1996 Matthew Knight Version

CHAPTER ONE

To try and describe a singer who has sold over 80 million albums up to date, who has achieved more in six years than some performers accomplish in a lifetime and who has reached the pinnacle of success, yet continues to reach further every day is a waste of time. There are no expressions to describe the ways in which Mariah Carey has touched the hearts of millions around the world, nor enough words to describe the dedication and passion that the 27 year old New York singer holds for her work.

Mariah Carey's life story is perhaps one of the most well known in the music industry. The tale of rags to riches, working every minute of her life to reach where she wanted, and achieving it, the story that is expressed so accurately through many of her strongest lyrics, is the modern-day version of the classic tale, Cinderella. Indeed, her adopted title of 'Pop's Cinderella' shows the popular belief in Mariah to be the one who tried her hardest to become so that which is many a little girl's dream, the world's best selling female artist.

It wasn't going to be an easy journey, but this didn't seem to be a problem for Mariah. Her life, so far, had been nothing but turmoil and hard work, so this was like a fantasy to Mariah, a dream come true, the one thing that she had worked towards since the age of three suddenly became a reality, and in a flash of musical excellence, Carey exploded on to the music scene with an album of such intensity and strength, no-one knew what had hit them. At the tender age of 19, Mariah had quickly set herself at the highest possible position in the US charts, debuting at number 80 at the end of June. It quickly climbed up into the top 5 where is stayed for 28 weeks before finally reaching number one in the Billboard 200 Album chart in March 1991. Once it got there it stayed the bestselling album in the country for an amazing eleven weeks. This was a reputation she was to uphold throughout the rest of her career to present, with a string of number one singles that established Mariah as the brightest, freshest and best female singer in America's public eye. She had been pitted against other great artists such as Debbie Gibson, Madonna, and her main rival at that time, Whitney Houston, and seemed to be winning.

These people seemed no obstacle to Mariah, and she continued to climb the charts with every single she released, making a string of five number one hits in a row. This set Mariah firmly into the record books, the first of many records which she was to make, and break, in the following years.

It is now seven years since the release of Carey's debut, and she is still going as strong as ever. But what exactly is it that makes Mariah the person that she is, how did she reach the point where she so proudly stands, and what happened to her along the way?

This life story is one that will be told for decades to come, for the little girl from Long Island has already placed herself in the music hall of fame along with other greats such as Elvis, Michael Jackson and the Beatles, reminding us that "If you believe in yourself enough / and know what you want / You're gonna make it happen".

CHAPTER TWO

The creation of the phenomenon that is Mariah Carey begins many generations before our own. Back to her grandfather, a County Cork resident who moved to the USA, also a musician, who managed to pass on his talents to his daughter even though he died weeks before her birth. Patricia Hickey grew up realising these talents, and at the age of 17, she came to New York and joined a small organisation set up during World War II, the New York City Opera, which since has flourished in to the great institution as we know it today.

In 1960, still ten years before the birth of Mariah, Patricia married Alfred Roy Carey, a Venezuelan and Afro-American Aeronautical Engineer. This immediately caused difficulties for the Carey family. Mixed marriages were not something smiled upon in the 1950 and 1960s, indeed, it was such a seemingly prohibited act, Mariah's parents went through a stage where they were the direct target of racist attacks, something that Mariah would also be a victim to in later years. "Their cars were blown up, there dogs were poisoned...crazy stuff" Mariah recalls, and it didn't stop with that, her sister Alison, nine years older than her, was the darkest skinned of the family, and subsequently got picked on frequently. "They'd shout racial slurs at her and beat her up" says Mariah. It was always up to her brother, just one year older than Alison, to go in and fight for her. This wasn't helped by the fact that as a child, Morgan suffered from epilepsy and cerebral palsy, and one of his legs was shorter than the other, forcing him to limp around. It was perhaps Morgan who was one of Mariah's closest and earliest inspirations. His strength in getting through his illnesses, and dedication on reaching what he wanted was something that motivated her. Morgan had the 'family's iron will' as described in a recent newspaper interview with Mariah, and used it.

It wasn't until the autumn of 1969 that Patricia fell pregnant for the third time. It was this bundle of joy, born on March 27, 1970, that was the child, Mariah Carey. Many rumours and stories about her name have circulated since the day of her first public appearance, including Mariah's very own joke of her mother thinking it was a good stage name, yet the most popular theory, and perhaps most appropriate, is "They Call The Wind Mariah". The popular Lerner & Lowe musical, "Paint Your Wagon" starring Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood, was enjoying a great deal of success, after its release in '69, and the song containing Mariah's name, although spelt without the 'H', was apparently a favourite of Patricia's. Indeed, coincidence or not, another song from the same show, "Wandrin' Star" was relaxing at the number one spot in the UK chart on that very same day, plus the score from the musical had been nominated for an 'Oscar' in the 1969 Academy Awards ceremony. Whether this is true source of Mariah's name or not still is to be discovered. However, as opposed to being linked to a late 60's musical, Mariah's name is now synonymous with a five octave range, and multi-platinum albums, something that Patricia wouldn't have even dreamed about for another few years.

The racism and torment towards the Carey family was still causing problems, even over ten years into the marriage. As Mariah waded through the first few years of her life, her parents were beginning to show the strain that the social pressures were placing on their marriage. The taunts, threats and violence towards them in the neighbourhood was becoming too much of a burden to deal with, and after Mariah reached her third birthday, Patricia and Alfred separated and divorced. Mariah and Morgan stayed with their mother and Alison left with her father, moving away from the neighbourhood.

