Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	Cam'ron
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Cameron Ezike Giles
Origin	Harlem, New York, U.S.
Birth date	February 04, 1976
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Musician, actor
Years active	1994–present
Label	Untertainment, Epic, Diplomat, Asylum
Associated acts	The Diplomats, Juelz Santana, Jim Jones, Hell Rell, 40 Cal., Children of the Corn, Mase, Big L, The U.N., Vado, Jay-Z, Damon Dash, Beanie Sigel }}

Cameron Giles (born February 4, 1976), better known by his stage name Cam'ron or "Killa Cam", is a Grammy-nominated American rapper and actor. He is the founder of the hip-hop group The Diplomats (also known as Dipset), and also of The U.N. (Us Now) group.

Biography

Early life

Cameron Giles was born and raised in Harlem, New York. He went to school at Manhattan Center High School, where he would meet his long time friends Mase and Jim Jones. He was a promising basketball player alongside Mase, however, he was unable to take advantage of various scholarship offers due to a poor academic record. He instead enrolled in a college in Texas, even without graduating from high school, but soon dropped out and returned to Harlem where he began selling drugs before starting his rap career. He began his musical career in the mid 1990s, rapping alongside Big L, Mase and his cousin Bloodshed in a group called Children Of The Corn. However, after Bloodshed's death in a car accident in 1997, the group disbanded and the remaining members continued solo careers.

1998: Confessions of Fire

A year before Big L's murder in 1999, Cam'ron was introduced to The Notorious B.I.G. by Mase who was signed to Bad Boy Records at the time. Biggie was so impressed by Cam'ron that he introduced him to his partner Lance "Un" Rivera who signed Cam'ron to his Untertainment label, distributed by Epic Records. His debut album, Confessions of Fire was released in July 1998 and included singles such as "3-5-7" (which was also featured in the movie Woo), and "Horse and Carriage" featuring Mase which reached the R&B; Top Ten and just missed out on reaching the pop Top 40. The album achieved gold status and made the Top 10 of both the pop and R&B; charts.

2000: S.D.E. (Sports, Drugs & Entertainment)

In 2000, Cam'ron was working with music executive Tommy Mottola and released his second album S.D.E. (Sports Drugs & Entertainment) on Sony/Epic Records. With features from Destiny's Child, Juelz Santana, Jim Jones, N.O.R.E., and producer Digga, it included the relatively successful singles, "Let Me Know" and "What Means The World To You". The album reached Number 2 on the R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and Number 14 on the Billboard 200.

2001-02: Come Home With Me

After demanding a release from Sony/Epic Records, Cam'ron signed with his childhood friend and new manager Damon Dash to Roc-A-Fella Records in 2001, alongside artists such as Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, Freeway and Memphis Bleek. A reported $4.5 million record deal was agreed upon with and Damon Dash and his Roc-A-Fella partners Kareem Biggs and Jay-Z in the form of a record advance. His third and most successful album Come Home With Me was released in 2002 featuring guests such as Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, and Memphis Bleek, and production from Just Blaze, Kanye West and The Heatmakerz. It included the hit singles Oh Boy and Hey Ma which both featured The Dipmomats newest member and protégé; Juelz Santana. The album achieved platinum status and served as a stepping stone for Cam'ron's group The Diplomats to sign with Roc-A-Fella.

2003-04: Purple Haze

In 2003 Cam'ron teamed up with his fellow Diplomats Members Jim Jones, Juelz Santana, and Freekey Zeeky to release the Diplomats' debut double disc album, ''Diplomatic Immunity'', in 2003 under Roc-A-Fella/Diplomat Records, which was quickly certified gold by the RIAA. The album featured the lead single "Dipset Anthem," a remix to Cam'rons hit "Hey Ma" and the (street anthem) single "I Really Mean It," as well as boasting production from Kanye West, Just Blaze, and The Heatmakerz. A year later, the Diplomats released their second album, ''Diplomatic Immunity 2''. Although not as successful as their debut , it still was boosted to gold status. Around this time in the height of his mainstream fame, Cam'ron was known for popularizing the color pink. During this period, Cam'ron was always seen wearing pink clothing and even bought an all pink Range Rover which can be seen in his video for "Killa Cam". Cam'ron's fourth studio album, ''Purple Haze'', was released on December 7, 2004 on Def Jam/Roc-A-Fella Records. It featured collaborations with Kanye West, Jaheim, Twista, Juelz Santana, and various other artists and ultimately reached gold status. The album was also a critical success, being ranked 114th on Pitchfork Media's Top 200 Albums of the first decade of the 21st century List, and 10th on Rhapsody's Hip Hop's Best Albums Of The Decade List. However, after feeling that the album was poorly promoted and that his projects were not receiving the attention they deserved, Cam'ron requested his release from Roc-A-Fella Records.

