Mariah Carey is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Songbird Supreme" by Guinness World Records, she is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of music and is noted for her songwriting, five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whistle register. An influential figure in popular music, Carey is credited with influencing vocal styles, merging hip-hop with pop through her collaborations and popularizing remixes. She has also been dubbed the "Queen of Christmas" for the enduring popularity of her holiday music, particularly the 1994 song "All I Want for Christmas Is You", which is the best-selling holiday song by a female artist.
American singer Mariah Carey has released 88 official singles, 22 promotional singles, and has made 30 guest appearances. Her self-titled debut album in 1990 yielded four number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, the first being "Vision of Love", a song credited with revolutionizing the usage of distinguished vocal stylings, predominantly the practice of melisma, and effectively influencing virtually every female R&B performer since the 1990s. Subsequent singles "Emotions" (1991) and Carey's cover of the Jackson 5 track, "I'll Be There" (1992) continued the singer's streak of US number-one singles, with the latter becoming her fourth chart-topper in Canada and first in the Netherlands. With the release of Carey's third studio album, Music Box (1993), the singer's international popularity surged upon release of "Hero" and the album's third single, her cover of Harry Nilsson's "Without You", which became the singer's first number-one single in several countries across Europe.
"All I Want for Christmas Is You" is a song by American singer Mariah Carey from her fourth studio album and first holiday album, Merry Christmas (1994). Written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff, the song was released as the lead single from the album on October 29, 1994, by Columbia Records. The track is an uptempo love song that includes bell chimes, backing vocals, and synthesizers. It has received critical acclaim, with The New Yorker describing it as "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon". The song has become a Christmas standard, with a significant rise in popularity every December.
Merry Christmas is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, and her first Christmas album. Released by Columbia Records on October 28, 1994, at the peak of the initial stretch of Carey's career, between Music Box (1993) and Daydream (1995), the album features cover versions of popular Christmas songs in addition to original material. Carey worked with Walter Afanasieff, with whom she wrote all of the original tracks, as well as producing Carey's interpretations of the covered material. Three singles were released from the album, of which "All I Want for Christmas Is You" went on to become one of the best-selling singles of all time and the best-selling Christmas ringtone in the United States.
American singer Mariah Carey has released fifteen studio albums, two soundtrack albums, eight compilation albums, four extended plays, and one remix album. Carey is one of the best-selling music artists of all-time, having sold over 220 million records globally. She was presented with the Millennium Award at the 2000 World Music Awards for becoming the best-selling female artist of the millennium. According to the RIAA, she is the highest-certified female artist and tenth overall recording artist with shipments of 75 million albums in the US. She is also ranked as the best-selling female artist of the US Nielsen SoundScan era (1991–present) with album sales of 55.5 million.
"Angels Cry" is a song by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey from her twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009). It was written and produced by Carey, Tricky Stewart and James "Big Jim" Wright, with additional songwriting from Crystal Johnson. On the album's track listing, "Angels Cry" is preceded by a one-minute, four second prelude called "Angel ", which consists of Carey performing purely in her whistle register. The prelude then leads into "Angels Cry", a song about trying to fix a broken relationship because true love only happens once. Carey released "Angels Cry" as a remix single featuring Ne-Yo in January 2010 for a proposed Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel remix album called Angels Advocate, which was ultimately shelved.
Merry Christmas II You is the thirteenth studio album and second Christmas album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released by Island Records on November 2, 2010. Recording began in April 2010 and continued while Carey became pregnant. She was the executive producer of Merry Christmas II You and worked with various record producers, including Bryan-Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri, Randy Jackson, James Poyser, Marc Shaiman, James "Big Jim" Wright and Johnny "Sev" Severin of RedOne. The album features Carey's mother Patricia Carey as a guest vocalist on "O Come All Ye Faithful" / "Hallelujah Chorus". The album serves as a sequel to her fourth studio album Merry Christmas (1994). It is composed of original songs and covers, ballads and uptempo tracks, incorporating R&B, soul, and house music in its composition.
"Oh Santa!" is a song by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey from her second Christmas album and thirteenth studio album, Merry Christmas II You (2010). Carey wrote and produced the song in collaboration with Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox and Rapper Anduers It was released as the lead single from the album on October 1, 2010 by Island Def Jam Records. It is an up-tempo R&B song about Carey making a plea for Santa Claus to bring back her partner in time for the Christmas holidays. It received a positive response from music critics, with many praising its composition and style.
"Auld Lang Syne (The New Year's Anthem)" is a song by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey from her second Christmas album/thirteenth studio album, Merry Christmas II You (2010). The second single from the album, an extended play consisting of nine remixes was released by Island on December 14, 2010. Using the Robert Burns poem "Auld Lang Syne," Carey along with Randy Jackson and Johnny "Sev" Severin (of RedOne) composed a new arrangement, added lyrics and re-titled it. The track garnered a negative response from critics, all of whom disliked how Carey had changed the poem into a house song. An accompanying music video was released featuring a pregnant Carey singing in front of a background of exploding fireworks. "Auld Lang Syne (The New Year's Anthem)" charted on the lower regions of the South Korean international singles charts and at number nine on the US Holiday Digital Songs chart.
