Whether it is her diva demands, her "feud" with JLo or her new engagement, Maria Carey is constantly making news headlines across the globe. And now, in less than a week, the songbird will be making her way to South Africa for her very first performance in our lovely country. Whether all the news headlines are true or not, we decided to do some digging and bring you some facts about the hitmaker that probably won't surprise you.
1. Mariah Carey's name was inspired by music
Carey was named after They Call The Wind Mariah, a song from the musical Paint Your Wagon. Her full name is Mariah Angela Carey. She was born in Huntington, New York, on March 27, 1970, to an Irish-American mother Patricia Hickey and an African American/Venezuelan father Alfred Roy Carey.
2. Mariah used to cut class
She cut class so often in high school that she got the nickname Mirage! See, she's also just a normal human being.
3. Mariah kept her singer-songwriter works a secret from her mom
Her mother was a mezzo-soprano New York City opera singer and a freelance vocal coach. Though introducing Mariah to classical opera, Patricia never pressured her to pursue a career in it, as she never seemed interested. She said Patricia had "never been a pushy mom. She never said, 'Give it more of an operatic feel'. I respect opera like crazy, but it didn't influence me."
4. Mariah studied cosmetology in Manhattan before making it big
To afford her rent she worked a number of odd jobs to support herself, including hat/coat-checker, hostess, hair sweeper in hairdressing salons, and waitress.
5. The story behind Mariah's big break has been described as a modern day Cinderella tale
In December 1988, Carey accompanied Brenda K. Starr to a record executives' gala, where she handed her demo tape to the head of Columbia Records, Tommy Mottola, who listened to it on his way back home. After the first two songs, he was so enamoured of Carey's voice that he returned to the event, only to find that she had left. After searching for Carey for two weeks, he immediately signed her. (She went on to marry Mottola in 1993!)
6. Mariah's fans are known as her "Lambily"
According to the Lambily website, Mariah started calling her loved ones, friends, and fans "lambs" in 2000. It originated as a term of endearment but has been speculated that it refers to her fans acting like lambs - following the leader.
7. Mariah holds the record for the longest-running number one song in history together with Boyz II Men
The song, One Sweet Day, spent 16 weeks in the top position on the Billboard Hot 100. The band and Carey wrote the song together. And interestingly enough, Mariah has writing and producing credits on almost all of her recorded material, an uncommon practice among many female pop stars.
8. Mariah's dogs live better lives than most people
She has eight jack russell terriers. Their names are: The Good Reverend Pow Jackson, Mutley P Gore Jackson The Third, Jill E Beans, Pipitty Jackson, Cha, Jackie Lambchops, JJ and Squeak E Beans. From spending £28,000 a year on spa treatments for them to flying them all by private jet for a five-star "canine vacation" at the luxury Paw Seasons doggie hotel in Bristol, where she gave staff personalised daily menus to follow for each of them, Mariah's dogs are living the life!
9. Mariah has a five octave range, which is two octaves higher than normal soprano
She also has the ability to reach notes beyond the 7th octave. Referred to as the "songbird supreme" by the Guinness World Records, she was ranked first in a 2003 MTV and Blender magazine countdown of the 22 Greatest Voices in Music, as voted by fans and readers in an online poll.
10. Mariah suffered a physical and emotional breakdown in 2001
She spent two weeks recovering in a Connecticut mental hospital, two months before the release of Glitter. The cause was extreme exhaustion. The height of her decline was a bizarre appearance on MTV's TRL. She showed up unannounced, started to strip off her clothes and said, "If you don't have ice cream in your life, sometimes you just might go a little bit crazy," to which host Carson Daly responded, "That's a metaphor for a lot more, I'm sure."
11. Mariah's song Obsessed is directed at Eminem
He claimed the two had a sexual relationship, although she denied it and said they just spent time together. Eminem has directly referenced songs: "What you trying be? My new wife? What, you Mariah? Fly through twice" on Superman and on When The Music Stops suggested that he would "beg Mariah to take him back" before censoring his lyrics.
12. Mariah once demanded 20 white kittens and 100 white doves as part of her rider
When City Press asked Justin van Wyk, the CEO of Big Concerts, about any backstage demands the singer may have made for SA shows, he replied by e-mail: "I'm not at liberty to disclose them but I can say that Mariah Carey is the Diva of all Divas."
(Channel 24)
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