2005-06: Killa Season

On April 28, 2005, Cam'Ron officially joined the Warner Music Group under the Asylum Records imprint. He began work on what would be his first project for the new label. Cam'ron's fifth studio album, entitled Killa Season, was released on May 16, 2006 featuring production from long term collaborators The Heatmakerz, Charlmagne and Ty Fyffe, as well as others such as Alchemist and I.N.F.O.. Along with the album, Cam'ron released his first film, in which he wrote, directed and starred in, also titled "Killa Season." Despite selling 112,000 units in the first week and debuting at #2 on the charts, Killa Season failed to have the same sales strength as his two previous releases, failing to reach gold or platinum status. As of now, however, Killa Season has been certified Gold by the gold

2007-09: Crime Pays

After the release of Killa Season, and his infamous beef with 50 Cent in 2007, Cam'ron took a three year hiatus from music after his mother suffered 3 strokes, leaving her paralyzed on her left side. He moved to Florida with her to set up her rehabilitation and therapy, and stayed there until she had fully recovered.Cam'ron's 2009 album, Crime Pays was released on Asylum/Diplomat Records, featuring the majority of the production handled by Skitzo and AraabMuzik. Although none of the singles managed to chart, the album still reached Number 3 on the Billboard 200 but only sold 150,000 units, making this the lowest selling album of his career. In 2009 Cam'ron formed his new label Dipset West & his new group The U.N..

2010-Present: Killa Season 2

In late 2009/early 2010, Cam'ron released a series of mixtapes hosted by DJ Drama called "Boss of All Boses" which featured his new upcoming artist Vado. He has also released an album with Vado entitled Cam'ron & The U.N. Presents: "Heat in Here" Vol. 1 the first single off the album was "Speaking Tongues" which peaked at number 82 on the U.S. R&B; charts. Cam'ron announced that he would be releasing a joint album with his new group The U.N. called "Gunz n' Butta". After 3 years Cam'ron & Jim Jones have decided to start working on a third installment of the Diplomatic Immunity album along with other Diplomat artists such as Juelz Santana & Freekey Zekey. Cam'ron announced that the Diplomat album's release will take place around Christmas 2010. The first single featuring the reunited Diplomat members is called "Salute". Produced by upcoming Diplomat producer AraabMuzik, the track is rumored to appear on Jim Jones next album Capo.

Other Ventures

Film/Acting Career

In 2003, Cam'ron went on to appear in the Damon Dash produced film, ''Paid in Full'', in which he played one of three main characters alongside Mekhi Phifer and Wood Harris. In 2006 started shooting his movie for his album entitled Killa Season, the film would mark both Cam'ron's screenwriting and directorial debuts, as well as his return to acting. Killa Season was released to DVD on April 25, 2006, after a special two-day theatrical release.

Controversy

Jay-Z

Although there were rumors of a beef between the two emcees, Cam set this off in a track on "Killa Season" called "You Gotta Love It (Jay-Z Diss)" featuring ex-Dipset member Max B. In the song, Cam'ron takes jabs at Jay-Z's age, his biting and his current girlfriend. On Jay-Z using The Notorious B.I.G rhymes, "You ain't the only one with big wallets got it my shit's brolick but ya publishing should go to Miss Wallace." He then uses another song "Swagger Jacker (Biter Not a Writer)" to highlight the many songs Jay-Z has borrowed lines from to claim it's no wonder Jay-Z is no longer in the game. In the next issue of XXL, Cam'ron explained the reason why the beef originated began when Jay-Z went away Dame Dash was talking about making him the CEO & President of Roc A Fella Records. But when Jay-Z came back & Got the positions he did not like it. But in 2010 Cam'ron stated he does not have any issues with Jay-Z because he respects his hustle.

50 Cent

On February 1, 2007, Cam'ron & 50 Cent had a live argument on ''The Angie Martinez Show'' on Hot 97 radio. Jackson commented that Koch Entertainment was a "graveyard", meaning major record labels would not work with their artists. Cam'ron then ridiculed the record sales of G-Unit members Lloyd Banks and Mobb Deep by stating that Jim Jones outsold their albums despite being signed to an independent label and that his group, The Diplomats, had a distribution deal from several labels. Both rappers released "diss" songs with videos on YouTube. 50 Cent suggested in "Funeral Music" that Cam'ron is no longer able to lead The Diplomats and that Jim Jones should take his place. Cam'ron responded with "Curtis" and "Curtis Pt. II", in which he makes fun of 50 Cent's appearance, calling him "a gorilla, with rabbit teeth". 50 Cent responded by releasing "Hold On" with Young Buck. Since 2009, the beef between the two has seemed to calm down.

