As of 2024, Mariah Carey’s net worth is estimated to be $350 — $400 million USD.
A Grammy award-winning singer, songwriter, and actress, Mariah Carey has been a household name for over three decades. Known as the “Songbird Supreme” according to Guinness World Records, she is recognized for her ability to write songs, her vocal range spanning five octaves, her melismatic singing style, and her distinct use of the whistle register.
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She is also known as the “Christmas Queen” because her holiday music — especially the 1994 track “All I Want for Christmas is You” — is incredibly popular and holds the record as the top-selling holiday song by a female artist.
Born on March 27, 1969, in Huntington, New York, Carey was the youngest child of Patricia Hickey, an opera singer, and Alfred Roy Carey, an aeronautical engineer. Carey’s parents divorced when she was three years old, and she and her older brother, Morgan, were raised by their mother.
Her love for music began at a young age, and she started singing at the age of three! She would often imitate her mother’s singing and began taking voice lessons at the age of four. By the time she was in high school, Carey was writing her own songs and performing at local events.
After graduating from high school, she moved to New York City to pursue a career in music. She worked as a waitress and backup singer while trying to break into the music industry. She landed a job as a backup singer for freestyle vocalist Brenda K. Starr.
In December 1988, Carey experienced her very own Cinderella story when she joined Starr at a social gathering hosted by a music industry bigwig. She seized the opportunity to give her demo tape to Tommy Mottola — the president of Columbia Records — who was also in attendance.
Mottola wasted no time in listening to the tape on the way back home and was so impressed, he instructed the driver to turn back. Unfortunately, Carey had already left the event, and Mottola embarked on a two-week quest to find her!
Mottola ended up signing Carey to Columbia Records, positioning her as the primary female talent on their lineup, vying against Whitney Houston from Arista Records and Madonna from Sire Records. In 1993, Mottola married Carey in a lavish half-million-dollar wedding ceremony.
Carey achieved worldwide fame with her albums Music Box and Daydream, which were not only commercially successful but also provided hit singles like “Dreamlover,” “Hero,” “Without You,” “Fantasy,” “Always Be My Baby” and “One Sweet Day.”
A couple of these hits even topped the US Billboard Hot 100 decade-end chart in the 1990s. Following her split from Mottola, Carey underwent a transformation, embracing a new urban persona and incorporating elements of hip-hop and R&B into her music.
This evolution was evident in her albums Butterfly and Rainbow. By the end of the 1990s, Billboard crowned Carey as the most accomplished artist of the decade in the United States. With a career spanning multiple genres and having broken numerous records, she has certainly solidified her place in music history!
Quotes from the Queen of Christmas on following dreams, the role music plays in her life, and more:
“I always felt like the rug could be pulled out from under me at any time. And coming from a racially mixed background, I always felt like I didn’t really fit in anywhere.”
“I really rebel against authority.”
“I think that for me, personally, a lot of my choices have been to do with my own issues of not feeling safe as a child or feeling a sense of stability.”
“I think the greatest gift to me is that I can express myself in songs. It helps me get through some of the hardest times of my life. It also helps me celebrate some of the best times.”
“I work myself into the ground. But I think I’m a nice friend and a good person, and I try to do my work as best I can.”
“If you see me as just the princess, then you misunderstand who I am and what I have been through.”
“I’m actually very loyal, to my detriment.”
“I’m not Gloria Steinem, but I mean, I’m definitely all for powerful women.”
“I’m not vain; I’m insecure.”
“I’m very hard on myself and I have too many issues.”
“I’ve been blessed to live my dream more than half my life, so I want to help give that back to someone else.”
“Marilyn Monroe Productions was the first female-owned production company in Hollywood. She paved the way for women in Hollywood, and every single woman owes something to her for that, whether they agree with her image or not.”
“Never, never listen to anybody that tries to discourage you!”
“One day I promised God that if He would give me my voice back, I would never smoke again. I got three octaves back after quitting.”
“Stardom is a magical yet freakish situation at times. It’s a cliche but very true that at times, you feel so alone, even when you’re surrounded by so many people.”
“This is for all of you out there tonight, reaching for a dream: don’t ever give up!”
“Whatever you’re going through in your life, don’t ever give up.”
“You really have to look inside yourself, find your own inner strength, and say, ‘I’m proud of what I am and who I am, and I’m just going to be myself.’”
“You really just want to know that somebody loves you for you. Sometimes you feel like an ATM machine with a wig on it.”