Mariah Carey is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, music video director and actress. Her debut was in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola and became the first recording act to have its first five singles top the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Following her marriage to Mottola in 1993, a series of hit records established her position as Columbia's highest-selling act. According to Billboard magazine, she is the most successful artist of the 1990s in the United States.

Carey was born in Huntington, Long Island, New York. She is the third and youngest child of Patricia Hickey, a former opera singer and vocal coach of Irish American descent, and Alfred Roy Carey an aeronautical engineer of African American and Venezuelan descent. She grew up in a Roman Catholic family. As a multiethnic family, the Careys endured racial slurs, hostility, and sometimes violence, causing the family to frequently relocate throughout the New York area. The strain on the family led to the divorce of Carey's parents when she was three years old.

Carey and Tommy Mottola had become romantically involved during the making of her debut album, and in June 1993 they were married.

Carey took much more control over her image and music following her separation from Mottola in 1997, and she introduced elements of hip hop into her album material. Her popularity was in decline when she left Columbia in 2001, and she was dropped by Virgin Records the following year after a highly publicized physical and emotional breakdown, and the poor reception of Glitter; her film and soundtrack project. In 2002, Carey signed with Island Records, and after an unsuccessful period, she returned to the forefront of pop music in 2005.

Carey was named the best selling female pop artist of the millennium at the 2000 World Music Awards, and she has recorded the most U.S. number-one singles for a female solo artist (seventeen). In addition to her commercial accomplishments, she has earned five Grammy Awards, and is well-known for her vocal range, power, melismatic style, and extensive use of the whistle register. However, some critics have said Carey's efforts to showcase her vocal talents have been at the expense of communicating true emotion through song.

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