Jim Jones

During this time Cam'ron was not speaking to his fellow Diplomat members Juelz Santana and Jim Jones, leading to speculation that the group had broken up. However, despite admitting that he did not want to contact Jim Jones, he said that he had no hard feelings towards him. In an interview with Miss Info, Cam'ron said: "I still haven't spoken to Jim. But Jim ran with me for over 10 years, he worked hard, and I wish him the best of luck. Everybody thinks I'm mad at Jim. Why am I mad? I told people for years that Jimmy was gonna be a star. So its better on my resume. I wish him the best." But After 3 years of not speaking, Cam'ron & Jim Jones mended their differences in April 2010.

Juelz Santana

After it was evident to the fans that The Diplomats had separated and were no longer on speaking terms, Cam'ron explained in an interview that he was scared for Juelz Santana stating he was "addicted to the drink Sizzurp" and even talked to his mother about his possible "addiction". Juelz responded back by asking why Cam would say false accusations. Additionally, with Dipset seeming to be broken up and diminished, Cam'ron decided to sell Juelz Santana's contract from Diplomat Records to Def Jam Records for $2,000,000. However, Juelz said there were no hard feelings between the two and have since reconciled.

Kanye West

Both Cam'ron & Jim Jones took out their frustrations on former label-mate Kanye West in defense of former CEO Dame Dash by releasing a song entitled "Toast" rhyming over Kanye West's song "Runaway". Saying "And Kanye, you a sucker nigga / Dissed Dame, so my attitude is "fuck a nigga" / Sucka Jigga how you gone live with that / Took ya beat now come get it back". Despite this diss-track, when asked in an interview on Hot 97 with Funkmaster Flex of his take on the subject, Kanye responded by saying "Man, you don't understand how much I love Dipset. But it's so necessary; Dipset is so necessary." Additionally, Kanye said he understands that people do not agree with the way he does certain things and he, himself, does not even agree with some of the stuff he's done. Currently, neither Cam nor Jim have responded back. The feud has later ended, since Cam'ron, Jones, and West collaborated on a song called "Christmas in Harlem"

Personal life

Carjacking/Stop Snitching Campaign

On October 23, 2005, Cam'ron was leaving a nightclub in Washington D.C., having performed the day before at Howard University. Whilst and stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of New York and New Jersey Avenue shortly after midnight, a passenger of a nearby car threatened Cam'ron to "give up" his 2006 Lamborghini. Cam'ron resisted, and the man then shot him. Cam'ron was struck at least once as he was holding the steering wheel, but he was able to drive, going the wrong way on streets and flashing his lights, until a fan drove him to Howard University Hospital. The gunman and passenger fled and crashed into a parked car and fled the scene. D.C. Metro Police recovered a cell phone from the scene of the crash, which they tried to use to trace the suspects. He stated that he does not know who shot him.

On April 22, 2007, Cam'ron was interviewed on ''60 Minutes'' as part of a piece on the Stop Snitchin' movement. He also stated that he would "not help the police" try to locate the shooter saying he is "not a snitch" and helping the police would probably hurt his record sales. He stated in the interview, "Because with the type of business I'm in, it would definitely hurt my business. And the way that I was raised, I just don't do that. I was raised differently, not to tell...It's about business but it's still also a code of ethics"" When asked by Anderson Cooper if he would tell the police if a serial killer was living next to him, Cam'ron replied "I would probably move," but would not inform the police.

After the ''60 Minutes'' interview aired, Cam'ron received a lot of media criticism for his statements.

Cam'ron received criticism from fellow hip hop artist Pumpkinhead, who attacked Cam'ron in the song "Stupid People" with the line "Matter fact, it's a fact that stupid people slippin' / Don't know the difference between savin' lives and bein' a snitch / Anderson Cooper asked Cam'ron if he'd tell on a serial killer / He said no, he'd move / That's one stupid-ass nigga."

He later issued an apology for his comments, calling it an "error in judgement": "Where I come from, once word gets out that you've cooperated with the police that only makes you a bigger target of criminal violence. That is a dark reality in so many neighborhoods like mine across America. I'm not saying its right, but its reality. And it's not unfounded. here's a harsh reality around violence and criminal justice in our inner cities." Cam'ron has had contact with the police in the past. According to The Smoking Gun, New York Police Department records indicate that Giles filed a police report with police after he was assaulted at a Harlem playground in 1999.

Discography

;Studio albums

''Confessions of Fire'' (1998)

''S.D.E.'' (2000)

''Come Home with Me'' (2002)

''Purple Haze'' (2004)

''Killa Season'' (2006)

''Crime Pays'' (2009)

''Killa Season 2'' (2011)

; Collaboration albums

2003: ''Diplomatic Immunity'' (with The Diplomats)

2004: ''Diplomatic Immunity 2'' (with The Diplomats)

2010: ''"Heat In Here" Vol. 1'' (with The U.N.)

