This televised performance was released as an album and a home video, resulting in another No. 1 single (a cover of The Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There”).
Music Box, Merry Christmas, and Daydream
Carey soon reached even greater heights. Her next album, Music Box (1993), cut back a bit on the lavish studio production techniques heard in her previous albums and included the No. 1 singles “Dreamlover” and “Hero.” Music Box also became Carey’s first diamond-certified album, having sold 10 million copies by November 1997.
She first laid claim to the title “Queen of Christmas” in November 1994 with the arrival of Merry Christmas. The holiday album, which Carey was hesitant to record, combined traditional Christian hymns with new songs, most notably “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Now a modern Christmas classic, the tune has been played billions of times in the past three decades. It’s also one of two Christmas songs to ever reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, joining “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late).”
Another diamond-certified album was in store with 1995’s Daydream, which was also nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys. Its first single, “Fantasy,” debuted at No. 1 followed by another chart-topper “Always Be My Baby.” Carey broke new ground with “One Sweet Day,” her first collaboration track on an album. She wrote and performed the Grammy-nominated song with R&B group Boyz II Men. Another No. 1 hit, “One Sweet Day” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 16 consecutive weeks.
Final ’90s Albums: Butterfly and Rainbow
Two years after Daydream, Carey released Butterfly that resulted in her 12th No. 1 hit: “Honey.” The Sean “Diddy” Combs–produced track demonstrated Carey’s continued interest in hip-hop and R&B. Butterfly also followed Daydream as her second album to debut at the top spot of the Billboard 200.
In 1998, she and fellow pop diva Whitney Houston recorded the duet “When You Believe” for the animated movie The Prince of Egypt. The tune later won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, though the trophy recognized the writer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz.
Carey rounded out the decade with a seventh album, Rainbow (1999). Many artists pitched in such as Jay-Z, Usher, Missy Elliott, and Snoop Dogg. That October, her duet with Jay-Z, “Heartbreaker,” joined her ever-growing list of No. 1 songs. With it, she surpassed Michael Jackson to become second only to The Beatles for the most No. 1 songs in the United States. Whereas Jackson racked up 13 chart-toppers in the span of 23 years, Carey recorded her 14 hits in just nine years.
2000s: The Emancipation of Mimi and More
In the early 2000s, Carey hopped around record labels. In April 2001, she signed a deal with Virgin Records, owned by EMI, for a reported $80 million. The partnership lasted less than a year, though not before the release of the Glitter soundtrack. The singer reportedly walked away from Virgin Records with nearly $50 million as part of her severance agreement. In May 2002, she signed a new deal with Universal Music Group’s Island/Def Jam Records.
The business end of her career newly secure, Carey released Charmbracelet in December 2002. The initial reception launched the album to third place on the mainstream chart, but only one of its songs, “Through The Rain,” landed on the Billboard Hot 100—at a disappointing No. 81.
Carey was back to her chart-topping ways with 2005’s The Emancipation of Mimi. It became the best-selling album in the United States of the year and has now sold seven million copies. Her 10th record included the mega-hit “We Belong Together,” which stayed at No. 1 for 14 weeks and won two Grammy Awards in 2006. The Emancipation of Mimi was also named the Best Contemporary R&B Album, bringing Carey’s overall Grammy tally to five.
Her follow up in E=MC² (2008) proved she could still produce a platinum-certified album nearly two decades into her career. “Touch My Body” became another No. 1 song, as “Bye Bye” cracked the Hot 100’s top 20. E=MC² is her fourth and most recent album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The next year, she released Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel to relatively modest success.
Later Albums and Work
In 2010 her second holiday album, Merry Christmas II You, arrived. Me. I Am Mariah…The Elusive Chanteuse (2014) marked her first original music in five years. It was followed by two Las Vegas residencies and 2018’s Caution, her 15th studio album that earned mention on several albums of the year lists.
Carey’s latest releases have included a compilation album, a Christmas special recording, and a few anniversary editions of her ’90s albums. In 2022, she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Carey returned to Vegas for a third residency in spring and summer 2024. Dubbed The Celebration of Mimi, the residency included 16 shows.