Right after the divorce, Mariah saw her father on a regular weekly basis, but as the months passed on, the frequency of visits decreased, until the father and daughter lost almost their entire link. Maybe it was through Mariah's realisation that they were two very different people. Being an aeronautical engineer, he had a natural aptitude for Mathematics and numbers, and did not participate in Mariah's love for music. Equally, Mariah did not have a head for figures and academic work. Whatever the reason for the eventual loss of a relationship between father and child, it certainly wasn't through anything that Patricia did, in fact, she was very supportive throughout the entire time, which Mariah says helped her a great deal. "She never discouraged me from having a good feeling about him. She always taught me to believe in myself, to love the things that I am". Mariah still holds affectionate memories of the time they did spend together before he moved away to Washington DC.

However, during this period of what, for most people, would be highly traumatic and disturbing for a child, Patricia spotted something in Mariah that would set the tone for the rest of the child's life. The start of a fairy tale that would be told in every music magazine, every newspaper and by every discjockey around the world. For in 1972, even before Mariah has reached the age of three, Mariah sang opera. Okay, so perhaps not an entire performance, but maybe something more significant. As Patricia stood rehearsing one night for her first time playing in Verdi's opera, Rigoletto, based on the notorious play, "Le roi s'amuse", penned by Victor Hugo; she missed a cue, but Mariah was there to point out the mistake to her mother, a trained vocal coach and opera singer. Mariah sung the line, in Italian, in time, and in key.

From this point on, Patricia knew that her three year old daughter had inherited her beautiful talent, and knew that she would have to help Mariah to develop it to a stage of perfection. Mariah was completely immersed in music from her very first day on this earth. If it wasn't her brother's radio or sister's records, it would be her mother's opera, and Mariah, fully aware of her newly found talent, would wander around the house listening to a tune, and repeating it, just like a tape recorder. Patricia remembers Mariah mimicking every sound she heard, even down to the jingles on television commercials. "She would watch TV," she recalls, "but when the programme came on, she would stop watching. But when the commercials came on, [she] started singing". It didn't stop there either. As her mother was now single, Patricia had to resort to becoming a freelance vocal coach to bring in more money during the daytime, while still working on other jobs in the evenings, which meant that young Mariah was left alone most nights, with no-one besides Morgan and her music. When her mother was at home teaching others to sing, Mariah was always be watching and listening, taking in every influence that passed her ears. She always wanted to sing for her mom's friends and created little performances, committing the commercials and songs from the radio to memory.

CHAPTER THREE

Being alone for many nights in her early years built up Carey's independence and personal strength, but it still frightened her. "It was scary growing up like that. I never really felt stable. I always felt the rug could be pulled out from under me... I never felt any financial security. I dreamed of possessing things. Lucky for me I had my music to hold on to as a goal."

It was already evident that Mariah's goal in life was to sing, and this was something she always knew she had to try hard for. Even at the age of four, Mariah knew what she wanted, and now it was up to her, with careful guidance from her mother, to get there. Patricia felt that her daughter was a 'born singer', however clich�d this sounds, and it seemed to be true, but the virgin talent that Carey held needed to be developed. Her mother started teaching Mariah formally, showing her how to use and express her vocal abilities correctly. Working together at such an age built a strong bond between Mariah and her mother, even stronger than the one that already existed, which was needed. The Carey's moved around the NY area time after time according to financial considerations and employment opportunities. Mariah grew up quickly, she needed to, as although her mother wanted to, it wasn't always feasible to take her to Patricia's singing sessions. Many nights, Mariah's only company would be in the form of her music or the radio. Mariah was around her mother's friends a great deal, which made her mature at an early age.

Very soon, Mariah had chances to perform in front of an audience. She managed to land a role in South Pacific for her school production, which meant that she would solo on the song "Honey Bun". Mariah's talents and influences continued to grow and diversify, and even she started piano lessons. However, Mariah isn't one who is easily taught, and she soon felt that "This comes naturally... I don't want to learn" which she now regrets. She listened to her mother's opera, her mother's friend's jazz, but perhaps most importantly in Mariah's development, her brother's and sister's soul music. She soon bought albums from some of the greatest gospel talents, Aretha Franklin and Al Green, her two biggest idols, and moved onto other artists, who weren't as well known in the recording industry, but were huge in gospel circles, such as The Clark Sisters and Vanessa Bell Armstong. Franklin, still a huge name today, was the person responsible for greats such as 'Respect' in '67, 'Spanish Harlem', 'Jimmy Lee' and 'Don't Play That Song', which Mariah would perform later in her life as a tribute to an artist that she called "incomparable". Mariah now acknowledges how much gospel is a part of her musical background, after listening to her records, and all too rare visits to her Grandmother's church, and this love of gospel, even over pop and R&B, shows up in many aspects of her music. Early tracks such as "Vanishing", the Richard Tee collaboration from "Mariah Carey", arrangements of the title track from her second album "Emotions", and a great deal more on her holiday celebratory album in 1994, "Merry Christmas" with hardcore gospel, such as that found at the end of "Jesus, Oh What A Wonderful Child", even down to the choral harmonies and tambourine. "I think singers like Vanessa Bell Armstrong and The Clark singers are the best singers in the world" Mariah admits, "I have a pretty good knowledge of gospel now and although it's not like I grew up in church, I love it"

Now Mariah was at school, there was less time for her to practise her singing, so she took up poetry to pass her time. Of course, it was of such a standard that her teachers didn't believe it was her own work, but this is par for the course, and Mariah continued to follow her dream despite a distinct lack of support from anyone besides her family and most closest of friends.

Whenever the pressures of school or home got too much for Mariah, or she just wanted to spend time with herself, Mariah would find somewhere alone, and sing her little heart out. It was such a pleasure for Mariah to just sing constantly, and her love for music was such a strength that no-one could ever stop her from reaching her goals. Even when her teachers tried to persuade Mariah to study Maths, or do homework, Mariah would reply, "I'm not gonna go to college, I'm gonna be a singer".