2011: ''Guns n' Butta'' (with Vado)

2011: ''Diplomatic Immunity 3'' (with The Diplomats)

Filmography

''Paper Soldiers'' (2002)

''Paid in Full'' (2002)

''State Property 2'' (2005)

''Killa Season'' (2006)

''Cousin Bang'' (TBA)

''Killa Season Pt. 2'' (TBA)

References

External links

Cam'ron Official Website

Cam'ron on Twitter

Diplomat Records

Category:1976 births Category:Actors from New York City Category:African American film actors Category:African American rappers Category:American shooting survivors Category:Roc-A-Fella Records artists Category:Epic Records artists Category:Living people Category:People from Harlem Category:Rappers from New York City

cs:Cam'ron da:Cam'ron de:Cam’ron es:Cam'ron fr:Cam'ron ko:캄론 it:Cam'ron nl:Cam'Ron ja:キャムロン pl:Cam'ron pt:Cam'ron simple:Cam'ron fi:Cam'ron uk:Cam'ron

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
background	solo_singer
birth name	LaRon Louis James
born	February 18, 1983New York City, New York, United States
genre	Hip hop
occupation	Rapper, record producer, actor
years active	1999–present
label	Skull Gang, Def Jam, E1
associated acts	Skull Gang, The Diplomats, Jim Jones, Lil Wayne, Cam'ron, Chris Brown, Lloyd Banks
website	www.myspace.com/juelzsantana }}

LaRon Louis James (born February 18, 1983), better known by his stage name Juelz Santana, is an American rapper of African & Dominican descent, producer, and actor. He appeared on Cam'ron's 2002 singles, "Oh Boy" and "Hey Ma". In 2003, his debut album ''From Me to U'' was released by Def Jam Recordings; his next album ''What the Game's Been Missing!'' contained the top-ten single "There It Go (The Whistle Song)".

Early life & career

Santana began rapping at the age of three and at age twelve started duo Draft Pick, which was signed to Priority Records. In 2000, Santana made a guest performance on a track on Cam'ron's album ''S.D.E.'' and eventually joined The Diplomats.

Music career

2002–2004 (Final Destination, From Me To U)

After the signing of The Diplomats, also known as Dipset, to Roc-a-Fella Records in 2002, there was an influence of mixtapes, features on other artists' records, television and radio interviews, in which Juelz achieved mainstream recognition not previously gained through the various Diplomat mixtapes, and his solo mixtape ''Final Destination'', that was sold in late 2002. After being featured on fellow Diplomat member Cam'ron's two singles, "Hey Ma" and "Oh Boy". Juelz started working on his debut album. In the summer of 2003, Santana released his debut album From Me To U, which was certified Gold. From Me to U peaked at #8 in the Billboard 200. Dipset (Santana's Town) peaked #70 in the U.S. Billboard.

What the Game's Been Missing! (2005)

''What the Game's Been Missing!'' followed in 2005 with the singles "Mic Check", "There It Go (The Whistle Song)", "Oh Yes", "Clockwork," "Shottas", and "Make It Work For Ya" Feat. Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne. "There It Go" reached #6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot Rap Tracks charts; "Oh Yes" reached #56 on the Hot 100 and #8 on the Rap charts. "Mic Check" reached 35 in the Billboard Hot 100. Both this album and single "There It Go" were certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Born to Lose, Built to Win & Dipset Reunion (2010–present)

Since 2007, Santana has been recording material for his third album, ''Born to Lose, Built to Win''. Shortly after recording began, Santana released a promo single, "The Second Coming", produced by Just Blaze. After a two year hiatus, he released a new song, "Days of Our Lives", with two accompanying music videos featuring cameos from Skull Gang. In late 2009 he released the first single off ''Born to Lose, Built to Win'', "Mixin' Up the Medicine" featuring Yelawolf. In 2010, he released the second single titled, "Back to the Crib" featuring Chris Brown. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud. In June 2010, the Dipset reunion began with a teaser titled "Under Construction" and a street single, ''"Salute"'' produced by Araabmuzik. The song features Jim Jones, Cam'ron, and Juelz Santana. The remix features new Diplomat artist Vado with a verse added. Since the reunion it is not yet known if or when Juelz will release the album. But it is known that he is working on a new album with The Diplomats. Recently Santana tweeted "I will give people that people wants Reagan Era in the studio" so that means that we can wait a new album for 2011.

Juelz Santana recently collaborated with UK rapper's Giggs & Wiley on a track called Bright Lights produced by UK producers Dan Dare & Zdot.In February he released a music video for the song "Homerun" featuring Lil Wayne. It is unknown if "Homerun" is a single or not. He also has plans to work with Guitars N Bandanaz.

