CURIOSITIES

Mariah Carey turns 54 today: some interesting facts about the queen of R&B

Mariah Carey was born on 27 March 1969 in Huntington, New York.

The daughter of an opera singer of Irish descent and an aerospace engineer of Venezuelan and African-American descent, Mariah became hooked on music at a very young age, when she was just three years old, later becoming Brenda Starr's backup singer as a teenager. 

We all know Mariah for the immense success of 'All I Want for Christmas Is You', but the singer has released many successful songs: here are five interesting facts you might not have known about Mariah Carey!

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Mariah Carey turns 54 years old today
Mariah Carey was born on 27 March 1969 in Huntington, New York. The daughter of an opera singer of Irish descent and an aerospace engineer of Venezuelan and African-American descent, Mariah became passionate about music at a very young age, later becoming Brenda Starr's backup singer as a teenager. We all know Mariah for the immense success of 'All I Want for Christmas Is You', but the singer has produced many other hits: here are five interesting facts you might not have known about Mariah Carey!
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Mariah Carey got into music because of her mom
After her parents' divorce, little Mariah lived with her mother. At the age of three, the future singer heard her mother sing 'Rigoletto', a famous opera by Giuseppe Verdi, in Italian. From that moment on, Mariah fell in love with music and began taking singing lessons at the age of four, writing her first song, 'Away in a Manger,' at the age of six. Mariah has stated that the artists who have influenced her the most are Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston.
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Mariah Carey has achieved so many records and awards
In 1999, Mariah received the 'Artist of the Decade' award at the Billboard Music Awards, an accolade that crowned her as the most successful artist of the 1990s: in fact, the singer is the best-selling artist of that decade, remaining on the Billboard 100 for 467 weeks. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Mariah is also the solo artist with the most number one singles on the Billboard chart, with a total of 19 tracks.
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The success of "All I Want for Christmas Is You"
"All I Want for Christmas is You" was released in 1994 and has been one of the most listened Christmas songs ever since. The song has generated over 50 million royalties and is the best-selling Christmas hit in the digital age. Despite this, 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' only reached number one on the Billboard charts in 2019, 25 years after its release.
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Maria Carey and acting career
Mariah's talent as a singer is undisputed, but as an actress she has not been particularly successful. Mariah started taking theatre lessons in 1997 and already by the following year she had auditions for various film roles. Her film debut was 'The Bachelor' in 1999, starring Chris O'Donnell and Renée Zellweger. Her first leading role was in 'Glitter': the film was such a box-office failure that Carey 'won' a Razzie Award for Worst Actress in a Leading Role.
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The controversy with Eminem
In 2009, Mariah released the song 'Obsessed', dedicated to a mystery man who, according to some rumours, was Eminem. Carey's husband later claimed that the song was not aimed at the rapper. However, Eminem released a response song entitled 'The Warning' (which became popular on the web as 'Mariah Carey Diss'). The song contains parts of Carey's vocals that appear to have been recorded when the two were dating.
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