Mariah Carey ( mə-RY-ə; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Songbird Supreme", Carey is known for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style, signature use of the whistle register, and diva persona. An influential figure in music, she was ranked as the fifth-greatest singer of all time by Rolling Stone in 2023.
Carey rose to fame with her eponymous debut album (1990) and became the only artist to have their first five singles reach number one in the US, from "Vision of Love" to the title track of her second album Emotions (1991). She achieved international success with the best-selling albums Music Box (1993) and Daydream (1995), before adopting a new image with hip hop-inflected sounds; introduced on the remix to "Fantasy" with Ol' Dirty Bastard, and later embraced on Butterfly (1997). With eleven consecutive years of US number-one singles, Carey was named by Billboard as the Artist of the Decade. Following a career decline, she made a comeback with The Emancipation of Mimi (2005), one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century.