Personal life

Santana maintained a store of his clothing and music near his old neighborhood of 151st and Amsterdam/Broadway on Amsterdam Avenue between 150th and 151st Streets. Santana is a suspected member of the Bloods.

Legal Issues

In January 2011 Juelz Santana's Bergenfield, New Jersey Recording Studio was raided, after a 10-month investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutors Office and Gang Unit.

Santana was arrested February 2, 2011, and charged with possession of a firearm, possession of a handgun without a permit, possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school. Santana posted $125,000 bail.

On March 22, 2011, Juelz Santana missed a performance at Chris Brown's record release party for his album ''F.A.M.E.'', after New York Police stopped the rapper and searched him for guns and drugs. While no one was arrested, Santana was not allowed to enter the building during the search. This caused him to miss his entire performance with Chris Brown. Juelz' lawyer Joe Wunstop told The New York Post that police stopped Santana because members of his entourage "might be affiliated, friends bring friends and he's really friendly"

Discography

;Studio albums

2003: ''From Me to U''

2005: ''What the Game's Been Missing!''

2011: ''Born to Lose, Built to Win''

;Official mixtapes

2003: ''Final Destination''

2004: ''Back Like Cooked Crack Pt. 1''

2005: ''Back Like Cooked Crack Pt. 2''

2006: ''Back Like Cooked Crack Pt. 3''

2011: ''Reagan Era''

;Collaboration albums

2003: ''Diplomatic Immunity'' (with The Diplomats)

2004: ''Diplomatic Immunity 2'' (with The Diplomats)

2009: ''Skull Gang'' (with Skull Gang)

2011: ''Diplomatic Immunity 3'' (with The Diplomats)

Filmography

''State Property 2'' (2005)

''Killa Season'' (2006)

''Kiss and Tail: The Hollywood Jumpoff''(2009) ''The Project'' (2011) *

References

External links

Official site

Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:African American rappers Category:Bloods Category:American people of Dominican Republic descent Category:The Diplomats members Category:Hispanic and Latino American rappers Category:People from Teaneck, New Jersey Category:People from Harlem Category:Rappers from New York City Category:Roc-A-Fella Records artists

cs:Juelz Santana de:Juelz Santana es:Juelz Santana fr:Juelz Santana ko:주엘즈 산타나 it:Juelz Santana nl:Juelz Santana ja:ジュエルズ・サンタナ no:Juelz Santana pl:Juelz Santana pt:Juelz Santana ru:Джуэлз Сантана fi:Juelz Santana sv:Juelz Santana

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
name	Mariah Carey
background	solo_singer
birth date	March 27, 1970
birth place
genre	Pop, R&B;, hip hop, soul, dance
years active	1988–present
occupation	Singer-songwriter, record producer, actress
spouse
label	Columbia, Virgin, Island
website	}}

Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, and released her self-titled debut studio album, ''Mariah Carey''. The album went multi-platinum and spawned four consecutive number one singles, on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Following her marriage to Mottola in 1993, a series of hit records, including ''Emotions'' (1991), ''Music Box'' (1993) and ''Merry Christmas'' (1994), established her position as Columbia's highest-selling act. ''Daydream'' (1995), made music history when the second single, "One Sweet Day" a duet with Boyz II Men, spent a record sixteen weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100, and remains the longest running number one song in US chart history. During the recording of the album Carey began to deviate from her pop background, and slowly traversed into R&B; and Hip-hop. After her separation from Mottola, this musical change was evident with the release of ''Butterfly'' (1997).

Carey left Columbia in 2000, and signed a record-breaking $100 million recording contract with Virgin Records. In 2001, Carey ventured into film with ''Glitter'' (2001). Before the film's release she suffered a physical and emotional breakdown and was hospitalized for severe exhaustion. Following the film's poor reception, she was bought out of her recording contract for $50 million, which led to a decline in her career. She signed a multi-million dollar contract deal with Island Records in 2002, and after an unsuccessful period, returned to the top of music charts with ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' (2005). Its second single "We Belong Together", which became the most successful solo single of her music career, and was later named "Song of the Decade" by ''Billboard''. Carey once again ventured into film, and starred in ''Precious'' (2009). Her role in the film was well-received, and she was awarded the "Breakthrough Performance Award" at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and a NAACP Image Award nomination.

In a career spanning over two decades, Carey has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In 1998, she was honored as the world's best-selling recording artist of the 1990s at the World Music Awards. Carey was also named the best-selling female artist of the millennium in 2000. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she is the third best-selling female artist in the United States, with 63 million certified albums. With the release of "Touch My Body" (2008), Carey gained her eighteenth number one single in the United States, more than any other solo artist. Aside from her commercial accomplishments, Carey has won five Grammy Awards, and is famed for her five-octave vocal range, power, melismatic style and signature use of the whistle register.

