Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey, singer, songwriter, record producer and actress, rose to superstardom due to her five-octave vocal range, power, melismatic style, and use of the whistle register. An elastic talent who moved easily from glossy ballads to hip-hop-inspired dance-pop, she earned frequent comparison to rivals Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, but did them both one better by composing all of her own material. She made her recording debut in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Motola, and became the first recording artist to have her first five singles top the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. A series of hit records established her position as Columbia's highest-selling act, and establishing her as the most successful artist of the 1990s in the United States.