Mariah Carey Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === 1993–1996: ''Music Box'', ''Merry Christmas'', and ''Daydream'' === After ''Emotions'' failed to achieve the commercial heights of her debut album, Carey's subsequent release was to be marketed as [[Adult contemporary music|adult contemporary]] and pop-friendly. ''[[Music Box (Mariah Carey album)|Music Box]]'' was produced by Carey and Afanasieff, and began a songwriting partnership that would extend until 1997's ''[[Butterfly (Mariah Carey album)|Butterfly]]''.<ref name="soul"/> The album was released on August 31, 1993, to mixed reviews from music critics. Carey's songwriting was derided as clichéd and her vocal performances were described as less emotive and lazier in their delivery. In his review of the album, [[AllMusic]]'s Ron Wynn concluded: "sometimes excessive spirit is preferable to an absence of passion."<ref name="F0iAt">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/r186574|title=Music Box > Overview|last=Wynn|first=Ron|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=August 17, 2010|archive-date=September 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923063728/https://www.allmusic.com/album/music-box-mw0000620196|url-status=live}}</ref> In promotion of the album, Carey embarked on her debut tour, a six-date concert series, the [[Music Box Tour]].<ref name="shapiro9"/> ''Music Box''{{'}}s first and second singles, "[[Dreamlover (song)|Dreamlover]]" and "[[Hero (Mariah Carey song)|Hero]]", became Carey's seventh and eighth chart-toppers in the United States, while her cover of [[Badfinger]]'s "[[Without You (Badfinger song)|Without You]]" was a commercial breakthrough in Europe, becoming her first number-one single in Germany,<ref name="ger"/> Sweden<ref name="swe"/> and the United Kingdom.<ref name="without"/> ''Music Box'' remains Carey's best-seller and one of the [[List of best-selling albums|best-selling albums]], with worldwide sales of over 28 million copies.<ref name="bettwenty"/> In mid-1994, Carey recorded and released a duet with [[Luther Vandross]]; a cover of [[Lionel Richie]] and [[Diana Ross]]'s "[[Endless Love (song)|Endless Love]]".<ref name="shapiro11"/> ''[[Merry Christmas (Mariah Carey album)|Merry Christmas]]'', released on November 1, 1994, became the [[List of best-selling Christmas/holiday albums in the United States|best-selling Christmas album]], with global sales of over 15 million copies.<ref name="newyorker">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/04/03/060403crmu_music|title=Mariah Carey's Record-Breaking Career|last=Frere-Jones|first=Sasha|date=April 6, 2006|access-date=November 10, 2011|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|archive-date=October 13, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101013180454/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/04/03/060403crmu_music|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="mimisales2"/><ref name="national"/> The lead single, "[[All I Want for Christmas Is You]]", became a holiday [[Standard (music)|standard]] and continues to surge in popularity each holiday season.<ref name="RSS"/> By October 2017, it had become the [[List of best-selling singles|11th-bestselling single]] in modern music.<ref>{{cite news|first=Lowenna|last=Waters|title=10 of the best Mariah Carey songs|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=October 10, 2017|access-date=December 29, 2018|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/best-mariah-carey-songs/want-christmas-you_mariah-carey/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/best-mariah-carey-songs/want-christmas-you_mariah-carey/ |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 2019, 25 years after the song's release, it finally peaked at number-one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the first time, and it continued to do so every December since, becoming the first song in history to hold the top position in more than two different chart years, as well as the longest-running holiday number-one song (twelve weeks).<ref>{{Cite magazine|first=Gary|last=Trust|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9504998/mariah-carey-christmas-tops-hot-100-fifth-week/|title=Mariah Carey's 'Christmas' Back Atop Hot 100, As Dean Martin, Wham! & Chuck Berry Hit Top 10|access-date=December 28, 2020|magazine=Billboard|archive-date=January 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123150703/https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9504998/mariah-carey-christmas-tops-hot-100-fifth-week|url-status=live}}</ref> Additionally, it is the longest running number-one song on the ''Billboard'' Holiday 100, spending 44 cumulative weeks, of the chart's 49 total weeks since the list launched in 2011.<ref>{{cite news|first=Gary|last=Trust|title=Mariah Carey Becomes First Artist at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 in Four Decades, Thanks to 'All I Want for Christmas'|newspaper=Billboard|date=December 30, 2019|access-date=July 18, 2021|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/8547157/mariah-carey-number-one-hot-100-four-decades-all-i-want-for-christmas-is-you|archive-date=December 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231213359/https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/8547157/mariah-carey-number-one-hot-100-four-decades-all-i-want-for-christmas-is-you|url-status=live}}</ref> [[File:Mariah Carey One Sweet Day Madison Square 1995.jpg|thumb|Carey performing "[[One Sweet Day]]" with [[Boyz II Men]] at [[Madison Square Garden]] in October 1995]] Carey's fifth studio album, ''[[Daydream (Mariah Carey album)|Daydream]]'', found her consolidating creative control over her career, leading to tensions with Columbia. The album featured a departure from her allegiance to pop and gravitated heavily towards [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]] and [[hip hop music|hip hop]].