Her memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey which was co-written with Michaela Angela Davis, was published in September of the same year. The memoir reached number one on The New York Times Best Seller list after its first week of release. On October 2, 2020, Carey released a compilation album titled The Rarities, which includes rare and unreleased songs that Carey recorded at various stages of her career. At the end of October, Carey was featured on Busta Rhymes’ single “Where I Belong”. Carey’s 2020 Christmas special, Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special, premiered on December 4, 2020, on Apple TV+ along with a soundtrack. A new version of Carey’s 2010 song “Oh Santa!”, featuring Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson, was released as a single the same day. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” topped the UK chart for the first time that month, becoming her third number one in the nation, with an unprecedented 69 weeks in its top 40 before reaching the summit.
In July 2021, Carey was featured on the track “Somewhat Loved” from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis’ debut studio album Jam & Lewis: Volume One. On November 5, 2021, Carey released “Fall in Love at Christmas”, featuring Khalid and Kirk Franklin, for her second Christmas special, Mariah’s Christmas: The Magic Continues. In March 2022, Carey was featured alongside DJ Khaled on the remix of Latto’s single “Big Energy”, which interpolates Carey’s 1995 single “Fantasy”. On September 16, 2022, an expanded version of Butterfly was released for the 25th anniversary of the album. In November, Carey released a children’s picture book titled The Christmas Princess, co-written with Michaela Angela Davis and illustrated by Fuuji Takashi. She also served as a co-producer of Some Like It Hot on Broadway theatre, a musical based on the 1959 comedy film Some Like It Hot. It earned her a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Musical.
In February 2023, the 2009 track “It’s a Wrap” experienced a revival on TikTok, prompting Carey to release an EP for the song. On September 8, 2023, she released a deluxe version of Music Box in celebration of the album’s thirtieth anniversary. Carey embarked on her 16-date concert tour, Merry Christmas One and All!, which ran from November 15 to December 17, 2023, in the United States. The tour grossed approximately $30 million and sold more than 200,000 tickets.
On February 16, 2024, she featured on the remix of Ariana Grande’s single “Yes, And?”. On April 12, Carey began a new residency at the Dolby Live in Las Vegas titled The Celebration of Mimi. On May 21, Carey appeared on the remix to Muni Long’s “Made for Me”. In June, Carey released an expanded edition of Rainbow to coincide with its twenty-fifth anniversary. On November 6, 2024, she embarked on Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Merry Christmas, concluding after 18 shows on December 17. A thirtieth anniversary edition of Merry Christmas was also released. On May 30, 2025, Carey also released a twentieth anniversary edition of The Emancipation of Mimi.
On June 6, 2025, Carey released “Type Dangerous”, the lead single for her upcoming sixteenth studio album, which will be her first release through Gamma as part of a multi-album deal. Carey described the deal as “part of something that honors legacy while pushing boundaries” and “owning my narrative and creating freely on my own terms”. The song debuted at number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking her 50th entry on the chart. She performed the song for the first time at the 2025 BET Awards, the same night she would be honoured with the BET Ultimate Icon Award. On June 9, 2025, Carey teased the music video for her single “Type Dangerous” on her social media, announcing its release date as June 13, 2025. The video premiered on June 14, 2025, at noon PST, and a day later, Carey headlined Capital’s Summertime Ball at Wembley Stadium alongside Benson Boone, Lola Young, and Reneé Rapp. On June 27, 2025, Carey featured on Barbra Streisand’s album The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two alongside Streisand and Ariana Grande on a track titled “One Heart, One Voice”.
Carey holds the record for most No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 by a solo artist. With 19 chart-topping tracks, she is one shy of The Beatles’ overall record. Carey has held the top spot in four decades, from the 1990s into the 2020s, making her the first artist to accomplish this feat. Well-aware of her airwave dominance, Carey even released a compilation album in November 1998 of her No. 1 hits up to that point. It was appropriately titled #1’s.
