“It’s kinda like being on a roller coaster. If you don’t get on the rise, you won’t experience the adventure.”
As one of the most prevalent divas of our generation, not only as a singer, songwriter and record producer, but also as an actress and entrepreneur, Mariah Carey soars to the top of everything she touches. Growing up in New York, Mariah began writing poems and adding melodies to them in high school and pursued her dreams in the music industry until her demo tape landed into the hands of the head of Columbia Records, Tommy Mottola in 1988, whom she later married. The rest is history. “Basically, I started singing when I started talking. Music has just been my saving grace my whole life,” says Mariah. Despite a weak start, once Mariah reached the top of Billboard 200, she stayed there for 11 weeks and won Best New Artist as well as Best New Female Pop Vocal Performance and became the first artist since the Jackson 5 to have four singles reach number one. Attaining musical heights that some only dream about, Mariah sent forth on a career spanning over 25 years of multiple prestigious accolades.
Referred to as the “songbird supreme” by the Guinness World Records, Mariah possesses a five-octave vocal range and has the ability to reach notes beyond the 7th octave. Her vocal style and singing ability have significantly impacted popular and contemporary music. It has influenced a generation of pop entertainers calling her the most influential vocal stylist of the last two decades. Also credited for introducing R&B and Hip Hop into mainstream Pop culture, and for popularizing rap as a featured act, Mariah combined melodies with rapped verses. Along with her larger than life personality and unique voice, she created her own special style, which is completely Mariah.
As with many singer/songwriters, Mariah’s heartbreak heavily influenced her music after her divorce from Tommy Mottola. Her album “Honey,” it’s lead single, and its accompanying music video, introduced a more overtly sexual image than she had ever demonstrated, and furthered reports of her freedom from Mottola. Later, following her three-year relationship with Latin singer Luis Miguel, “The Emancipation of Mimi” was considered Mariah’s “comeback album” by critics and became her highest-selling release in the US in a decade.
People always ask her, what is your obsession with butterflies and she says, “I’m not obsessed. I like them. Butterflies are always following me, everywhere I go.” As a sign of freedom and beauty mixed in with love, Mariah is free spirited and there are many sides to her that not many people get to see. Maybe it even represents her childhood as she wasn’t always the prettiest but she bloomed into a pretty butterfly with a beautiful voice.
In April 2011, while married to actor and comedian Nick Cannon, Mariah gave birth to fraternal twins, Moroccan and Monroe. Currently, she is engaged to Australian billionaire James Packer and describes their relationship as a ‘fantasy’. As for her future, Mariah and James are taking it day by day as they are spending time on his ‘n’ hers yachts. Both mega-yachts are currently anchored together off the coast of Italy so the couple can enjoy the European summer.
Mariah returns to Las Vegas for concerts through Sept. 11, 2016 with her hit residency MARIAH: #1 TO INFINITY at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. Then she hits the road for her Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour Latin America 2016 beginning on October 28 in Buenos Aires and ending in Monterrey Mexico on November 9. As far as her acting career, Mariah will guest star and perform on the upcoming third season of “Empire” on Wednesday, Oct. 5 as Kitty, a mega-superstar who comes to Empire to collaborate with Jamal Lyon on an explosive new song. Stay tuned for the season premiere on December 4 of her upcoming series, Mariah’s World, for a look inside her extraordinary and exclusive lifestyle. Additionally, in the upcoming 2017 The Lego Batman Movie, Mariah plays the Mayor of Gotham City where Batman goes on a personal journey to find himself and learn the importance of teamwork in hopes to save Gotham City from The Joker‘s hostile takeover.
With so many wonderful things on her horizon both personally and professionally, Mariah states, “You really have to look inside yourself and find your own inner strength, and say, I’m proud of what I am and who I am, and I’m just going to be myself.”