"When Christmas Comes" is a song by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey from her second Christmas album/thirteenth studio album, Merry Christmas II You (2010). Carey wrote and produced the song in collaboration with James Poyser. A soul song with influences of R&B, the lyrics are about giving the gift of love. In November 2011, Carey re-recorded the song as duet with John Legend, which was later released as a single. Both versions of the track were a hit in South Korea, with the duet debuting at number one with sales in excess of 80,000 copies. The song's accompanying music video features Carey and Legend hosting a Christmas house party. It has been performed by Carey at her ABC 2010 Christmas special and during her 2014 Beacon Theatre residency All I Want for Christmas Is You, A Night of Joy and Festivity in December 2014.
"Betcha Gon' Know (The Prologue)" is a song by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey, from her twelfth studio album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009). It was co-written and co-produced by Carey, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, James "Big Jim" Wright and The-Dream. The song was recorded at several recording locations, including The Boom Boom Room in Burbank, California, the Studio at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada and at Honeywest Studios in New York City. The lyrics revolve around the idea of outing a cheating boyfriend publicly on television, and Carey makes a reference to Oprah Winfrey and her chat show.
"My Only Wish" is a holiday song written by Jessica Simpson, Aaron Pearce, and Christopher Stewart, recorded by American singer-songwriter Jessica Simpson. It was released by Primary Wave Records on November 22, 2010 as the promotional single from her seventh studio album, Happy Christmas. The track received mixed reviews from music critics, with some commentators criticizing the song's close similarity to past hit "All I Want for Christmas is You". It premiered at On Air with Ryan Seacrest and the official Jessica Simpson website, jessicasimpson.com, on November 11, 2010. Simpson also notably allowed the song's free distribution on iTunes for several months.
"Christmas Time Is in the Air Again" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey from her second Christmas album and thirteenth studio album, Merry Christmas II You (2010). It was written and produced by Carey in collaboration with Broadway composer Marc Shaiman. Lyrically, it is about finding love during the Christmas season. The track garnered positive reviews from critics, with one describing it as an outstanding performance and the only song on the album that could compare to one of Carey's previous Christmas singles, "All I Want for Christmas Is You". It was released as a promotional single in December 2012. An accompanying lyric video was released, and Carey has performed "Christmas Time Is in the Air Again" live on NBC's Christmas in Rockefeller Centre event and during her December 2014 Beacon Theatre residency called All I Want For Christmas Is You, A Night of Joy & Festivity.
Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse is the fourteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released on May 23, 2014, on Def Jam Recordings. The record had been in development since 2011; during its production, Carey hired collaborator Randy Jackson to manage her career, before firing and replacing him with another frequent collaborator, Jermaine Dupri. The album consists of guest appearances from Nas, Miguel, Wale, and Fabolous, in addition to Carey's twins Moroccan and Monroe. On the deluxe edition of the album, R. Kelly and Mary J. Blige respectively make appearances on remixes of two songs, "Betcha Gon’ Know" and "It's a Wrap", taken from Carey's twelfth studio album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009). These remixes were originally intended to appear on Carey's cancelled remix album, Angel's Advocate (2010).
"You Don't Know What to Do" is a song by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey included on her fourteenth studio album, Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse (2014), and features rapper Wale. The track was released on June 30, 2014, as the third single from the album. It was written by Wale, Carey, Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox, with production helmed by the latter two. The song contains an interpolation of "I'm Caught Up in a One Night Affair" written by Patrick Adams and Terri Gonzalez, both of whom received songwriting credits as a result. The single's artwork caused controversy when the media criticised Carey for photoshopping and re-using images of herself. Carey herself later expressed her discontent on the matter, stating that she had no knowledge of the single's artwork until it was released.
"Meteorite" is a song by the American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey from her fourteenth studio album, Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse (2014). It was composed by Carey and Q-Tip. A disco track, it contains a sample of the recording "Goin' Up in Smoke" written by Allan Felder, Norman Harris, and Ron Tyson, all of whom received songwriting credits for "Meteorite" as a result. It also quotes an observation by Andy Warhol that everyone will achieve 15 minutes of fame. "Meteorite" garnered mostly positive reviews from music critics, many of whom praised the disco influence and highlighted it as one of the album's best tracks. The song peaked at number 70 on the international download chart in South Korea. Carey performed "Meteorite" at the 2014 World Music Awards, for which she was criticized for arriving over an hour late, and included it on the set list of her 2014 tour, The Elusive Chanteuse Show.
All I Want for Christmas Is You, a Night of Joy and Festivity was the second concert residency by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. Originally performed annually at the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan, New York, the residency began on December 15, 2014, and ended on December 15, 2019, after completing eight legs and fifty-six shows in various countries around the world. The main set list for the show encompassed songs from Merry Christmas and Merry Christmas II You, alongside additional non-holiday tracks from Carey's discography.
"Infinity" is a song by American singer-songwriter and record producer Mariah Carey from her sixth compilation album, #1 to Infinity (2015). It was released by Epic Records on April 27, 2015, as the only single from the album. Carey wrote the song in collaboration with Eric Hudson, Priscilla Renea, Taylor Parks and Ilsey Juber. Carey and Hudson also produced the track. It is an R&B song; the lyrics are about Carey putting herself first and emancipation. However, many critics likened the content to the singer's separation from her then-husband, entertainer Nick Cannon.
Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special is a Christmas special starring Mariah Carey that premiered on December 4, 2020, on Apple TV+. It was directed by Hamish Hamilton and Roman Coppola and executive-produced by Hamilton, Coppola, Carey, Ian Stewart, Raj Kapoor and Ashley Edens. The special centers around a holiday crisis in which the North Pole has to call Santa Claus's friend, Mariah Carey, to help.
