Mariah Carey: Her Life, Net Worth, Career In The 90s and Now
Popularly called “Songbird Supreme”, Mariah Carey is no stranger to American entertainment or worldwide music.
As one of the best-selling singers in the world, she has a successful and lucrative music career that is one for the books. She is popular for her 5-octave vocal range and her melismatic singing style. Mariah is also a songwriter, record producer, and actor.
In this article, we will be sharing all we know about Mariah Carey’s life, net worth, her career in the 90s, and her career now.
Mariah Carey’s Background
Carey was born to Alfred Roy, a Venezuelan aeronautic engineer, and Patricia Carey, a voice coach, and opera singer, on March 27, 1970. She is the youngest child of three and she has both an older brother and an older sister. At age 3, her parents divorced.
As early as age two, she stunned her mother by imitating her opera singing. Therefore, it wasn’t surprising that she started singing lessons at age four. Her early start is perhaps why her voice developed to spanning 5 octaves.
She went to High school at Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York, and moved to Manhattan after graduation. There, she worked as a waitress and a coat check girl while studying cosmetology. All the while, she was actively writing songs and pursuing a music career by night.
Mariah Carey’s Personal Life
Of course, Mariah’s personal life is as exciting as her career!
In a spectacular ceremony, she married Mottola in 1993 at Manhattan’s St. Thomas Episcopal Church. After their divorce in 1998, she dated Latin Singer, Luis Miguel for three years. Their relationship ended in the summer of 2001.
In 2008, she started dating rapper/actor Nick Cannon after he made an appearance in her music video “Bye Bye”. In a secret ceremony in the Bahamas, the couple tied the knot on April 30, 2008; less than two months after dating. In 2011, they welcomes twins Moroccan and Monroe.
Mariah and Nick announced their separation in August 2014 after being married for 6 years and their divorce was finalized in 2016. In January 2016, Mariah got engaged to Australian businessman, James Parker, but announced their split in October that year.
After this engagement, she dated backup dancer, Bryan Tanaka, who featured in her televised reality show “Mariah’s World.”
Outside the dating scene, Carey is actively involved in fundraising for The Fresh Air Fund, a non-profit agency that provides free summer vacations to disadvantaged children in New York City. She is the co-founder of Camp Mariah, one of the organization’s initiatives.
Mariah Carey’s Career In The 90s
Carey’s career began in 1988 after attending a party at Columbia Records. After the party, she gave Tommy Mottola a demo tape. After a 2 weeks search, Mottola signed her to Columbia Records and her career took off from there.
In 1991, she released her self-titled album. While it wasn’t an instant success, it went on to the top charts and made Carey win a Grammy award for the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Newcomer. In the United States, her album sales peaked at 15 million copies, making it the best-selling album of 1991. One of the songs off the album is titled “Emotions”
In the same year, she released “Emotions”, her second studio album. In 1993, she released her third studio album titled “Music Box” and it debuted at No 1 on the Billboard Hot 200. Some singles from the album were a huge success internationally.
In 1994, she released “Merry Christmas”. A combination of traditional Christian hymns with new songs. Her fourth album titled ‘Daydream’ was released in 1995 and bagged Mariah Carey’s position as the most successful female artist in the music industry during the 1990s.
“Butterfly”, her 1997 album, had 11 compositions written by Carey, and demonstrated her continued interest in hip-hop and R&B. These include the Sean “Puffy” Combs-produced “Honey,” which was her 12th No. 1 hit.
Carey’s 1998 album, #1’s, contained her 13 previous chart-topping singles and the Academy Award-nominated “The Prince of Egypt (When You Believe)” a duet with fellow pop diva Whitney Houston.
Mariah Carey’s Career Now
December 2002 saw the release of Mariah’s 8th album titled “Charmbracelet”. The album debuted at No3 on charts and its accompanying tour launched in June 2003. The tour was her first in over 3 years.
Her follow-up album, “The Emancipation of Mimi”, became the best-selling album in the US in 2005. In 2008, Carey’s her single titled “Touch My Body” from her 11th studio album, E=MC², became the most No.1 hit singles in the United State. With this achievement, she surpassed Elvis Presley and became the second only to the Beatles with that record.
With the release of her 15th studio album, Caution (2018), the singer proved that she remains one of the top acts in the business. The album debuted at No. 5 in the U.S. and earned mention on numerous “albums of the year” lists.
In December 2019, Carey reached another milestone when her holiday song, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 25 years after its release. This set a new record for longevity.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Carey is the third best-selling female artist of all time as she has sold over 200 million albums worldwide.
Mariah Carey’s Networth
As of 2021, Mariah Carey’s net worth was $320 million according to Wealth Gorilla.
Much of her wealth was from the sales of albums and successful tours. Since she doubles as her writer and producer, her earning power further increases.
To date, her most commercially successful song, All I Want For Christmas Is You, earns millions in downloads sales each year at Christmas. Reports say that the song brings in at least $500,000 annually from UK royalties and licensing alone. Since its release, the song has sold over 100 million copies and earned $60 million in royalties.
Throughout her 3 decade career, Carie has sold over 200 million records and made more than 55 million albums. She has also performed well in tours with the most commercially successful tours being the recent ones.
One of such tours is her 2016 tour titled “Sweet Sweet Fantasy” which grossed over $30.3 Million.