By the age of thirteen, Mariah had already made the sub-conscious decision to give up schoolwork, and devote her days, or rather nights, to singing. "When I'm good at something, I focus on it. When I'm not good at it, I couldn't care less," and it seemed that Mariah cared less about schoolwork. She switched day for night, education for music. Although she never showed it at school, choosing not to join any other the societies or clubs with a musical interest, she was fully into her music. Every night, she would be doing backing tracks for a friend's band who seemed to do nothing but record demo tapes. Of course, it wasn't the route that Mariah would eventually take, nevertheless, she enjoyed it immensely.

Each night, she'd make the brief journey from Long Island into the city, spend hours in the studio recording track after track, song after song, and then return home in the small hours. Of course, working long into the morning affected her punctuality, to the point where her list of 'Likes' in her school yearbook included 'Sleeping in'. On average, she would be over three hours late each morning for classes. Her excuses were running out, she didn't want to let people know what her real intentions were, as remarks from her peers and elders, as so often is the case, were frankly disparaging. More often than not, if you have a dream which isn't the average job or classed as a far-fetched ideal, the support is hard to come by. Just a few true friends who know what you want are there to back you up.

Ironically, this backward way of living could be attributed to being one of the main reasons behind Mariah's vocal trademarks. In the mornings after her hard studio sessions, Mariah would be woken by her mother, and her voice would be nothing more than a, as Q magazine put it, "Minnie Mouse squeak". This put Mariah into the frame of mind that told herself to sort it out, and she did, working on it constantly. After more training and practise, it reached the point where Mariah could easily whip out an amazing five octave range, and up to the seventh octave, which in the past, the only other artist to be successful with a voice so dynamic was the celebrated Epic artist, Minnie Riperton.

CHAPTER FOUR
So, Mariah continued to live an upside-down life, until she finally left school at the earliest possible age of 16. She moved into the city, the first part of the dream, and set up home with two college friends, well, home being where the pasta is, which for some nights made up the main substance of her meagre meals. In the 'early days', Mariah's diet tended to consist of nothing more than a slice of Munster cheese and a bagel (which is still one of Mariah's favourites, strangely enough) or a bowl of pasta if she was lucky. Mariah never complained though, she felt it was the only way towards her goals.

It was around this time when Mariah teamed up with Ben Margulies, her first real writing partner. It was all a bit of an accident that they met though. Mariah's brother Morgan had been so impressed with Mariah's singing and writing (at this time with a friend of her's, Gavin Christopher) that for his sister's birthday in 1976, he paid for her to record a demo tape in a 'real' 24-track studio in the Manhattan area, but they didn't have anyone to play keyboards. Margulies, who Mariah confesses "isn't a cop on the keyboards", turned up after their original choice turned the chance down, and the two instantly sparked.

By a strange twist of fate, Ben had access to a room behind his father's woodshop in Manhattan, and he had set up a small recording studio. Of course, I use the word studio in the loosest sense of the word possible , it basically comprised of one 8-track open reel machine, and a microphone, nevertheless, Mariah and Ben began recording. Mariah, each night, would travel to 'Bedworks', the woodshop, and lay down tracks for the numerous demo tapes they wanted to produce.

Neither Carey nor Margulies could be described as vain, but even they knew the first song that they wrote and recorded was excellent. The track, entitled "Here We Go Round Again" was the first of several tracks which the duo recorded, and included on their demo tapes, which they began to send out to all the of the record labels in the business, however, it was not to be. Although many people showed interest, labels and companies are reluctant to take on new talent if they don't have another major label interested, or backing from an agent or manager. It is a major case of 'Catch 22', you can't get one without the other. The interest from the labels was there, and they certainly acknowledged the talent, in fact to a point where one label suggested that the songs could be used by another artist, Whitney Houston. Many writers would be ecstatic about this opportunity, but there was no way that Mariah would let anyone besides herself sing the songs. No-one wanted to take a risk, something that numerous labels will probably be kicking themselves over as soon as Mariah's name became one known in virtually every household across the US, Japan and Europe.

Of course, Mariah was no longer in full time education, nor living with her mother, which meant she needed to go out and earn herself a living and to merely pass the time before she reached the days where money would be no object. Far from that point, Mariah took a series of dead-end jobs, waitressing, coat-checking, even hairdressing, which only lasted for a few hours.

"The owner liked to name his workers" Mariah reminisces about her less than inspiring days in a barbers salon, "So he walks up to me again and he goes "What's your name again" and I said "Mariah" and he goes, "Well now it's Echo"... So I was like "These are not slave days, you cannot name me" and I just said "Okay. See you later" and I left"

Even when Mariah was working though, she would still always return to her music, often to the annoyance of her employers. On breaks, and even during her shifts when she should have been working, Mariah would disappear, and be found a few moments later singing to herself with her headphones on, in her own little world. It never won her any popularity contests with the people at work, but inevitably led to getting jobs on a similar track as what she wanted to be doing.

Through her brother, mother and Ben Margulies, Mariah had become friends with many musicians, one of which was a drummer for the R&B singer, Brenda K. Starr. One day, when speaking to Mariah, he mentioned that one of her backing singers had recently quit, and Starr was looking for a replacement. At first Mariah was reticent to apply for the place. She was still in the frame of mind of protecting her individuality as a singer, not wanting to be part of someone's 'band', but a performer in her own right.

Eventually, Mariah went for the singing job, admitting to herself that it had to be better than anything that she was doing at the time. She became one of the group of singers who performed the backing vocals with Starr on both her live performances and recordings (although by the time Starr released her first self entitled album on MCA Records, and another on Epic, "By Heart", both in 1991, Mariah was not performing with her, so received no more credit than a thanks on the sleeve note).

The job, however, went no further to improving her financial status. Mariah would still be seen wandering around in nothing more than a pair of old trainers, black leggings, and a short jacket. Starr, both through looking after her singers, and seeing Mariah as a friend, became quite concerned for Carey and her health, worried that it could affect her quite seriously in the bleak winters in New York city.