Biography

1970–87: Early life and struggles

Mariah Carey was born in Huntington, Long Island, New York, on March 27, 1970. The singer's father, Alfred Roy, was of African American and Venezuelan descent, while her mother, Patricia (née Hickey), was an Irish American. Patricia's father had died while she was young; however, she inherited his passion for music. She developed a career as an occasional opera singer and vocal coach, and met Alfred in 1960. As he began earning a living as an aeronautical engineer, the couple wed later that year, and moved into a small suburb in New York. After the pair's elopement, Patricia's family disowned her, due to marrying a man of color. Carey later explained that growing up, she felt a notion of neglect from her maternal family, a mark that affected her greatly: "So later I was like, 'Well, where does this leave me? Am I a bad person?' You know. Its still not that common to be a multi-racial person, but I'm happy with the combination of things that I am." During the interval of years in between Allison and the singer's birth, the Carey family experienced personal struggles within the community due to their ethnicity. Carey's name was derived from the song "They Call the Wind Mariah", originally from the 1951 Broadway musical ''Paint Your Wagon.'' When Carey was only three years of age, her parents divorced, due to the increasingly strenuous nature of their marriage.

}} After their separation, Carey's older sister Allison moved in with her father, while the other two children remained with Patricia. As the years passed, Carey would grow apart from her father, and would later stop seeing him altogether. By the age of four, Carey recalled that she had begun to sneak the radio under her covers at night, and just sing from her heart, and try and find peace within the music. During elementary school, she would excel in subjects that she enjoyed, such as literature, art and music, while not finding interest in others. After several years of financial struggling, Patricia earned enough money to move her family into a stable and more affluent sector in New York. Carey had already enrolled in Greenlawn's Harborfields High School. She had begun writing poems, and adding melodies to them, thus starting as a singer-songwriter. Even from a young age, Carey excelled in her music, and demonstrated usage of the whistle register, though only beginning to master and control it through her training with her mother. Though opening her daughter to the world of classical opera, Patricia never pressured Carey to pursue a career in that type of genre, as she never seemed interested in that world of music. Carey recalled that she kept her singer-songwriter works a secret and noted that 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."

Towards the end of her high school Carey developed a relationship with Gavin Christopher, with whom she shared musical aspirations. The song-writing duo, however, needed an assistant who could play the keyboard; "We called someone and he couldn't come, so by accident we stumbled upon Ben [Margulies]. Ben came to the studio, and he really couldn't play the keyboards very well - her was really more of a drummer - but after that day, we kept in touch, and we sort of clicked as writers." The two began writing and composing songs in his father's store basement, during Carey's senior year. After composing their first song together, "Here We Go Round Again", which Carey described as having a Motown-vibe, they continued writing material for a full length demo. After Carey's graduation her mother wed once more, which ultimately prompted her to move out from Patricia's apartment, and into a one bedroom studio in Manhattan, which she shared with four other female students. During this period, Carey worked several jobs as a waitress, usually getting fired after two week intervals. While requiring work to pay for her rent, Carey's mind and effort still remained with her musical ambitions, as she continued working late into the night with Margulies, in hopes of completing a demo take that could be passed on to record executives. After completing her four song demo tape, Carey tried to pass it to music labels, but was met with failure each time. It was then she was introduced to rising pop singer of Puerto Rican descent, Brenda K. Starr.

1988–92: Recording debut and career beginnings

As Carey's friendship with Starr grew, so did her interest in helping Carey succeed in the industry. On a Friday night in November 1987, Carey accompanied Starr to a record executives gala, where she handed her demo tape to Tommy Mottola, head of Columbia Records, who listened to it on his way back home. After the first two songs, he became so enamored at the sound and quality of Carey's voice that he turned around returned to the event, only to find that she had left. In what has been widely described by critics as a modern day Cinderella-like tale, after searching Carey for two weeks, and eventually contacting her through Starr's management, he immediately signed her and began mapping out her debut into mainstream music. While she maintained that she wanted to continue working with Margulies, Mottola enlisted top producers of the time, including Ric Wake, Narada Michael Walden and Rhett Lawrence. Mottola and the staff at Columbia had planned to market Carey as the main female pop artist on their roster, competing with the likes of Whitney Houston and Madonna, who were signed to Arista and Sire Records respectively. After the completion of the album, titled ''Mariah Carey'', Columbia spent an upward of $1 million to promote it. Though opening with weak sales, the album eventually reached the top of the ''Billboard'' 200, after Carey's exposure at the 33rd annual Grammy Awards. ''Mariah Carey'' stayed atop the charts for eleven consecutive weeks, and she won the Best New Artist, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance trophies for her single "Vision of Love". The album yielded an additional three number one singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, following the four week number-one run of "Vision of Love". Carey became the first artist since The Jackson 5 to have their first four singles reach number one. ''Mariah Carey'' finished as the best-selling album in the United States of 1991, while totaling sales of over 15 million copies.

