Full Name: Mariah Carey
Born: March 27th
Birthplace: Huntington, New York
Children: Moroccan and Monroe
Astrological Sign: Aries
Trivia
The Guinness Book of World Records awarded her the record for the highest note hit by a human, after she hit the G7# note during a live performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner”. She also held the record for possessing the largest vocal range A2-G7#.
Mariah holds the record for most No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 by a solo artist. They include:
“Vision of Love” (August 1990, four weeks at No. 1)
“Love Takes Time” (November 1990, three weeks)
“Someday” (March 1991, two weeks)
“I Don’t Wanna Cry” (May 1991, two weeks)
“Emotions” (October 1991, three weeks)
“I’ll Be There” (June 1992, two weeks)
“Dreamlover” (September 1993, eight weeks)
“Hero” (December 1993, four weeks)
“Fantasy” (September 1995, eight weeks)
“One Sweet Day” with Boyz II Men (December 1995, 16 weeks)
“Always Be My Baby” (May 1996, two weeks)
“Honey” (September 1997, three weeks)
“My All” (May 1998, one week)
“Heartbreaker” featuring Jay-Z (October 1999, two weeks)
“Thank God I Found You” featuring Joe & 98 Degrees (February 2000, one week)
“We Belong Together” (June 2005, 14 weeks)
“Don’t Forget About Us” (December 2005, two weeks)
“Touch My Body” (April 2008, two weeks)
“All I Want For Christmas Is You” (December 2019, 14 weeks)
Is the only act to have had a number one single in the United States every year of the 1990s.
In 1990 she made her singing debut at age 20.
Single “One Sweet Day” holds the record for the single staying most weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (a record 16 weeks).
Her godmother is Patti LaBelle.
Used to be a backup singer for Brenda K. Starr.
Her longest note is in her song “Lead the Way”, where she holds a note for about 21 seconds long. In full-voice (no Whistle), she can sing up to G6, as in the song “You’re So Cold” where she ad-libs down to F2 (two notes lower than the A2 in “My All”) and back up to F6, seconds later, she hits F7# in the Whistle register.
Mariah’s 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. Mariah’s father, Alfred Roy Carey, was an aeronautical engineer.
Made music history when “Fantasy” (from her 1995 album “Daydream”) became a #1. With “Fantasy”, she became the first female artist to debut at #1 in the United States 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 the “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 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 Giuseppe 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.
On April 30, 2008 she married for the second time her boyfriend of a month Nick Cannon following a 5-day-long engagement.
In the mid 1990s, she thanked her mother by buying her a house. She gathered her mother’s possessions and put them in the new house, as well as framing photos and putting them on the wall. Then she pretended they were just looking at the house. Mariah says: “It was the most incredible thing I’ve ever been able to do.”.
Got her name from the song “They Call the Wind Maria” (spelled ‘Maria’ without the H, but pronounced ‘Mariah’). The popular Lerner & Loewe musical Paint Your Wagon (1969), starring Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood, which was enjoying a great deal of success after its release in 1969, and the song containing Mariah’s name, was a favorite of mother Patricia.
Had the nickname “Mirage” in high school, because she never showed up for class.
Studied over 500 hours of beauty school and hair salon prior to becoming a singer.
Is the only female artist (and second artist or group ever) to have 19 #1 songs on the US Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Appeared on the benefit concert “A Tribute to Heroes” and sang the song “Hero” in dedication to the families, friends, victims and heroes of the World Trade Center tragedy.
Is mentioned in the Vanessa Hudgens song “Promise”, and the Freeway song “Flipside”.
Her paternal grandfather, Frank Carey (born: Francisco Núñez) was a Venzuelean immigrant and her paternal grandmother, Addie Cole was African-American. Her mother, who is Caucasian, is of Irish descent.
Bought Marilyn Monroe’s white lacquered baby grand piano at auction in October 1999 for $600,000 plus commission.
Some of her musical influences include Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Minnie Riperton and Stevie Wonder.
Founder of Camp Mariah, a serene escape located in Fishkill, New York for inner-city youth to embrace the arts, introduce career opportunities, and build self-esteem.
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).
With 19 #1 hits, she is in second place among all artists with the most No. 1 hits in music history, with The Beatles remaining in first place with 20 #1 hits. She surpassed Elvis Presley’s 17 #1 hits with “Touch My Body” as her 18th #1.
For the first time in history, a non current song, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (1994) reached the #1 spot in the Digital Songs and Tracks the week of December 22, 2005.
Her wedding to Tommy Mottola was modeled after the royal wedding of King Charles III 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.
