Mariah Carey

=== 2005–2007: Resurgence with ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' ===
[[File:Mariah Carey & L.A. Reid 2005.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Carey, pictured with former [[Island Records]] head [[L.A. Reid]], at the release party for ''[[The Emancipation of Mimi]]'' in 2005]]

Carey's tenth studio album, ''[[The Emancipation of Mimi]]'' in 2005, was produced with [[the Neptunes]], [[Kanye West]] and Carey's longtime collaborator, [[Jermaine Dupri]]. She described the album as "very much like a party record ... the process of putting on makeup and getting ready to go out ... I wanted to make a record that was reflective of that."<ref name="viber"/> ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' topped the charts in the United States, becoming Carey's fifth number-one album and first since ''[[Butterfly (Mariah Carey album)|Butterfly]]'' (1997), and was warmly accepted by critics. Caroline Sullivan of ''[[The Guardian]]'' defined it as "cool, focused and urban [... some of] the first Mariah Carey tunes in years which I wouldn't have to be paid to listen to again,"<ref name="C7SHn"/> while ''[[USA Today]]''{{'}}s Elysa Gardner wrote, "The [songs] truly reflect the renewed confidence of a songbird who has taken her shots and kept on flying."<ref name="hTNKe"/> The album's second single, "[[We Belong Together]]", became a "career re-defining"<ref name="promo"/> song for Carey, after a relatively unsuccessful period and a point when many critics had considered her career over.<ref name="autogenerated5"/>

Music critics heralded the song as her "return to form,"<ref name="slanter"/> as well as the "return of The Voice,"<ref name="slanter"/> while many felt it would revive "faith" in Carey's potential as a [[ballad]]eer.<ref name="viber"/> "We Belong Together" broke several records in the United States and became Carey's sixteenth chart topper on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]].<ref name="records"/> After staying at number one for fourteen non-consecutive weeks, the song became the [[List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones|second-longest-running number one song in US chart history]], behind Carey's 1996 collaboration with [[Boyz II Men]], "[[One Sweet Day]]".<ref name="records"/> ''Billboard'' listed it as the "song of the decade" and the ninth most popular song of all time.<ref name="yahoosales"/> The song broke several airplay records, and according to Nielsen BDS, and gathered both the largest one-day and one-week audiences in history.<ref name="QmzjW"/>

During the week of September 25, 2005, Carey set another record, becoming the first woman to occupy the first two spots atop the Hot 100, as "We Belong Together" remained at number one, and her next single, "[[Shake It Off (Mariah Carey song)|Shake It Off]]", moved into the number two spot ([[Ashanti (singer)|Ashanti]] had topped the chart in 2002 while being a "featured" singer on the number two single).<ref name="records"/> On the [[Billboard Year-End|''Billboard'' Hot 100 Year-end Chart]] of 2005, "We Belong Together" was declared the number one song, a first for Carey.<ref name="US_yearend"/> ''Billboard'' listed "We Belong Together" ninth on The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs and was declared the most popular song of the 2000s decade by ''Billboard''.<ref name="decade"/> The album was re-released as ''The Ultra Platinum Edition'', from which "[[Don't Forget About Us]]" became her seventeenth number-one hit.

''The Emancipation of Mimi'' earned ten [[Grammy Award]] nominations: eight in 2006 for the original release, the most received by Carey in a single year,<ref name="usaawards"/> and two in 2007 for the ''Ultra Platinum Edition''. Carey won [[Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album|Best Contemporary R&B Album]] and [[Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance|Best Female R&B Vocal Performance]] and [[Grammy Award for Best R&B Song|Best R&B Song]] for "We Belong Together".<ref name="usaawards"/>

''The Emancipation of Mimi'' was the best-selling album in the United States in 2005, with nearly five million units sold. It was the first album by a solo female artist to become the year's best-selling album since [[Alanis Morissette]]'s ''[[Jagged Little Pill]]'' in 1996.<ref name="ABrS6"/> At the end of 2005, the [[International Federation of the Phonographic Industry|IFPI]] reported that ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' had sold more than 7.7&nbsp;million copies globally, and was the second-best-selling album of the year after [[Coldplay]]'s ''[[X&Y]]''.<ref name="world2005"/><ref name="c4e1v"/><ref name="Cnpo6"/> It has since sold 12 million copies worldwide.<ref name="autogenerated11"/>

In support of the album, Carey embarked on her first headlining tour in three years, named [[The Adventures of Mimi]] after a "Carey-centric fan's" music diary.<ref name="H9Z0G"/> The tour spanned 40 dates, with 32 in the United States and Canada, two in Africa, and six in Japan.<ref name="mtvnews8"/> It received warm reception from music critics and concert goers, many of which celebrated the quality of Carey's vocals.<ref name="outshines"/><ref name="aLu19"/>