Interviewee: Mariah Carey

Interviewer: Barbara Walters

Date: March 1, 2006

“The Voice” is Mariah Carey, the biggest-selling female musician of the 1990s. In that decade, she scored a number one hit in the U.S. every year.

In this interview the diva opens up her posh penthouse in New York City to Barbara Walters—and opens her heart too. The diva recounts her experience as the product of an interracial marriage between Alfred, a black engineer, and Patricia, an Irish-American opera singer.

Since being all of four years old, Mariah has shown promise with her gifted set of pipes, hailed to reach as high as five octaves. At 17, she went to New York City to be a musician, working as a coat-checker on the side. Eventually she became backing vocalist to singer Brenda K. Starr.

Columbia records bigwig Tommy Mottola then got hold of her demo tape. After listening to it on his limo, he decided to sign Carey. The immediate result was Carey’s eponymous debut in 1990, which produced four #1s, starting with “Vision of love.” It earned her first Grammy Award, for Best New Artist.

Her success made encores in the form of 1991’s Emotions. Two years later, she released Music Box, her ultimate bestseller, which had hits like “Dreamlover” and “Hero.” In that same year, she wed Mottola in lavish ceremonies.

In a dramatic upheaval, Carey makes an urban-tinged album in 1995, Daydream. It went multiplatinum on the strength of singles like “Fantasy” and “Always be My Baby.” This album also contains “One Sweet Day,” the biggest single in America ever, spending an unparalleled 16 weeks on top. Daydream was followed by risqué Butterfly in 1997 and Rainbow in 2000.

She moved to Virgin records in 2001, to the tune of $80 million. When her first album with the label bombed, the buyout was foregone. She then moved to Island/def where she made a moderate hit in the album Charmbracelet.

Then in 2005, she rebounded with The Emancipation of Mimi, validating her stellar clout. In April 2008, Mariah Carey hit the top spot on the Billboard singles chart with Touch My Body. This makes her the solo artist with the most #1 singles in America.