Best-Selling female performer of the 1990s.

Mariah Carey was born in Long Island, New York on March 27, 1970 to Alfred Roy Carey, a Venezuelan aeronautical engineer; and Patricia Carey, a voice coach and opera singer. Carey is known as one of the top "pop divas" of the 1990s, selling more than eighty million albums worldwide. Carey moved to New York City at age 17 just one day after graduating high school to pursue a music career. She made her recording debut in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, and became the first recording artist to have her first five singles top the U.S Billboard Hot 100 chart. 
    In June of 1990, Mariah made her debut with "Mariah Carey" which entered at #73, but on August 4, 1990, it reached #1. The self entitled album went multi-platinum and spawned an extraordinary four consecutive #1 singles: "Vision Of Love," "Love Takes Time," "Someday" and "I Don't Wanna Cry. Her 1993 album titled Music Box went ten-times platinum. Following her marriage to Mottola in 1993, a series of hit records established her position as Columbia's highest-selling act. 
    On September 30, 1995, she made music history.  Her single "Fantasy" from her 1995 Daydream album debuted at #1 on the Billboard hot 100, making her the first female artist to accomplish a number 1 debut in the U.S. She is the only artist since The Beatles to have so many #1 singles and albums. Mariah's 1997 album, Butterfly has been certified quadruple platinum. Following her separation from Mottola in 1997, Carey introduced elements of hip hop into her work. In November 1998, Mariah released her #1's album, a collection of 13 of her top-chart mega-hits as well as four brand-new bonus recordings. 

    "Heartbreaker," the first single from her 1999 album Rainbow, she became the only artist to top the charts in each year of the 1990s. Her popularity was in decline when she left Columbia in 2001. She signed to Virgin Records but was dropped from the label and bought out of her contract the following year after a highly publicized physical and emotional breakdown, as well as the poor reception given to her film and soundtrack project, "Glitter." In 2002 Carey signed with Island Records and after a unsuccessful period, she returned to the top of pop music in 2005 with the critically acclaimed album, The Emancipation Of Mimi. In 2008, Carey passed Elvis Presley for the most number-one singles for a solo artist in the U.S. with 18. Carey released E=MC2 which included the #1 song "Touch My Body" in April 2008.
    Carey has sold more than 200 million albums, singles and videos worldwide. She was named the best-selling female pop artist of the millennium at the 200 World Music Awards. She married actor Nick Cannon in 2008 and as of 2011 she is due to have twins one boy and one girl due in late April to early May.