Mariah Carey

  Mariah’s biggest musical influence was Aretha Franklin Not only was she Mariah’s mentor, but she was her friend. Initially Mariah was inspired by the intensity and power in her voice, but on a deeper level, she appreciated how Franklin was a revolutionary. Aretha was able to use her voice during the civil rights movement which impressed Mariah. Another reason why she appreciates her specifically is because she taught Mariah how to incorporate “the church and gospel music into her pop and R&B songs (Rolling Stone).” In Mariah’s words she expresses to Aretha: “You showed me I could sing the songs I wanted to sing and bring God with me. You’ve inspired millions everywhere yet never left home, never left church (Rolling Stone).” While Aretha Franklin had the largest influence on her career, she was not the only one. Additionally Billy Holiday, Al Green, and Stevie Wonder   all played an important role in the development of her musical identity as well.  

In 1991-1992, during the award season, Carey won multiple awards for her debut album, she received Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammys for her single “Vision of Love (Long ,7).” At the Billboard Music Awards, she won Artist of the Year, Top Female Artist, Top Pop Artist, Top Pop Album and Adult Contemporary Artist of the Year (Long ,7). Selling more than fifteen million copies of her first album her second album, Emotions was anticipated to sell; however, Emotions fell a bit short, and she only sold eight million copies, but she did receive praise for improved songwriting (Long, 8). Despite the low sales, Carey received her fifth number one single from the title track (Long, 8). 

In the summer of 1993, Carey released Music Box, her third studio album. The album did exceedingly well having sold well over thirty million copies worldwide (Long, 9). During 1995, Carey shifted from her typical sound and her Daydream album debut a significant hip-hop influence. The change in sound proved to be beneficial because it quickly became her top-selling album in the United States (Long, 11). Again in 1997, Carey experienced another musical transition and her sixth studio album, Butterfly, contained more artistic independence and featured both hip hop and urban adult contemporary sounds (Long, 12). Collaborating with artists like Sean Combs, Missy Elliott and Mase she was able to experiment with new melodies and sounds; also, she revealed a new sexier image (Long, 12).