Line #57 Music/MariahCarey


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5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mariah2.png]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:The Songbird Supreme]]
7
8	->''"Mariah is the idol smasher who made singing both better and worse at the same time. She made it better, because Mariah is a master at [[MelismaticVocals melisma]]. She so popularized the art of singing several notes on one syllable that this has become a part of the pop-R&B singer arsenal, used by everyone from {{Music/Beyonce}} to Music/ChristinaAguilera. Yet she made it worse, because she inspired a generation of lesser, oversinging warblers."''
9	-->-- '''Danielle Belton''', ''[[https://www.theroot.com/happy-birthday-divas-1790859185 The Root]]''
10
11	[floatboxright:Influences:
12	+ Music/ArethaFranklin, Music/StevieWonder, Music/BillieHoliday, Music/PattiLaBelle, Music/GladysKnight, Music/SarahVaughan, Music/TheClarkSisters, Music/MinnieRiperton, Music/MichaelJackson, Music/JanetJackson, Music/WhitneyHouston, Music/EricBAndRakim, Music/TheNotoriousBIG, Music/MobbDeep]
13	[floatboxright:Influenced:
14	+ Music/{{Beyonce}}, Music/ChristinaAguilera, Music/BritneySpears, Music/{{Brandy}}, Music/ArianaGrande, Music/{{Adele}}, Music/UtadaHikaru, Music/{{Grimes}}, Music/KellyClarkson, Music/KatyPerry, Music/{{Rihanna}}, Music/{{Pink}}, Music/JessicaSimpson, Music/LadyGaga, Music/SelenaGomez, Music/LeonaLewis, Music/{{Ciara}}, Music/{{Ashanti}}, Music/AlessiaCara, Music/DemiLovato, Music/SamSmith, Music/MaryJBlige, Music/NellyFurtado among others]
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16	%%The birth certificate of her twins Monroe and Morrocan Carey that was previously linked before has been removed as it was publically leaked without either her or Nick Cannon's consent: https://web.archive.org/web/20110908223937/http://www.examiner.com/celebrity-parents-in-national/nick-cannon-vents-on-public-release-of-twins-birth-certificates
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18	Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1969)[[note]]While some news sources state that she was born in 1970, and Carey herself has used 1970 as her birth year on some legal documents, [[https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031119/1969-04-10/ed-1/seq-15/ an announcement of her birth appears in the newspaper]] of her native Long Island, New York, ''The Long-Islander'', in an issue dated April 10, 1969. 1969 is also used by other news sources, including the ''Los Angeles Times'' and ''People''. Website/{{Wikipedia}} goes by the 1969 year on their article on her (linked below).[[/note]] is an American singer/songwriter from Huntington, New York. She debuted in 1990 with her hit "Vision of Love". She is famous for her wide vocal range and for hitting almost inhumanly-high notes in her songs. Initially, she sang old-fashioned ballads and was a rival for Music/WhitneyHouston, but after divorcing Tommy Mottola, she began collaborating with rappers, evolving into a more contemporary R&B sound.
19
20	Carey has also been known for her five-octave vocal range,[[note]]Some claim seven, but if that were true, she'd either be able to sing like Music/BarryWhite or sing in a register only dogs could hear[[/note]] which she attributes to the nodules she's had on her vocal cords since childhood. With them, she is able to use the belting technique and the whistle register which have become signature characteristics in her songs.
21
22	In 2000, ''Billboard'' named her the best-selling solo artist of the 90's while the World Music Awards named her the best-selling female artist of the millennium.
23
24	In 2001, she suffered a CreatorBreakdown after the film ''Glitter'' and her album of the same name flopped, leading to a bizarre incident where she performed a semi-striptease on ''TRL''. She was hospitalized for exhaustion and many thought her career to be over, but in 2005 she blew away the charts with ''The Emancipation of Mimi'', and the world has never again questioned her relevance to pop culture.
25
26	Many publications proclaim her as the best selling female artist of all time, with worldwide record sales of over 230 million. She has the most ''Billboard'' Hot 100 #1 hits for a solo artist, with 19 under her belt.[[note]]The music group that has the most #1 hits is Music/TheBeatles with 20 of them.[[/note]] Some of those hits include classics such as "We Belong Together," "Vision of Love," "Hero," "Fantasy," "Always Be My Baby", and "All I Want for Christmas Is You".[[note]]That song took 25 years(!) to get to number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, although being a {{Christmas song\|s}} certainly helps.[[/note]]
27
28	After feuding with Music/{{Eminem}} over whether or not they were ever together, she settled down and got married to Creator/NickCannon in 2008, becoming a mother (of twins) in 2011. Unfortunately, the couple separated in 2014, and their divorce was finalized two years later. After seven years together, she broke up with backup dancer Bryan Tanaka.
