Mariah Carey

Early commercial success, 1990–1992

Carey's career began with the release of her eponymous debut album Mariah Carey in 1990, when she was twenty years old. The album spent eleven weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 chart, and produced four number-one singles that made her a superstar in the U.S.; the album failed to bring her to immense international prominence, though. Ashley S. Battel called Mariah Carey "extremely impressive", "smooth-sounding" and "uplifting"{{ref|BattelMariahCarey}}, and Carey took home Grammy Awards in 1991 for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for lead single "Vision of Love" (which Bill Lamb called "one of the best songs of Mariah's recording career"{{ref|LambVisionOfLove}}), proving that her success was not limited to the charts. Beginning with her first album, Carey has been a co-writer on every song she has recorded (except covers and two special soundtrack projects) throughout her career, working with songwriting partners such as Walter Afanasieff, Jermaine Dupri, and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis among many others.

Related Topics:
Eponym - Debut album - Mariah Carey - 1990 - Billboard 200 - Grammy Award - 1991 - Best New Artist - Best Female Pop Vocal Performance - Vision of Love - Walter Afanasieff - Jermaine Dupri - Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Carey's second album, Emotions, was released in the fall of 1991, and its first single, the title track "Emotions", was another U.S. number-one success, giving Carey the distinction of being the only act ever to have had their first five singles go to number-one on the Hot 100 chart, before the string was broken. The album did not match the sales and chart performance of her debut, but it was released to an equally strong critical reception; Dan Leroy, who had criticised Mariah Carey for being too similar to Whitney Houston's debut album{{ref|LeroyMariahCarey}}, called the title track "undeniably winning", and the entire album "pleasant", and "far perkier than Whitney's been in years"{{ref|LeroyEmotions}}. Beginning with Emotions, Carey has co-produced almost all of the songs on her albums, in collaboration with her songwriting and other partners. She fought to co-produce on her first album as well, but was only allowed to produce one track.

Related Topics:
Emotions - Emotions - Hot 100 - Whitney Houston

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1992, Carey gave her first real concert performance on the MTV Unplugged program. Her whistle register workout on "Emotions" showed that her vocal abilities were not confined to the studio, and Shawn M. Haney noted that Carey was "quite electric and charismatic within her vocal presence", in what he described as "an inspiring event"{{ref|HaneyUnplugged}}. Entertainment Weekly listed her performance among their "Great Performances" of 1992. Carey premiered a cover of the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" (featuring Trey Lorenz) on the special, and the performance was called "breathtaking" by Haney. It was subsequently released as a single, and it became Carey's sixth number-one single in the U.S. The program was popular enough that the songs were compiled onto the commercially successful EP MTV Unplugged.

Related Topics:
1992 - MTV Unplugged - Whistle register - Entertainment Weekly - Jackson 5 - I'll Be There - Trey Lorenz - MTV Unplugged

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At this point, Carey also started writing and producing songs for other artists. For Trey Lorenz' self-titled debut album, Carey co-wrote two songs and co-produced several of the album's tracks. For Daryl Hall's Soul Alone album, Carey wrote one track, while a song that she co-wrote with Narada Michael Walden ended up on Penny Ford's self-titled debut album.

Related Topics:
Daryl Hall - Soul Alone - Narada Michael Walden - Penny Ford

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~