Mariah Carey's Childhood and youth

Mariah Carey was born in Huntington, Long Island, New York. She is the third and youngest child of Patricia Hickey, a former opera singer and vocal coach of Irish descent, and Alfred Roy Mariah Carey, an aeronautical engineer of African American and Venezuelan descent. As a multiethnic family, the Mariah Careys endured racial slurs, hostility, and sometimes violence, causing the family to relocate frequently throughout the New York area. Mariah Carey's parents divorced when she was three years old.

Mariah Carey had little contact with her father, and her mother worked several jobs to support the family. Spending much of her time at home alone, Mariah Carey turned to music as an outlet. She began singing at around the age of three, and her mother began teaching her after Mariah Carey imitated her practicing Verdi's opera Rigoletto in Italian. Mariah Carey performed for the first time in public during elementary school and was writing her own songs by junior high. She graduated from Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York, although she was frequently absent because of her popularity as a demo singer for local recording studios; her classmates consequently gave her the nickname "Mirage". Her renown in the Long Island music scene gave her opportunities to work with musicians such as Gavin Christopher and Ben Margulies, with whom she co-wrote material for her demo tape. After moving to New York City, Mariah Carey worked part-time jobs to pay the rent and completed five hundred hours of beauty school. Eventually, she became a backup singer for Puerto Rican freestyle singer Brenda K. Starr.

In 1988, Mariah Carey met Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola at a party, where Starr gave him Mariah Carey's demo tape. Mottola played the tape when leaving the party and was very impressed with what he heard. He returned to find Mariah Carey, but she had left. Nevertheless, Mottola tracked her down and signed her to a recording contract. This Cinderella-like story became part of the standard publicity surrounding Mariah Carey's entrance into the industry.

Mariah Carey and Tommy Mottola had become involved romantically during the making of her debut album, and in June 1993, they were married. Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds consulted on the album Music Box, which was released later that year and became Carey's most successful worldwide. It yielded her first UK Singles Chart number-one, a cover of Badfinger's "Without You", and the U.S. number-ones "Dreamlover" and "Hero". Billboard magazine proclaimed it "heart-piercing ... easily the most elemental of Mariah Carey's releases, her vocal eurythmics in natural sync with the songs",but TIME magazine lamented Mariah Carey's attempt at a mellower work: "[Music Box] seems perfunctory and almost passionless ... Mariah Carey could be a pop-soul great; instead she has once again settled for Salieri-like mediocrity".[18] In response to such comments, Carey said, "As soon as you have a big success, a lot of people don't like that. There's nothing I can do about it. All I can do is make music I believe in." Most critics slighted the opening of her subsequent U.S. Music Box Tour.

Mariah Carey and Mottola separated in 1996. Although the public image of the marriage was a happy one, she said that in reality Mariah Carey had felt trapped by her relationship with Mottola, whom Mariah Carey often described as controlling. They officially announced their separation in 1997, and their divorce became final the following year. Soon after the separation, Mariah Carey hired an independent publicist and a new attorney and manager. Mariah Carey became a major songwriter and producer for other artists during this period, contributing to the debut albums of Allure and 7 Mile through her short-lived imprint Crave Records.



	Mariah Carey's Childhood and youth Mariah Carey was born in Huntington, Long Island, New York. She is the third and youngest child of Patricia Hickey, a former opera singer and vocal coach of Irish descent, and Alfred Roy Mariah Carey, an aeronautical engineer of African American and Venezuelan descent. As a multiethnic family, the Mariah Careys endured racial slurs, hostility, and sometimes violence, causing the family to relocate frequently throughout the New York area. Mariah Carey's parents divorced when she was three years old. Mariah Carey had little contact with her father, and her mother worked several jobs to support the family. Spending much of her time at home alone, Mariah Carey turned to music as an outlet. She began singing at around the age of three, and her mother began teaching her after Mariah Carey imitated her practicing Verdi's opera Rigoletto in Italian. Mariah Carey performed for the first time in public during elementary school and was writing her own songs by junior high. She graduated from Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York, although she was frequently absent because of her popularity as a demo singer for local recording studios; her classmates consequently gave her the nickname "Mirage". Her renown in the Long Island music scene gave her opportunities to work with musicians such as Gavin Christopher and Ben Margulies, with whom she co-wrote material for her demo tape. After moving to New York City, Mariah Carey worked part-time jobs to pay the rent and completed five hundred hours of beauty school. Eventually, she became a backup singer for Puerto Rican freestyle singer Brenda K. Starr. In 1988, Mariah Carey met Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola at a party, where Starr gave him Mariah Carey's demo tape. Mottola played the tape when leaving the party and was very impressed with what he heard. He returned to find Mariah Carey, but she had left. Nevertheless, Mottola tracked her down and signed her to a recording contract. This Cinderella-like story became part of the standard publicity surrounding Mariah Carey's entrance into the industry. Mariah Carey and Tommy Mottola had become involved romantically during the making of her debut album, and in June 1993, they were married. Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds consulted on the album Music Box, which was released later that year and became Carey's most successful worldwide. It yielded her first UK Singles Chart number-one, a cover of Badfinger's "Without You", and the U.S. number-ones "Dreamlover" and "Hero". Billboard magazine proclaimed it "heart-piercing ... easily the most elemental of Mariah Carey's releases, her vocal eurythmics in natural sync with the songs",but TIME magazine lamented Mariah Carey's attempt at a mellower work: "[Music Box] seems perfunctory and almost passionless ... Mariah Carey could be a pop-soul great; instead she has once again settled for Salieri-like mediocrity".[18] In response to such comments, Carey said, "As soon as you have a big success, a lot of people don't like that. There's nothing I can do about it. All I can do is make music I believe in." Most critics slighted the opening of her subsequent U.S. Music Box Tour. Mariah Carey and Mottola separated in 1996. Although the public image of the marriage was a happy one, she said that in reality Mariah Carey had felt trapped by her relationship with Mottola, whom Mariah Carey often described as controlling. They officially announced their separation in 1997, and their divorce became final the following year. Soon after the separation, Mariah Carey hired an independent publicist and a new attorney and manager. Mariah Carey became a major songwriter and producer for other artists during this period, contributing to the debut albums of Allure and 7 Mile through her short-lived imprint Crave Records.