Her highest note thus far was a G#7 (a few keys from the top of a piano) hit during two live performances of “Emotions” in 1991. Also, she has hit an A2 in her 1998 hit “My All”, verifying her five-octave range. Also, celebrity vocal coach Mark Baxter says that he has heard Mariah sing past the top note on the piano.
With “Heartbreaker”, the first single from her 1999 album “Rainbow”, she became the only artist to top the charts in each year of the 1990s.
Mariah writes and co-writes as well as produces and co-produces her own songs, including all of her number one hits (with the exception of her cover of “I’ll Be There”).
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.
154,000 copies of her album, “E=MC2”, were sold on its first day of release.
Some of her prestigious awards include five Grammy Awards, numerous Grammy nominations, numerous Radio Music Awards, many American Music Awards, Billboard’s “Artist of the Decade” Award and the World Music Award for “World’s Best Selling Female Artist of the Millennium” to name a few.
According to several interviews with Mariah Carey, her birth certificate, and her twins’ birth certificates, Mariah has no middle name. Mariah said in a CNN interview (04/30/2005), her mother did not give her a middle name because she felt the full name “Mariah Carey” can be her “stage name”. Mariah’s daughter, Monroe Cannon, also does not have a middle name because Mariah herself does not have one.
Her paternal grandfather, Francisco Núñez, changed his last name to Carey after moving to New York City from Venezuela; he hoped a British Isles surname would help him make a good life in the United States. He took the last name Carey from his biological father. Francisco’s mother, Margarita Núñez was with a man who’s last name was Carey, but they were not married.
Has two children, who are fraternal twins: daughter, Monroe Cannon & son, Moroccan Cannon (b. April 30, 2011) with ex-husband, Nick Cannon.
Wanted to be a genie when she was a kid.
Was one month pregnant with her twins Monroe and Moroccan when she completed performing on “The Angels Advocate Tour”.
“The Emancipation of Mimi”, named the biggest-selling album of 2005, generated an all-time career-high eight Grammy nominations for Mariah. The album includes her 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 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.
Used to smoke frequently when she was 12 to 18. She gave up smoking once her singing career began to flourish, and now detests cigarette smoke.
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.
Admires Marilyn Monroe.
In 1998 she Toured Australia and said the highlight of her trip was swimming with dolphins.
The first single from the Glitter (2001) soundtrack, “Loverboy”, was the #1 best selling single in the year 2001.
Honored by the Congressional Award in Washington, D.C. 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.
Returned to work 6 months after giving birth to her twins Monroe and Moroccan to begin recording her 14th studio album.
Used to be a vegetarian but stopped for ex-husband Tommy Mottola.
Her siblings are Alison and Morgan, and are significantly older by eight years.
She has twice recorded Phil Collins’ song “Against All Odds”, initially on her album “Rainbow” and then a collaboration with Westlife hit number one in the United Kingdom in 2000.
Gave acclaimed performances at State Kremlin Palace, Moscow and in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2003.
First major artist to appear with James Corden in his popular “Carpool Karaoke” sketch as featured on The Late Late Show with James Corden (2015).
Her hit single “Emotions” is often called one of the most vocally demanding and difficult songs in the world to sing, since the song requires full use of a 4 octave vocal range and the whistle register.
Is a big fan of McDonald’s fast food, and collaborated with the company on December 2021 for a Mariah Menu special, where McDonald’s rewards members could get free menu items that Carey often buys when she visits the restaurant, including the classic cheeseburger, Big Mac, chocolate chip cookies, and the warm apple pie. Carey herself says she often gets the double cheeseburger with extra pickles.
When they got engaged, both Carey and James Packer were still legally married; Mariah to Nick Cannon, James to Erica Packer.
Her song “100% was used as one of the theme songs for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Likes to swim in her evening gowns and heels.
Can do many impersonations with the various octaves of her voice.
She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6270 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on August 5, 2015.
Her official website used to feature “Mariahisms”, her favorite sayings, including “Lamb”, “Bing bong” and “Okie dokie smokey”.
Was originally cast as Tangie Adrose/Orange in For Colored Girls (2010), but after dropping out due to medical reasons she was replaced by Thandie Newton.
Signed a three-album deal with Island/Def Jam records for a reported $21-24 million. She had already started work on a new album, which had no release date at that point. Meanwhile, WiseGirls (2002), her movie with Mira Sorvino, premiered on HBO in the fall of 2002.
Founded Crave Records (1997-1998).
Her favorite things are vintage chandeliers and sconces. She has them everywhere decorating in her Tribeca penthouse apartment.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is her favorite ride at Disney World.
She prefers to be photographed from the right side.