CHAPTER FIVE

Here we join the classic Cinderella tale, starring Mariah as the poor downtrodden girl, with nothing more than rags an tatters to wear, Brenda K. Starr as the Fairy Godmother, and a music business party as the palace steps where Mariah is to leave her very own glass slipper. Over the time that Mariah and Starr spent together, both working and socialising with each other. If the two weren't recording or rehearsing, they would spend many an evening just talking to each other. This friendship developed well, and Mariah recalls how Starr did all she could to actively promote her backing singer.

One Friday night, Starr was trying her hardest to persuade Mariah to go with her to a music business party, where there would be several big names from the record labels, including people from Sony Music, the parent company of Starr's current label. Carey was never a big fan of parties and socialising. She was constantly tired with her busy days filled with nothing but singing, rehearsing and chasing the dream which continued to motivate her, and she didn't like the atmosphere either, it would be smoky, and that would get to her throat and effect her voice, and she should know, Mariah smoked for a short while in her teen years, which Mariah now openly regrets and condemns.

It was November 1988, and the weather was anything but clement, after Brenda put forward arguments to make Mariah go to the party, she eventually conceded, and went along.

By the end of the evening, Mariah had decided it was all a waste of time. She had only managed to give one of her demo tapes out. It was reaching the the late hours, and after mustering up enough courage, Mariah introduced herself to Jerry Greenberg, a label executive from CBS. As she passed the tape to him, another hand shot from nowhere. The hand belonged to Tommy Mottola, not just another executive from CBS, but the President of the company. Maybe Mariah knew who she was giving the tape to, maybe not, but whatever was to follow, Mariah could have never expected the following few weeks.

Mottola, the 44 year old Bronx citizen, born in 1952 was also brought up with music constantly around him. He studied at Hofstra University, and after attaining a contract with Epic, he released a few non-hit singles under the name of TD Valentine. After trying his chances at the face of the industry, he decided to move behind the scenes, becoming a promoter for Chappel Music. He progressed along the chain of the music 'biz' until finally settling down into the area of management for artists in the mid 70s. Tommy Mottola didn't join up with CBS until a few years later in 1977, where along with a lawyer, Allen Grubman, he started doing business with CBS's Yetnikoff. In just over ten years, through the three's dealings together, Mottola joined CBS Records as president.

As CBS Records's frontman Yetnikoff left Sony in 1990, Mottola was around to slip into the opening left behind. Mottola still had his hand in artist management during the early 90s however, owning the representation agency, Champion Entertainment. The fifteen or more years of experience that Tommy Mottola had with artist representation and management gave him the ability to see and hear talent, which is where the fairy tale takes a turn towards the classic Cinderella plot.

Upon leaving the party, Mottola listened to a few tracks from the demo tape he had managed to pull from Greenberg. After only a couple of songs, Mottola ordered the chauffeur to turn around, and head back to the party. He returned to find that Mariah and Starr had already left. Prince Charming had lost his vocal princess, and in his hand, he held the glass slipper, looking remarkably similar to a cassette, yet possibly more fragile, as upon this tape rested the career of the next decade's biggest female singer.

Here is where the similarity ends, as Mottola found the young girl a great deal easier than searching an entire kingdom. By simply going through Starr and her management, he quickly found Mariah's number, and left a message on her answerphone.

Within the same day of the phonecall, Mariah and her mother were both sitting in the CBS offices talking contracts. By December of that same year, after less than a month had passed, Mariah Carey had officially become an artist with CBS Columbia Records. She had made it, yet there was a great deal more to come in the following months, and indeed years.

Mottola knew talent when he saw it, and made sure Columbia pulled out all the stops for this one. Don Ienner, a new recruit to the Columbia team, and someone who played a huge part in guiding Mariah to the top, recalled Mottola's attitude towards Mariah. "As far as he was concerned, it was the Second Coming" and Ienner quickly came around to the same way of thinking. Mottola was placing a lot of trust on Mariah's glass slipper, but it was all to pay off. The short demo tape, containing a few songs which would eventually be released as singles, was all that Mottola knew about Mariah. In the next few months, he would learn about her great enthusiasm and dedication towards her singing.

Mariah became a 'priority artist', meaning that all of the industry giant's resources had been shifted to make Mariah their key artist that year. Producers from around the globe and chart were called in to work with Mariah, namely Ric Wake and Narada Michael Walden, who combined credits contain names such as Taylor Dayne, George Michael, Michael Jackson, and Mariah's soon-to-be sparring partner, Whitney Houston.

Mariah was reticent though. She didn't want these 'big-time' producers coming along to 'do' her songs. The songs were her's and Margulies' creations, and after spending hour upon hour in that tiny room in NY, was all the work going to be changed and remixed? Reluctantly, Mariah continued under the general instruction of the label, after all, they were gambling on her success as an artist, yet still the tracks on the demo seemed to be, as Mariah and Ben both recall, very similar to the final album versions. Sony obviously felt the songs on the tape needed little doing to them. "They were very close to what's on the album, if not almost exactly" Margulies remarked after the completion of recording.

Work began both in the studio and on paper. The two were still writing, indeed within a few weeks of signing the contract, the pair had written another song about their recent success, yet wrapped up within the style of a 'love-song'. After a couple of alterations to the original version of the song, beefing it up with some instrumental and drum tracks, and adding a little magic from the producers who were crowding around Mariah, all in awe of her talent, or at least the potential of huge success, "Vision Of Love", the first track from Mariah's debut album was completed.

Perhaps we need to take stock of what exactly is happening. It is 1989. Mariah is 19 in March of that year, and already her debut album is on the way. She wanted it to be something great, something special, and whilst her producers were working alongside Mariah and Margulies to guide the artistic content, Mariah's management were forcing her name into all the right places. The task of promoting Mariah had begun.

It wasn't exactly going to be a difficult task though, Columbia dedicated the vast majority of their resources to the promotion, making sure that Mariah would get on to all the shows - Arsenio Hall, The Tonight Show, and perhaps the most important gesture to introduce Mariah to the American public, singing "America the Beautiful" to open the 1990 NBA Finals, something which was usually held for the kind of people with numerous chart hits and awards under their belt, not a 19 year old singer who hadn't even released a single yet.