Only months after the ''Mariah Carey'' began its descent on the charts, Carey already began working on her second studio effort, eventually titled ''Emotions'' (1991). The album, as Carey described it, payed homage to Motown soul music, as she felt the need to pay tribute to the type of music and genre that truly influenced her as a struggling child. For the project, Carey worked with Walter Afanasieff, who only had a small role on her debut, as well as Clivillés and Cole, from the dance group C+C Music Factory. However, Carey's relationship with Margulies deteriorated over a contract Carey had signed prior to her signing with Columbia, agreeing to split not only the songwriting royalties from the songs, but half of her earnings as well. However, when the time came to write music for ''Emotions,'' Sony officials made it clear he would only be paid the fair amount given to co-writers on an album. Subsequently, Margulies filed a lawsuit against Sony which ultimately led to their parting of ways. On September 17, 1991, ''Emotions'' was released around the world, and was accepted by critics as a more mature album than its predecessor. While praised for Carey's improved songwriting, production and new sound, the album was criticized for its material, which many felt was noticeably weaker than her debut. Though the album managed sales of over eight million copies globally, ''Emotions'' failed to reach the commercial and critical heights of its predecessor.

As they had done after the release of her debut, critics once again questioned whether Carey would embark on a world tour, in promotion for her material. Although Carey explained that due to her stage fright, and the general strenuous nature of her songs, a tour sounded very daunting, speculation grew that Carey was a "studio worm", and that she wasn't capable of producing the perfect pitch and 5-octave vocal range for which she was known. In hopes of putting any claims of her being a manufactured artist to rest, Carey and Walter Afanasieff decided to book an appearance on MTV Unplugged, a television program aired by MTV. The show's purpose was to present name artists, and feature them "unplugged" or stripped of studio equipment. While Carey felt strongly of her more soulful and powerful songs, it was decided that her most popular content to that point would be included. Days prior to the show's taping, Carey and Afanasieff thought of adding a cover version of an older song, in order to provide something different and unexpected. They chose "I'll Be There", a song made popular by The Jackson 5 in 1970, rehearsing it few times before the night of the show. On March 16, 1992, Carey recorded a seven-piece set-list at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, New York. The revue was met with critical acclaim, leading to it being aired over three times as often as an average episode would. The revue's success tempted Sony officials to use it as some form of an album. Sony decided to release it as an EP, selling for a reduced price due to its shorter length. The EP proved to be a success, shunning critics and speculations that Carey was just a studio artist, and was given a triple-Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and managed Gold and Platinum certfications in several European markets.

1993–96: First marriage, ''Music Box'' and ''Daydream''

During early 1993, Carey began working on her third studio album, ''Music Box''. After ''Emotions'' failed to achieve the commercial heights of her debut album, Carey and Columbia came to the agreement that the next album would contain a more pop influenced sound, in order to appeal to a wider audience. During Carey's writing sessions, she began working mostly with Afanasieff, with whom she co-wrote and produced most of ''Music Box''. During the album's recording, Carey and Mottola became romantically involved. They wed in a lavish ceremony on June 5, 1993, with several high profile guests including Barbra Streisand, Billy Joel, Gloria Estefan and Ozzy Osbourne. One month later, on August 31, ''Music Box'' was released around the world, debuting at number-one on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album was met with mixed reception from music critics; while many praised the album's pop influence and strong content, others felt that Carey made less usage of her acclaimed vocal range. Ron Wynn from Allmusic described Carey's different form of singing on the album: "It was wise for Carey to display other elements of her approach, but sometimes excessive spirit is preferable to an absence of passion." The album's second single, "Hero", would eventually come to be one of Carey's most popular and inspirational songs of her career. The song became Carey's eighth chart topper in the United States, and began expanding Carey's popularity throughout Europe. With the release of the album's third single, Carey achieved several career milestones. Her cover of Badfinger's "Without You" became her first number one single in several European countries, including Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Due to the song's success, ''Music Box'' spent prolonged periods at number one on the album charts of several countries, and eventually became one of the best-selling albums of all time, with worldwide sales of over 32 million copies. After declining to tour for her past two albums, Carey agreed to embark on a short stateside string of concerts, titled the Music Box Tour. Spanning only six dates across North America, the short but successful tour was a large step for Carey, who dreaded the hassle of touring.