29
30	She served as a judge on ''Series/AmericanIdol'' in its 2012 season while recording new music. She left ''Idol'' a year later to tour. In 2018, she revealed that she had been diagnosed with bipolar II disorder during her CreatorBreakdown in 2001.
31
32	See also JustForFun/QuantumMariahCareyProblem.
33
34	As usual, you can find the basics at [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariah_Carey The Other Wiki]].
35	----
36	!!Discography:
37	* 1990: ''[[SelfTitledAlbum Mariah Carey]]''
38	* 1991: ''Emotions''
39	* 1993: ''Music Box''
40	* 1994: ''[[ChristmasSongs Merry Christmas]]''
41	* 1995: ''{{Music/Daydream}}''
42	* 1997: ''{{Music/Butterfly}}''
43	* 1999: ''Rainbow''
44	* 2001: ''Glitter''
45	* 2002: ''Charmbracelet''
46	* 2005: ''Music/TheEmancipationOfMimi''
47	* 2008: ''E=MC[[superscript:2]]''
48	* 2009: ''Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel''
49	* 2010: ''[[ChristmasSongs Merry Christmas II You]]''
50	* 2014: ''Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse''
51	* 2018: ''Caution''
52	----
53	!!Selected Filmography:
54	* 2001: ''Film/{{Glitter}}'' -- Billie Frank
55	* 2008: ''Film/{{Tennessee}}'' -- Krystal Evans
56	* 2008: ''Film/YouDontMessWithTheZohan'' -- Herself
57	* 2009: ''Film/{{Precious}}'' -- Mrs. Weiss
58	* 2013: "The Butler" -- Hattie Pearl
59	* 2015: ''A Christmas Melody'' -- Melissa [=McKean=]-Atkinson ([[DirectedByCastMember Mariah also directed this TV movie]])
60	* 2017: ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOBatmanMovie'' -- Mayor [=McCaskill=]
61	* 2017: ''WesternAnimation/AllIWantForChristmasIsYou'' -- Narrator
62
63	----
64	!! "I had a vision of tropes, and it's all that you've given to me":
65
66	* AffairHair: Jay-Z raps about this in "Heartbreaker."
67	* AlterEgoActing: Bianca in the "Heartbreaker" video.
68	* AnimalMotifs: Butterflies have been a large part of her personal brand since the 1997 album named after them, as well as the song of the same name. The album was intended to reflect her metamorphosis after escaping the "cocoon" of her first marriage, and the theme has stuck since, with butterflies often appearing in her jewelry, accessories and photoshoots.
69	* AscendedMeme: The internet joking about Carey's defrosting after Halloween ends was canonized through [[https://youtu.be/1giQVuoTAFM?si=7mk-SvdhwAtzRiOk a video released on her YouTube channel]] on November 1, 2023.
70	* BathtubScene: In the video for "Shake It Off."
71	* BeautyInversion: She does this as part of her role as Mrs. Weiss in ''Film/{{Precious}}''. She's...virtually unrecognizable to say the least. Just click on this trope to see what we mean.
72	* BreakupSong: Quite a few, actually. Many (like "Love Takes Time") have a regretful tone, but "Someday" is an example of the don't-want-you-back type.
73	* CoverVersion: Mariah has had success with quite a few, beginning with her chart-topping 1992 version of The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There." Most of her albums since 1993's ''Music Box'' have included at least one cover, including her hit versions of "Without You" (originally by Badfinger, later a No. 1 hit for Music/HarryNilsson) and "I Still Believe" (originally by Mariah's former employer, Brenda K. Starr).
74	* DeathSong: "One Sweet Day," "The Wind," "Bye Bye," and "The Wind."
75	* DocuSoap: ''Mariah's World'', on the E! network, documents her ''Sweet Sweet Fantasy'' world tour and the various mishaps that happen when planning and carrying out such a tour.
76	* DownerEnding: Mariah even said that ''Rainbow'' was her first album with a happy ending.
77	** ''Mariah Carey'' ends with "Love Takes Time," a song about the loss of a lover and how love takes time to heal.
78	** ''Emotions'' ends with "The Wind," a song about a friend who died in a drunk-driving accident.
79	** ''Music Box'' ends with "All I've Ever Wanted," a song about a person longing for someone they can't have.
80	** ''Daydream'' ends with "Looking In," a song about how Mariah has to hide her real self from the world and how she's actually insecure and fearful on the inside.
81	** ''Butterfly'' ends with "Outside," a song about how Mariah feels ostracized for being biracial.
82	* EEqualsMCHammer: One of her albums was titled ''E=MC[[superscript:2]]''.
83	* GlurgeAddict: Listen to her album names: ''Charmbracelet'', ''Glitter'', ''Butterfly'', ''Rainbow''...
84	* GodIsLoveSongs: Quite a few, with "Fly Like A Bird" being a particularly strong example.