CHAPTER SIX

When debuting, many singers will sell singles on looks alone, and quickly fade away into chart non-history, and equally, singers without a good visual image often find it difficult to maintain success. Mariah has both and more. A 19 year old girl with soft brown shoulder length curls, huge brown eyes and a beaming smile will look nice regardless of talent, yet mix it with the pure strength that came across in her debut video "Vision of Love" and success is guaranteed. Mariah was an instant hit on the MTV Network receiving heavy rotation for the release of the single. Rumours of expensive video shoots and retakes costing up to $450,000, although strongly disputed by Ienner, led to a beautiful first video from Mariah in autumnal sunset colours. With the new star singing with such power and grace, the American public were sure to show their appreciation. And they did.

On June 2, "Vision Of Love" entered the Billboard Hot 100 (the US chart system) at #73. For a debut single to enter so high is an infrequent occurrence, and Columbia were happy, yet they weren't know how successful they had been for another few weeks. On August 4, when the single entered the UK charts at #74, "Vision of Love" reached its peak position of #1 in the US and stayed there for 4 weeks. Released a few weeks later than the single, the simply titled album, "Mariah Carey", entered the album chart at #80, yet the success of Vision Of Love began the album's unprecedented run of 11 weeks at the number one spot.

Mariah Carey had started off in pole position, a stage which allowed her jettison into the deluge of press coverage and attention that the US media suddenly were willing to give her. Mini tours were under way to help promote the album, performances to organisations such as the National Association of Recording Merchandisers had already proved to be successful earlier in that year, and visiting local radio and TV stations in an effort to introduce Mariah with the correct image had paid off. She had been performing at the most basic of levels, at times only Mariah and a piano, played by the late Richard Tee, and the backing vocals of Patrique McMillan, Billy T Scott and Trey Lorenz. These companions were to stay with Mariah on tour, often breaking the stressful atmosphere with their humour, and keeping a light feeling at all times. "They're so crazy, and it's so much fun to have those guys on the road with me because for what would otherwise be a monotonous boring day on the bus or whatever, I have these guys there to crack me up.. They just make me laugh". Carey and Lorenz met one day at a studio "I heard someone singing all the high top notes with me, and I'm like, 'Who is that?' I turned around and it was Trey", the performer who would later go on release an album that Mariah would help write, produce and perform backing vocals on.

Mariah Carey sold amazingly well for a debut album, current figures are estimated over 9 million copies in the US alone to date according to RIAA figures, outselling even the most established of singers such as Whitney Houston, who some may say was Mariah's biggest rival. She was already setting records for herself and in the eyes of Billboard. From the first album 'Vision Of Love', 'Love Takes Time', 'Someday' and 'I Don't Wanna Cry' all went to number one, making her the first artist to do so since the legendary Jackson Five, decades ago, and as awards time came around, this success was echoed by being nominated and winning numerous awards. The Grammys were presented in New York on February 20, 1990, and Mariah picked up Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal, Female. as well as being nominated for three others. Rolling Stone magazine then named her Best New Female Singer, and in March, she collected Best New R&B / Urban Contemporary Artist, Best R&B / Urban Contemporary Single and Best R&B / Urban Contemporary Album as well as receiving Song of the Year for her second single, at the BMI Annual Pop Awards along with Margulies. It went to show that Mariah had been accepted by the numerous sub-cultures within music. It was difficult to classify Mariah, it still is, although she claims she is an R&B singer ("I consider myself R&B. I feel very fortunate that I had this success in both pop and R&B") her albums and singles from day one have spanned the borders of contemporary music. Mariah Carey was number one in the pop, R&B and adult contemporary music charts, and tracks on the album can be classified from pop to rock, from R&B to even rap on track ten, Prisoner, where Mariah played her hand at the late eighties fad of rapping, yet still seamlessly mixing it with tight backing vocals and harmonies to create that distinct 'Mariah' sound.

But it wasn't all sweet smelling roses for Mariah. Success can be an ugly thing. So called 'friends' can turn nasty, only wanting to hold on to the 'famous' part of a person, and all too easily forgetting the person inside. Mariah had difficulty in holding onto a great deal of her friends. "Some turned out not to be real friends and I think its very difficult to like go to school with somebody, kind of grow up with somebody and then have this happen" she told Emma Cochrane of Smash Hits, and earlier confessed to Jamie Foster Brown in another interview "I was bringing this certain friend around with me and then I realised she was talking about me behind my back every step of the way. That was very hurtful and upsetting".

It wasn't just people around her who started to 'attack' her, but the media did a fair job also. Indeed after her generally supportive reviews in most of the music magazines at the time, and her success in the award ceremonies, it was understood that the public loved Mariah, but on the other hand, the press love to hate people, especially when they can pick away at some small detail and blow it into all manner of stories. One which had a great deal of impact of Mariah, was the race issue. Only a small number of years previous, Mariah saw had seen family torn apart by bigotry and racism, and now it came back to haunt her.

Peer and social pressure will quite often force a mixed race child to identify more with one parent or heritage than the other, something that Mariah never felt a need to do. The press was accusing Mariah of being just another white singer 'imitating' black singers and 'black music', but who said Mariah was white? Sure the colour of her skin is light and her hair is more European looking, but technically, she is Italian-Afro-American-Venzuelan in no particular order, a combination of many cultures and heritages. She isn't black either, as Mariah adamantly points out "I'm a multiracial person and perceive myself as such. I strive to be a positive example of the best of both world's sides." Interviews were set up with leading black magazines, and ever since, Mariah has become an idol for anyone who wishes to listen to her music, black, white or any race.

