Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey was born on March 27, 1970, in Long Island, New York, to parents Patricia and Alfred. Unfortunately, her parents divorced when she was only three years old. As a result of her Irish/African-American/Venezuelan descent, Mariah encountered some racial discrimination while growing up. Carey was raised in a poverty-stricken home and her mother was forced to work multiple jobs in order to make ends meet. Conveniently enough, it was Mariah's mom who noticed her daughter's vocal talents. One day, when Patricia was rehearsing her role of Maddalena in Verdi's opera Rigoletto, she heard Mariah imitating her singing. Even though she was only 3 at the time, Mariah's mom began teaching her how to develop her vocal skills. In high school, Carey didn't concentrate much on her education and would frequently skip class; instead, she wrote songs and dreamt about becoming a famous singer. Before she got her big break, Mariah completed 500 hours of beauty school and even worked as a hair sweeper in a salon, as a waitress and as a coat check girl. After she graduated from high school in 1987, Carey moved to New York in order to pursue her dream of becoming a famous singer. She spent hours working in a studio writing her music and making demo tapes. In 1988, one of Mariah's friends, who played the drums for Brenda K. Starr, urged her to try out as a backup singer for Starr. Although Mariah was a little hesitant at first, she quickly realized that it was better than what she was doing at that time. One day, while Carey was singing for Starr, Sony record executive producer Tommy Mottola was given Carey's demo tape, and her wish of becoming a singer was soon realized. Mariah Carey's first self-titled album uncovered a high-octave voice that could break sound barriers, as well as record sales. Although people initially labeled her as a "white girl with a black girl's voice," Carey quickly squashed all the hearsay and set the record straight. Nevertheless, all the media hype ultimately contributed to her selling over six million albums. Following a well-received supporting role in the 2002 film WiseGirls, Carey released the album Charmbracelet, which she said marked "a new lease on life" for her. Carey's tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi (2005), contained contributions from producers such as The Neptunes, Kanye West and Carey's longtime collaborator, Jermaine Dupri. On April 30, 2008, Carey married actor Nick Cannon, at Carey's private estate on Windermere Island in the Bahamas.