85	* GodivaHair: On the cover of the special Fall 2017 Las Vegas issue of ''Paper Magazine''.
86	* GriefSong: "Never Forget You" from ''Music Box.''
87	* HandOrObjectUnderwear: In the video for "You're Mine (Eternal)", her article in the November 2003 issue of ''Maxim Magazine UK'' and {{Paparazzi}} photos of her on a beach in the Caribbean in January 2008.
88	* IncrediblyLongNote: All the time.
89	** Taken to the extreme in her match with Creator/JimCarrey on ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch.''[[note]]The storyline was that they were arguing over parking spaces due to their [[OneSteveLimit similar last names]].[[/note]] Jim almost got her with a sleeper hold, but Mariah got up, walked to the center of the ring, and just proceeded to sing the highest, longest note she could, cracking the {{In Universe Camera}}s and causing Jim's [[YourHeadAsplode head to swell up and explode]], giving her the win.
90	* IntercourseWithYou: "Touch My Body."
91	* LaughOfLove: In the Mariah Carey and Miguel duet "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe1wtkkt9-E #Beautiful]]", the chorus is peppered with the occasional lovestruck giggle from Mariah.
92	* LyricalColdOpen: Her cover of Music/{{Journey\|Band}}'s "Open Arms".
93	* MelismaticVocals: Quite possibly the TropeCodifier in popular music alongside Music/WhitneyHouston. Her singing style spawned [[FollowTheLeader countless imitators]]... most of them a lot less skilled. Music/PaulaAbdul even said that a surefire way of getting kicked off ''Series/AmericanIdol'' is to do a Mariah Carey song, since it always involves HopelessAuditionees screeching their lungs out thinking it'll impress the judges.
94	* MockingMusic: "We Belong Together" tells the story of a heartbroken character who listens to the radio playing songs with lyrics like "If you think you're lonely now" and "I only think of you" which only deepens their pain.
95	* ModestyBedsheet: Clutches a sheet to her chest in the video for "My All".
96	* MsFanservice: Interestingly, Carey didn't really run with this until ''after'' she divorced Tommy Mottola.
97	* NewSoundAlbum: ''Butterfly''.
98	** Actually, all, if not most of her albums, count as this. Sometimes they go back to the previous genre she's already covered, but, surprisingly, she has fresh(ish) material/overall genres with each album release.
99	* NippleAndDimed: She went nude on the cover of the September 2007 issue of ''Interview Magazine'', though holding something to keep her front sufficiently covered.
100	* OddFriendship: You wouldn't expect a pop princess like Mariah to be friends with a gritty, {{Cloudcuckoolander}} rapper like [[Music/WuTangClan Ol' Dirty Bastard]], but they apparently became close after collaborating on the remix of her song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tCTm5M3Cp8 "Fantasy."]] Mariah attended ODB's [[TearJerker funeral]], and included him in a montage of her deceased loved ones in her video for "Bye Bye", and even mentions him in "Candy Bling".
101	-->'''Mariah Carey''': 🎶Wish I could bring you back like the O.D.B.🎶
102	* OutOfGenreExperience: In 1995, Carey and her friend Clarissa Dane recorded an album of AlternativeRock songs using the band name Chick, that were inspired by female-fronted bands like Music/{{Hole}} and Music/SleaterKinney. Dane was the band's lead vocalist and appeared in their two music videos, while Carey was credited under a pseudonym. The ''Someone's Ugly Daughter'' album was a flop that was underpromoted by the label, and Carey did not reveal her involvement until she wrote about the Chick album in her 2020 memoir ''The Meaning of Mariah Carey''. After the reveal, the obscure album became a sought-after collectors item. Carey later mentioned that she was thinking about putting out an unreleased version of the album with her own lead vocals.
103	* ProductPlacement: In a very dated example, "Shake It Off" mentions "the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgon [=Calgon=]]] commercial."
104	** Parodied on a TV sketch comedy show, where Mariah's unique form of soulful groaning was matched to the ideal commercial product - an emetic syrup used to relieve stubborn painful constipation.
105	* ThePrimaDonna: Leans HEAVILY into this trope, to the point where her fans see it as an inextricable part of her larger-than-life personality.
106	* ProtestSong: "There's Got To Be a Way."
107	* PowerBallad: So many. “Hero”, “My All”, “Without You”, “Vanishing”, “Through the Rain”, “We Belong Together”, “I Want to Know What Love Is”...
108	* {{Pun}}: [[https://www.instagram.com/p/ByGWm1MAUxQ/ This picture]] from her Instagram is of her dressed as a {{Beauty Contest}}ant with a sash reading "Miss Understood."
109	* RemixAlbum: ''The Remixes'', a DistinctDoubleAlbum with club mixes on disc 1 and hip hop mixes on disc 2.