Yet another issue placed on young Mariah's shoulders, was the separation of Tommy Mottola and his first wife. Of course the industry commentators and press all instantly jumped to the conclusion that Mottola was involved with Mariah, which led to accusations that Mariah's success could be attributed to Tommy's power to pull strings in the industry. Called the 'Queen of Sony' by followers of the Bimbo theory, saying that Mariah is 'coddled by Mottola and his croonies' but as Mariah pointed out in a recent interview "No person has that much power" and in Vibe she explained "That person can't go into stores and make people buy [records]. Only the music can do that." It is a downside of fame, someone will always be out there to try and get at you, you just have to try your best to stop or ignore it.

Even before Mariah Carey had been released, Mariah and Ben were writing new songs in prediction of a second album. Indeed a song which they penned during the pressing of the first album, "Love Takes Time", was immediately predicted as a number one single by the label executives, and had to be put on the album. Pressing was stopped, and the song was added to album. The song became Mariah's second single and second number one. However, the main body of their writing was going towards the next album. Even though the label had dedicated a great deal of time to promotion and mini-tours for Mariah, she still returned, as soon as possible, to writing more material. This was what she really wanted to do, not all the marketing and promotion, although she accepted it was a necessary part of the process. Suddenly, as Columbia was getting excited about releasing another album, a creative spanner was thrown in the works. Margulies and Carey had broken up as a writing team. According to numerous reports and magazines, although no-one really knows, Margulies made Mariah sign something in the pre-CBS days, which gave him rights to financially more then he was entitled to. Both Carey and Margulies both struggled to maintain a working and professional relationship, if only for the music, but it wasn't to be, and the writing team that had penned a great deal of songs for the album, parted. Also, another source of anguish for Mariah began to appear at home with her family. In 1992, her mother, who had remarried in 1987, was going through divorce proceedings once again. The main grunt of the separation hit Mariah, when her ex-stepfather, Joseph Vian, started kicking up a fuss in court asking for a part in Mariah's fame and new found wealth. Claiming he had, amongst other charges "contributed to her support and to the development of her professional career, with the expectation of reward." The judge through it out of court, but it was the entire principle of the matter, and closeness of her mother that distressed Mariah.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Mariah wasn't interested in touring, a usual tactic after such a huge first album, nor did she want to wait a couple of years before another album, and Columbia mirrored her views, and so, the second album began developing, with a new team behind it. Margulies had moved off, and Walter Afanasieff became more prominent on the credits list. Afanasieff, who met Mariah whilst recording her first album, and worked on the final track, "Love Take Time" after it's hurried entry onto the playlist, David Cole and Robert Clivilles, whose own group C&C Music Factory were responsible for some chart topping dance music, brought the more up-tempo 'street' influence to the recording studio, and Carole King, a self-confessed idol of Mariah's, collaborated in the powerful song "If It's Over".

Afanasieff, who wasn't really established as a 'hit' songwriter, and Carey seemed to be an almost perfect creative team. The musical equivalent of sparks flew when the two sat down together and write. Walter was working at the same time on Michael Bolton's latest album, but whenever he had a chance, he would be with Carey penning another track for the album.

Cole and Clivilles brought their own style and work of working to the writing sessions, determined not to make use of Mariah's higher register, which had stirred so much discussion in the music press, as they didn't want to be seen using a 'gimmick'.

Carey herself came with ideas, and wanted to play a much larger hand in producing the album. She knew what she wanted, and Mottola was willing to give her some of that freedom. She was keen to let her influences take over more, letting in the sounds of her youth, her brother's and sister's Motown music, and her grandmother's gospel, yet still mixing the ballads and up-beat songs, which had proved to be so successful on the previous set.

The new album, "Emotions", was released, with the title track going straight to number one, making a string of five number ones in a row. Now Mariah Carey was rapidly growing as an international artist. Her fanbase in UK, Europe, Australia, and perhaps most notably, Japan was growing enormously. Following singles included "Can't Let Go" and "Make it Happen", the song which virtually describes Mariah's path to success. The hype that surrounded Mariah Carey was missing for Emotions, letting the album sell on Carey's popularity and talent alone, proving to some that Mariah was a singer with raw ability, not, as some had said in the earlier days, a product of good old American marketing.

The videos to the album found themselves being commercially available as an addition to the MTV Unplugged EP+3 video, a live virtually acoustic set for the popular MTV programme, which also generated a third album, a collection of songs from her first two albums, including a duet with Trey Lorenz, "I'll Be There", a cover of the Jackson 5 hit, which was released as Carey's eighth single, peaking at number one in the Billboard Hot 100. The MTV Unplugged session wasn't 'just another television appearance', but time to show how well Mariah could perform live. This was a chance for Mariah to shine in the areas that she loved, gospel and soul, instead of simply using acoustic instruments, the material that they chose to perform was rearranged and performed with a completely new style, something that very few people had heard from Mariah before, with Afanasieff and Cole taking their respective turns on songs, even dueting on "Make It Happen".

From there, Mariah continued to grow from strength to strength, her success was shining in it's consistency, and her three albums in the space of three years set a precedent of its own. Rumours of Mariah's 'black imitation' had died out, and problems with her ex-stepfather had come to conclusion. The only rumour that continued to linger in the air, were the stories regarding Mottola and Carey, and their possible romantic involvement.

On Saturday, June 5, 1993 at St. Thomas's Episcopal Church, New York, the rumours ended, as Mariah Carey and Tommy Mottola became man and wife. Not only was it a surprise to her friends and colleagues, but to Mariah as well. Did Mariah ever think she would be doing the big 'M' word? "I never thought I would, because my parents got divorced, and it gives you a different attitude about that sort of thing. It kind of hardens you; you know what I mean?" A great deal of the wedding was still under wraps though, even to the point where certain people were asked to sign contracts of silence before working on the wedding day. And it was worth it, Mariah had always idolised Princess Diana's wedding, something that had influence over the entire world in some direct or indirect way, and that was virtually what she was to get, a beautifully custom made dress, designed by Vera Wang, who was to design outfits for Mariah's later concert tours, a pair of pumps from Vanessa Noel, and a 1893 sixpence for good luck. Guests included names such as Barbra Streisand, Bruce Springsteen, Gloria Estefan, Billy Joel, Michael Bolton, Robert De Niro, William Baldwin, the list is endless. You would expect an affair like this to end in a romantic honeymoon for a number of weeks, but Mariah had to get back to work. Material was already being chosen for the next album, so after a brief vacation in Hawaii, the couple returned to the US to begin work in the studio once again.