<ref name="shapiro12"/> Critically, the album was described as Carey's best to date. ''The New York Times'' named it one of 1995's best albums and concluded: "[the album] brings R&B candy-making to a new peak of textural refinement ... Carey's songwriting has taken a leap forward and become more relaxed, sexier and less reliant on thudding clichés."<ref name="nytimes"/> The album's lead single, "[[Fantasy (Mariah Carey song)|Fantasy]]", became the first single by a female artist to debut at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100,<ref name="nickson35"/> and the second single, "[[One Sweet Day]]", a collaboration with R&B group [[Boyz II Men]], remained atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for a record-breaking 16 consecutive weeks, becoming, at the time, the [[List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones|longest-running number-one song in the history of the charts]].<ref name="nickson36"/> The third single, "[[Always Be My Baby]]", became Carey's eleventh chart-topper, tying her with [[Madonna]] and [[Whitney Houston]] for the most number-one singles among female artists at the time. ''Daydream'' became Carey's biggest-selling album in the United States,<ref name="syQhG"/> and her second album to be certified [[RIAA Certification|Diamond]] by the RIAA, after ''Music Box''.<ref name="riaa"/> The album continued Carey's dominance in Asian music markets and sold in excess of 2.2 million copies in Japan alone and over 20 million copies globally.<ref name="daydreamjapan">{{cite web|title=Top > Discography > Daydream|url=http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/artist/MariahCarey/discography/SICP-30795|publisher=[[Sony Music Entertainment Japan]]|access-date=December 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230231043/http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/artist/MariahCarey/discography/SICP-30795|archive-date=December 30, 2018|language=ja|date=June 24, 2015|quote=Over 25 million copies worldwide have been sold so far, and 2.2 million copies have been sold in Japan.}}</ref><ref name="BET.com Exclusive: Mariah Celebrates 20 Years; Thanks Fans"/> ''Daydream'' and its singles were nominated in six categories at the [[38th Grammy Awards]].<ref name="shapiro16"/> Though considered a favorite to win the top awards of the evening, Carey was shut out, prompting her to comment "What can you do? I will never be disappointed again."<ref name="shapiro17"/> In early 1996, she embarked on her first international string of concerts, the [[Daydream World Tour]]. Its seven dates spanned three in Japan and four throughout Europe.<ref name="nickson100"/> ''[[Forbes]]'' named Carey the [[Forbes list of the world's highest-paid musicians#Female|top-earning female musician of 1996]], collecting an estimated $32 million.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gerhart |first=Ann |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1996/09/09/yoga-teacher-makes-peace-in-cleveland-park/62b3c7f2-2c00-400c-9123-3c59377d7475/ |title=Yoga Teacher Makes Peace In Cleveland Park |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=September 9, 1996 |access-date=July 30, 2022 |archive-date=July 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730025641/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1996/09/09/yoga-teacher-makes-peace-in-cleveland-park/62b3c7f2-2c00-400c-9123-3c59377d7475/ |url-status=live }}</ref> During the recording of ''Daydream'', Carey also worked on the alternative rock album ''[[Someone's Ugly Daughter]]'' by the band Chick, contributing writing, production, vocals and art direction. As Columbia Records refused to release the album with her lead vocals, Carey's friend Clarissa Dane was brought in to become the face of Chick, and her vocals were layered on top of Carey's, masking her voice.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Story Behind Mariah Carey's Secret '90s Alt-Rock Album|url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/the-story-behind-mariah-careys-secret-90s-alt-rock-album/|publisher=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|access-date=July 11, 2021|date=May 21, 2021|quote=Behind-the-scenes collaborators detail the making of the icon's liberating side project, Chick's Someone's Ugly Daughter.|archive-date=July 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711141418/https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/the-story-behind-mariah-careys-secret-90s-alt-rock-album/|url-status=live}}</ref> Carey also directed the music video for the Chick song "Malibu". According to Carey, "I was playing with the style of the breezy-grunge, punk-light white female singers who were popular at the time ... I totally looked forward to doing my alter-ego band sessions after ''Daydream'' each night."<ref name="Minsker-2020"/> Her contributions were secret until the release of her 2020 memoir ''[[The Meaning of Mariah Carey]].''<ref name="Minsker-2020">{{Cite web|last=Minsker|first=Evan|title=Mariah Carey Reveals Secret Work on 1995 Alternative Rock Album|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/mariah-carey-reveals-secret-appearance-on-1995-alternative-rock-album/|date=September 27, 2020|access-date=September 29, 2020|website=Pitchfork|archive-date=September 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928190041/https://pitchfork.com/news/mariah-carey-reveals-secret-appearance-on-1995-alternative-rock-album/|url-status=live}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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