In December 2019, Carey achieved another milestone when her enduring holiday song, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” topped the charts 25 years after its release setting a new Billboard record for longevity.
Acting Career
Carey took her creative talents and embarked on a movie career in the late 1990s, though her onscreen work has never overshadowed her myriad musical successes.
After appearing in The Bachelor (1999), she starred in the semi-autobiographical Glitter (2001) as an aspiring singer seeking to making it big while navigating her relationship. Carey recorded the accompanying soundtrack album in addition to acting in the lead role. A month before Glitter was due in theaters, Carey was hospitalized and cancelled all her public appearances to promote the movie. The release of Glitter was subsequently pushed back from late August to late September 2001. Neither the movie nor the soundtrack generated much traction.
Carey didn’t stop acting there. She also had roles in the mob drama WiseGirls (2002) with Mira Sorvino, the indie flick Tennessee (2008), the Oscar-winning drama Precious (2009), and another Lee Daniels’ drama The Butler (2013). For Precious, Carey transformed from her high-glam diva persona into a nearly unrecognizable welfare caseworker and delivered a career-best performance.
In 2015, the Queen of Christmas starred in and directed A Christmas Melody, a holiday movie on the Hallmark Channel. Two years later, Carey lent her legendary voice to roles in two animated voices: The Lego Batman Movie and The Star. She also made cameos in the comedies You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (2008), Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016), and Girls Trip (2017).
The “Hero” singer has also appeared on various TV shows. In 2012, Carey was chosen as a new judge for Season 12 of the popular reality competition series American Idol. She took a seat alongside Randy Jackson, Nicki Minaj, and Keith Urban and ultimately didn’t enjoy the gig. “That was the worst experience of my life,” Carey later said. “Pitting two females against each other wasn’t cool. It should have been about the contestants instead of about some nonexistent feud [with Minaj].”
In 2013, Carey voiced a character for three episodes of the animated TV series American Dad! Three years later, she launched The Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour and Mariah’s World, a TV docuseries on E! network, which followed her European tour.
Personal Life
In June 1993, Mariah married music executive Tommy Mottola in a spectacular ceremony at Manhattan’s St. Thomas Episcopal Church. Their relationship began professionally in the late 1980s. Mottola, then the president of Columbia Records, listened to Carey’s demo tape and quickly signed her to the label. By 1991, they had begun dating despite their 20-year age gap. Carey was 24 and Mottola 43 when they tied the knot.
The marriage was an unhappy one for Carey, who has since described Mottola as “controlling” and compared the marriage to prison. “There was no freedom for me as a human being,” she told Cosmopolitan in 2019. “It was almost like being a prisoner.” The couple divorced in 1998, and Mottola wrote in his 2013 memoir that their relationship was “absolutely wrong and inappropriate.”
Carey’s second husband was rapper and actor Nick Cannon, who is 10 years younger than she. The pair began a whirlwind relationship after he appeared in her music video for “Bye Bye.” After dating for less than two months, the couple married on April 30, 2008, in a secret ceremony in the Bahamas.
Soon after, Carey became pregnant, news she reluctantly shared in a now-controversial 2008 interview on The Ellen Degeneres Show. Degeneres pressured Carey into announcing the pregnancy on air by offering her champagne. “I was extremely uncomfortable with that moment is all I can say,” Carey told Vulture in 2020. “And I really have had a hard time grappling with the aftermath.” The singer suffered a miscarriage, something that she had prior experience with, after the TV appearance.
But eventually, Carey and Cannon did become parents. Carey announced they were expecting in October 2010 and memorably performed a Christmas special with her baby bump on full display. The 41-year-old singer gave birth to twins on her fourth wedding anniversary in April 2011. Her daughter, Monroe, is nicknamed “Roe,” and her son, Moroccan, goes by “Roc.”
Carey and Cannon stayed together for six years before announcing their separation in August 2014. Their divorce was finalized in 2016. The former couple have continued to co-parent their kids.
– Biography written by Wikipedia and Biography.com and has been edited in areas by Mariah Carey Love.