Back at Columbia Records, Mariah's 'people' were worried. Mariah's last hit had been a cover version, and the two releases before that had not made it to number one. They were still hitting the top 5, a privileged position for any singer, but they hadn't been pulling the same kind of weight as her earlier singles. The public would be happy to hear anything new from Mariah, but would they make it a number one single? Music Box, the next release from Mariah would swiftly answer that question.

CHAPTER EIGHT

The first single to be released was a dance track, yet with fun lyric, and excellent video to run alongside it. On August 15, the single enters the Hot 100 at 13, ill-fated for some, yet not for Mariah, as after only 3 weeks, on September 4, "Dreamlover" hit number one, Mariah's seventh in under 4 years. This also become her longest running #1 so far with 8 consecutive weeks at the top. The song also holds a record for song most played in one single week on US radio. The next track, "Hero", firmly established itself as an anthem for inspiration and self-confidence. Reaching number one on the same day as it's parent album did, Hero became the Christmas Day hit. The next single was Mariah's second cover version, this time, a hit for Harry Nilsson in 1972. This is without any doubt Mariah's most successful single so far, ending up at the #1 position in many countries around the world including Australia, UK, Holland, Germany, Sweden. It also helped making Music Box an international smash hit with over 25 million copies sold to date. Ironically this song only reached #3 in her homecountry USA.
The final release from Music Box was to be "Anytime You Need A Friend", which only managed to reach number 12 in the US, her lowest charting single so far.

The public loved Music Box. It hadn't done as well as her debut in chart terms, but according to the sales, it was her biggest selling album to date, hanging high in the album charts until mid 1995. In the UK alone, Music Box has currently sold over 1.5 million copies after debuting at number one, a huge success.

However, it wasn't the accomplishment of the new album that got fans excited, but the prospect of a tour. It was before the album had been released, that Columbia and Carey had been organising a tour, to perform at five locations. Nothing huge, as Mariah has always worried about her voice, yet a concert nevertheless. Performing night after night can do terrible damage, and Carey was well aware of that. It would just be another MTV performance, live sets and performers in place of synths and computers, yet on a much more elaborate scale. Indeed, the scale was of such intensity, Columbia decided to make another full-length video for sale, and so Larry Jordan, who had worked on Someday and the MTV programme was called in to direct the video. In fact, the video was even chosen to be aired by NBC on Thanksgiving Day, a national US holiday, which would usually be reserved for family favourites, like a Disney film, or recent blockbusting movie, something that would appeal to no single particular target audience. It was a large bet that NBC was placing, but they obviously trusted Mariah to pull in the ratings. The short tour, starting off in Miami, Florida, and progressing to Madison Square Garden in New York, was a success when it came to the audience's reaction, but for the first show, the press were less than enthusiastic. Bad reviews made Mariah even more determined to put more anger and effort into the next concert, and the next show was excellent by all accounts. A mixed repertoire of songs, and positive comments from all reviewers made Mariah far more happier, although she wasn't really concerned with what they had to say. As long as she made the paying audience happy, and she did. She had captured the hearts and stereos of millions, she was queen of the CD, LP, cassette, proved herself on the concert tour, and performed live excellently. Pop wasn't a problem, dance wasn't an obstacle, R&B came naturally, Gospel and Soul is her hobby, is there anything left?

How about a holiday album? Merry Christmas was released in November 1994, and aimed at a mass market, not just the usual Mariah Carey buying fans. Only one single was released, "All I Want For Christmas Is You", but the album allowed Mariah's gospel influences to shine through in no uncertain terms. Overall, the album was just a great deal of fun, and became one of the biggest selling Christmas albums of all time, another addition to Carey's list of accreditations. Along with the leap from the usual 'pop' artist way of doing things, Carey released a supplement to the new album. A CD+ or CDExtra.

Conventional CDs only hold audio, or computer data, yet with the increasing amount of multimedia CD-ROMs on the market, Sony created the CD+ format. To anyone without a computer, the CD would play as usual, with the album in its entirety, but a bonus for the Mac and PC users came when they put the CD in their computer, as the CD also contains movie files (sections of her videos) interactive games, interviews with Mariah, in fact, an entire interface for fans with the hardware. Mariah was one of the first artists to release a CD+, only going to prove once again that Mariah didn't want to be popular in only one segment of the market. Her music catered for the pop and R&B market, the remixes from the up-tempo singles catered for the increasing dance and club scene, her slower ballads and cover versions allowed all age groups to be interested, and her almost 'teen' image pulled in the 12+ age groups. An all round performer. She has even wandered onto the Internet, a global communications network, once reserved for nerds and hackers, now a hangout for anyone who has a thirst for knowledge, or merely enjoys talking to people all around the globe. Currently, Mariah has two official presences on the World Wide Web, the multimedia face of the Internet, at http://www.sony.com, Sony Music's website, and her fan club's site at http://www.superstars.com. However, if you're experienced using the Internet you're probably aware that you'll certainly find the best and most updated information visiting one of her numerous fansites. There are numerous other resources on the Internet dedicated to Mariah which exist for the simple purpose of promoting and showcasing Mariah's work.

Mariah's experiences of the Internet have not been as good as they should have been though. In 1996, someone published a fake interview with Mariah on the Internet. The "Mariah" in the fake interview made comments about third-world poverty, which in turn was retold by several magazines, radio-, and TV stations all around the world, giving much greaf to Mariah. The comments were instantly disregarded after a public denial from Columbia, unfortunately the story proved to be very longlived ending up in papers even a year after the denials. Mariah had never made the interview, but it put a black cloud over Mariah's views on the Internet.