110	* TheRival:
111	** Subverted. Her most famous "rivalry" was with Music/WhitneyHouston, but this was created entirely by media hype, due to Mariah being seen by some as an imitator. However, the two ladies got along just fine in real life, and performed a duet together in the song "When You Believe" on the ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'' soundtrack. At ''The 1998 Creator/{{MTV}} Video Music Awards'', they walked out to present the Best Male Video Award wearing identical dresses. They got into a comical {{Catfight}}, before removing the dresses to reveal that they had completely different ones underneath and then hugged.
112	** It's played straight with Music/{{Madonna}}, however. They've had bad blood for over twenty years.
113	** Her rivalry with Music/JenniferLopez stems from an alleged stealing of a sample that Carey was going to use but that Lopez had used for her song, "I'm Real". [[ThisMeansWar And so it began.]]
114	--->'''[[http://dlisted.com/2015/05/18/jlo-was-really-into-mimis-performance-last-night/#more-178363 Michael K.]]''': After she took everyone to Costco by screaming out a high-note that sounded like a forklift, her longtime nemesis [=JLo=] [[SarcasticClapping clapped politely]] and made a face that said, ''“'''[[http://dlisted.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/jlomimibillboard1.gif My hex is working.]]'''”''
115	*** Carey also said that it was part of her ex-husband Tommy Mottola's doing, since he was the head of Lopez's record label at the time.
116	** Carey had a brief spat with Music/ChristinaAguilera back in the early to mid '00s due to a misunderstanding. It led to a back and forth trade of jabs through the press before both settled the dust and made peace.
117	** Her feud with rap diva Music/NickiMinaj. The two did collab together back in late 2009 for a track on Mariah's then album ''Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel'' called "Up Out My Face". However, the friendship was over a few years later when it was announced that Minaj would be joining Carey on the judging panel of ''Series/AmericanIdol'', much to the dismay of Carey. Reports were released right away of tension on the set of "Idol" between Carey and Minaj and the two feuding. Then came an infamous video from TMZ.com that recorded the two lashing out at each other on the set. The two decided to stay neutral while shooting the show, for the most part - ultimately, both left the show after one season.
118	* SexySurfacingShot: In the music video for her song "Honey", she jumps into a pool and emerges from it wearing a revealing swimsuit. At the time, it was considered a WhamEpisode of sorts for Carey because this marked the first real time that she moved away from her then well-established conservative image.
119	* ShesBack: After her post-''Glitter'' breakdown.
120	* ShowerOfLove: With ToplessnessFromTheBack in the video for "My All."
121	* SillyLoveSongs: Take your pick. A great majority of her work falls somewhere in this category. Prior to 1997 when her music became more hip-hop-oriented, she rivaled Music/CelineDion and Music/WhitneyHouston for supremacy in the Adult Contemporary radio format, which specializes in love songs. Her appeal to that audience has been more spotty since but she's still managed to land the occasional lite-FM radio hit, such as "I Still Believe" or "We Belong Together."
122	* SingingVoiceDissonance: Her low, husky speaking voice does nothing to indicate that she is capable of hitting incredibly high notes when she sings.
123	* SkinnyDipping: In the video to "Don't Forget About Us," in an {{Homage}} to Creator/MarilynMonroe's famous scene intended for the unfinished ''Something's Got To Give''.
124	* StatuesqueStunner: Stands at 5'9" tall and very pretty.
125	* StepfordSmiler: The male subject in ''Without You''.
126	---> ''You always smile, but in your eyes your sorrow shows...''
127	* TakeThat:
128	** "Clown" off the ''Charmbracelet'' album and "Obsessed" off ''Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel'' album are both targeted at Eminem, who previously had TakeThat songs about her.
129	** Some call her the "Queen of Shade" because [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwZtZUuOpoc she subtly dissed other people.]]
130	* ThreeMinutesOfWrithing: Most of her post-''Daydream'' videos.
131	* TruckDriversGearChange: Not to the extent of R&B singers like Anita Baker, but she does use this cliche in quite a few of her songs. Oddly enough, she did them pretty often (with layered belts to disguise this) in her early career, before she moved onto more contemporary r&b, where now she just layers belts over the chorus. For a prime example of her doing this today, there's "I Wanna Know What Love Is" (notable because it changes ''down'' half an octave), but back then, the song "Whenever You Call" uses this trope ''three times''. "We Belong Together" also counts as an example but it's [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools pulled off rather well]].
132	* WalkingSwimsuitScene: The video for "Honey", and many {{Paparazzi}} pictures. The cover of the November 2003 issue of ''Maxim Magazine UK'' qualifies as well.
133	* WardrobeMalfunction: She's had her share of nipple slips, upskirts and [[VaporWear see-through clothes]].
134	* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: "Hero," of course.

Context Music / MariahCarey