MARIAH CAREY

Born in New York in 1970, Mariah always knew that, without a doubt, she would be a singing star. When asked by her teachers to do her homework, she'd reply that it was unnecessary- she'd never need to go to college for her career as a superstar. Her mother's request to clean her room was answered similarly: when Mariah was a superstar, she'd have a maid. Mariah, you see, might be the last person in the world to admit that her stardom was not inevitable. Mariah's father was black and Venezuelan. Her mother, the daughter of Irish immigrants, was an opera singer. Mariah took after her mother in the pursuit of developing her vocal talents. Her seven-octave range is certainly, at moments, reminiscent of any number of divas. But her vocal styles are drawn from gospel and rhythm and blues.

In fact, upon the release of her first couple of albums, Mariah faced charges that she was just 'another white girl' capitalizing on black music. She immediately confronted the issue in Ebony, telling them that her father was black. In addition, American music styles are themselves so much derived from black music that it might be hard not to record an album drawing upon those influences. Mariah says of herself, "My mother is Irish, my father is black and Venezuelan, and me- I'm tan, I guess."

As a teenager, she was already devoting an inordinate amount of time to singing- so much so that her nickname in high school was "Mirage." But she met up with songwriting partners, and found places to rehearse, and by the time she graduated high school, she moved to New York fully expecting to record any day.

She became, like almost every aspiring singer, actor, or musician, a waitress. An astonishingly bad one, to hear her tell of it. She went through any number of waitressing jobs during those years, getting fired from a number of them- many times for her 'attitude,' possible meaning her attitude that waiting tables was not as important as recording music. Perhaps she was right.

During this time, she also met Ben Margulies, with whom she wrote many of her early songs. He had a place to rehearse, and they spent an endless amount of time together writing and performing. Eventually she had a demo tape. But nowhere to go with it.

One friend was the drummer for a singer named Brenda K. Starr, who had just lost a back-up singer in her band. Mariah began to sing with her, and the two became close. Brenda K Starr was supportive of Mariah from the first, and Carey still has nothing but good to say of her. It was through Starr that the 18-year-old Mariah got her big break.

Starr convinced Mariah to come with her to a record-industry party. Mariah brought one of her tapes along. Near the end of the party, Mariah tried to give her tape to Jerry Greenberg, from Columbia Records. Another executive, by the name of Tommy Mottola, who happened to be the president of the label, intercepted the tape. He put it in his cassette player on the way home, and decided to sign her.

Once he found her (she had neglected to put her name on the tape), he signed her to Columbia (now Sony), and set her to work on her first album. She was not yet nineteen.

The next few years were a rush of cross-continental album production. Her first album, Mariah Carey, was produced by Narada Michael Walden, whose work with Whitney Houston and George Michael was some of their most popular work. One track was also produced by Walter Afanasieff, then fairly unknown, but later to become quite important to Mariah.

The album produced four number one singles in a row. This is interesting not only because it's fairly unique, but because Sony has always made a big deal about Mariah's 'number one's,' even to the point of seeming disappointed about one single only hitting #2. The four singles, "Vision of Love," "Love Takes Time," "Some Day," and "I Don't Wanna Cry," all reflect Mariah's lyrical base in romance. It's by far the most popular subject for Mariah's songs. She says that she thinks "that everyone can pretty much relate to songs about love... Love is something that everyone has experienced."

She released her second album, Emotions , the following year. She had her fifth consecutive number one single. Emotions was partially produced by Walter Afanasieff and partially by the team of Clivilles and Cole (the C&C behind the Music Factory). The album included a number of dance numbers that pushed her ability to emote, rather than her ability to hit the 'high stuff.' And she began to test the waters on touring.

Mariah has always had a different relationship to touring than most artists. She has performed what might be called boutique concerts- avoiding the grueling schedules and long periods away from home that the music business demands of many artists. So her concert tours are always very short, very well rehearsed and to the point, and always sold out.

Her most spectacular and successful live performance was not a huge stage show, but an intimate audience show. MTV Unplugged provided Mariah with the opportunity to perform live the way she wanted to. And with the success of the show, the video, the album, and especially her version of the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There," Mariah's career was confirmed.

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