CHAPTER NINE

Mariah constantly proves to the public that she is not just another singer, and does her 'bit' whenever she can. She endeavours to meet her fans at concerts and performances, and by all accounts, she is a genuinely nice person. She always tries to help out charities in her own unique way. A percentage from the MTV Unplugged EP sales went to a group of New York based charities that meant a lot to Mariah, AmFAR (The American Foundation For AIDS Research), The United Negro College Fund, the Hale House Centre and the TJ Martell Foundation, but you'd only know it if you read the inlay from the album, it was all done with very little publicity.

Another opportunity Mariah took to help out a charity, yet this time with a great deal of publicity, was with the Fresh Air Fund. The Fresh Air Fund is an organisation that was set up to help inner city children, giving them advice about careers, crime, sex and drugs, but overall, teaching them how to have a good time, and meeting them up with other children of their age - giving them opportunities they wouldn't naturally have.

Mariah's involvement began a few years, helping out in smaller ways, such as singing at fund raising concerts, but as time progressed, Mariah got more an more involved with the Fund, and now, a reward from the FAF, has a camp named after her.

Camp Mariah is Fishkill, NY, was renamed after Carey began spending a great deal of her time with the kids from the camp. She also raised huge amounts of money by performing in As the end of 1996 drew closer, Mariah was finishing her sixth year at the top of the charts, but it had been a long time since a mainstream album - Music Box, and she needed something to shoot her back into the homes of millions.

That 'something' was her sixth album, and some say, her best yet. "Daydream" saw Mariah wading even deeper into the world of R&B and hiphop. Working with some of the same producers once again, but also employing the talents of more unlikely matches, Mariah's newest album smashed onto the music scene amongst mixed comments and reviews, but success nevertheless.

Mariah's image had been evolving from the first album, her tight curls getting looser and more wavy (even taking it to an extreme when Mariah straightened her hair for the Anytime You Need A Friend video), and her clothing style altering with the time. The photo shoots had become a list of designers, Gucci, D&G, Adidas, as opposed to the earlier days of a tracksuit and sneakers, and her music influences were evolving also. The latest album contained more of a heavy ballad or R&B slant for each track, but perhaps what made it appeal to such a wide audience to begin with, was the first single from the album.

"Fantasy" was an up-beat hiphop track, combining the talents of Carey, Dave 'Jam' Hall (Dreamlover's co-writer) and a plethora of other musicians and lyricists, but what set it apart from the rest was the remix. Ever since the days of of her first album, Mariah has always done remixes to the more upbeat singles, and they have become more frequent and of higher quality. Yet for "Fantasy", Mariah teamed up with Ol' Dirty Bastard of the Wu Tang Clan, and Sean "Puffy" Combs producing a number of the mixes, the single became as popular with the gangsta rap followers as with the more mainstream audiences. "Fantasy" reached a peak of number one once again, and sat there for eight weeks, the longest run in that year, establishing Mariah back into the position she had become accustomed to. The following single was another surprise for the listeners. A collaboration with fellow R&B giants, Boyz II Men, came in the form of "One Sweet Day", a track that allowed both parties to showcase their talents, yet with a sombre message behind it. Also reaching number one, this single had a little surprise up it's sleeve. "One Sweet Day", after peaking at number one, the song seemed to get stuck at the top position, letting nothing move it for a total of 16 weeks. This was a new US record that Mariah had set, the longest run at number one, something to be extremely proud of, setting Mariah alongside artists such as Elvis Presley and The Beatles, yet Mariah had other things to worry about. Once again, it was time to tour, but this time, internationally.

CHAPTER TEN

Mariah had always been popular in Japan, and it was time to return the favour, by performing concerts over there. The 'world tour' had begun. Still worried about over-working her voice, Mariah kept the number of venues to a minimum, a couple in Japan, and then to Europe. Germany, France, Holland and the UK were all to have the privilege of hosting a concert. The Daydream tour was away, and Mariah was off to meet her adoring fans.

It would be the first time she played in the UK, and what a concert it was to be. At one of the UK's premier venues, Wembley Arena, the box office sold over 8,000 tickets in the first day of sales. The British public all knew it may well be their only chance to see their idol in the flesh, and on the day, the arena was packed. A completely sold-out date, as with all the other venues, the venue was buzzing with anxiety from both Carey and her fans. But neither had any need to worry. After the support, The Tony Rich Project, who had also had a recent number one success in the US charts with "Nobody knows it but me", which also held in the UK top 40 for a long number of weeks, Mariah appeared on stage to the screams and cheers of 10,000 eager fans. In the grip of football fever with the current Euro '96 championships, the entire audience laughed as Mariah waved an 'England' scarf, and began telling the fans about how she drinks tea to help her voice, and how the smoky atmosphere in the auditorium wasn't good for her. She even introduced the band and singers to the audience. It seemed as if she knew every single person in the hall, and just talked to each individual person in such a familiar way. Her commanding presence on stage makes you realise that this is hers, the singing, the fans, the success and the highlights of her career. She had worked every inch to reach this point, and now, her fans had a chance to show their appreciation in person. However, whilst she was on tour, a number of things back home began happening.

Her latest single, a R&B track co-penned by Jermaine Dupri, "Always Be My Baby" was still enjoying huge success, with yet more collaboration on the remixes, David Morales and Satoshi Tomiie for the Def Mix tracks, Da Brat and Xscape for a R&B remix, David Hall once again for a bonus track "Slipping Away" which wasn't on the album, and even a Reggae mix with Lil' Viscous. However, on the negative side, legal battles had begun, with a claim that Mariah had stolen the lyrics to "Hero". It was pure fallacy, and proved otherwise by Mariah showing her notebooks with scribblings and writing all around the classic song, but it was degrading and not to mention annoying at such a crucial time.