Happy Birthday to Long Island’s own Mariah Carey! Born March 27, 1969, the “Queen of Christmas” has reigned with her all time classic holiday song for almost 30 years. One of modern music’s most distinguished singer-songwriters, Mariah Carey has broken numerous records with the help of her five octave vocal range.
Although Carey has always had aspirations of being a singer, her childhood growing up in Long Island presented some challenges. Raised by an Irish-American mother and an Afro-Venezuelan father, Carey and her siblings faced a wall of discrimination and bullying during their childhood. She also had to deal with violence coming from within her own home. Despite these difficulties, she was able to gain support from her mother, who enrolled her in private singing lessons.
Carey worked tirelessly to create demos that would show off her vocal prowess and she finally struck gold after meeting then Sony Music exec Tony Mottola at an industry party. She was signed to Sony Music in 1988 and released chart topper after chart topper during her time there, including “Emotions,” “Daydream” and her biggest hit, “All I Want for Christmas is You.”
Following her departure from Sony Music and a tumultuous relationship with Mottola, Carey was able to spread her wings and fully develop her musical persona. The release of Butterfly helped her to transition from her more youthful pop to R&B and Hip Hop. The popular Rainbow followed in 1999.
After being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder in 2001 and having to deal with the failure of her movie “Glitter”, Carey made her triumphant return with The Emancipation of Mimi. Released in 2005, her 10th studio album proved that she wasn’t going anywhere. E=MC2 and Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel continued this trend, with chart topping singles and memorable music videos.
By 2011, Carey was married and had two kids, but this didn’t stop her from continuing her craft. She has continued to release music throughout the years, with her latest effort being a return to her holiday roots. In 2020, Carey worked with Apple TV to create her own holiday special, “Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special”.
She has also collaborated with some of today’s brightest stars, including Khalid, Miguel and YG. Fans can also look forward to Carey’s feature on Latto’s upcoming remix for ‘Big Energy’, out March 28th. Happy Birthday to Mariah Carey!
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