Following ''Music Box'', Carey took a relatively large period of time away from the public eye, and began working on an unknown project throughout 1994. The project was kept very secretive until ''Billboard'' announced on their October issue, that Carey would release a holiday album later that year. In late 1994, Carey recorded a duet with Luther Vandross; a cover of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross's "Endless Love". By that point, Columbia felt Carey had already established herself as a pop singer, and vocalist, but wanted to to try and feature her as more of an entertainer. Through the release of ''Merry Christmas'', Columbia hoped that audiences would buy Carey's material solely for her name and reputation, and squash fears of her being a typical pop singer. The album was released on November 1, 1994, on the same day that the album's first single, "All I Want for Christmas Is You", was released. The album eventually became the best-selling Christmas album of all time, with global sales reaching over 15 million copies. Additionally, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was critically lauded, and is considered "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon." ''Rolling Stone'' described it as a "holiday standard", and ranked it fourth on its Greatest Rock and Roll Christmas Songs list. Commercially, it became the best-selling holiday ringtone of all time, and the best-selling single by a non-Asian artist in Japan, selling over 2.1 million units (both ringtone and digital download). By the end of the holiday season of 1994, Carey and Afanasieff had already begun writing material for her next studio album, which would be released in the fall of of the following year.

Released on October 3, 1995, ''Daydream'' combined the pop sensibilities of ''Music Box'' with downbeat R&B; and hip hop influences. The album's second single, "One Sweet Day" was inspired by the death of Cole, as well as her sister Allison, who had contracted AIDS. The song remained atop the Hot 100 for a record-breaking sixteen weeks, and became the longest running number one song in history. ''Daydream'' became her biggest-selling album in the United States, and became her second album to be certified Diamond by the RIAA, following ''Music Box''. The album again was the best-seller by an international artist in Japan, shifting over 2.2 million copies, and eventually reaching global sales of over 25 million units. Critically, the album was heralded as Carey's best to date; ''The New York Times'' named it as one of 1995's best albums, and wrote, "best cuts bring 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." Carey once again opted to embark on a short world tour titled Daydream World Tour. It had seven dates, three in Japan and four throughout Europe. When tickets went on sale, Carey set records when all 150,000 tickets for her three shows at Japan's largest stadium, Tokyo Dome sold out in under three hours, breaking the previous record help by The Rolling Stones. Due to the album's success, Carey won two awards at the American Music Awards for her solo efforts: Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B; Female Artist. ''Daydream'' and its singles were respectively nominated in six categories at the 38th Grammy Awards. Carey, along with Boyz II Men, opened the event with a performance of "One Sweet Day". However, Carey did not receive any award, prompting her to comment "What can you do? I will never be disappointed again. After I sat through the whole show and didn't win once, I can handle anything." In 1995, due to ''Daydream''s enormous Japanese sales, ''Billboard'' declared Carey the "Overseas Artist of the Year" in Japan.

1997–2000: New image and independence, ''Butterfly'' and ''Rainbow''

" }} After the release of ''Daydream'' and the success that followed, Carey began focusing on her personal life, which was a constant struggle at the time. Carey's relationship with Mottola began to deteriorate, due to their growing creative differences in terms of her albums, as well as his controlling nature. With each following album, and her continual established fame and popularity, Carey began to take more initiative and control with her music, and started infusing more genres into her work. During mid-1997, Carey was well underway, writing and recording material for her next album, ''Butterfly'' (1997). She sought to work with other producers and writers other than Afansieff, such as Sean Combs, Kamaal Fareed, Missy Elliott and Jean Claude Oliver and Samuel Barnes from Trackmasters. During the album's recording, Carey and Mottola separated, with Carey citing is as her way of achieving freedom, and a new lease on life. Aside from the album's different approach, critics took notice of Carey's altered style of singing, which she describe as breathy vocals. Her new-found style of singing was met with mixed reception; some critics felt is was a sign of maturity, that she didn't feel the need to always show off her upper range, while others felt it was a sign of her weakening and waning voice. The album's lead single, "Honey", and its accompanying music video, introduced a more overtly sexual image than Carey had ever demonstrated, and furthered reports of her freedom from Mottola. Carey stated that ''Butterfly'' marked the point when she attained full creative control over her music. However, she added, "I don't think that it's that much of a departure from what I've done in the past [...] It's not like I went psycho and thought I would be a rapper. Personally, this album is about doing whatever the hell I wanted to do." Growing creative differences with producer Afanasieff continued, and eventually ended their working relationship, after collaborating on most of Carey's material. Reviews for ''Butterfly'' were generally positive: ''Rolling Stone'' wrote, "It's not as if Carey has totally dispensed with her old saccharine, Houston-style balladry [...] but the predominant mood of 'Butterfly' is one of coolly erotic reverie. [... Except "Outside" the album sounds] very 1997. [...] Carey has spread her wings and she's ready to fly", Allmusic editor, Stephen Thomas Erlewine described Carey's vocals as "sultrier and more controlled than ever", and heralded ''Butterfly'' as her "best record and illustrates that Carey continues to improve and refine her music, which makes her a rarity among her '90s peers." The album was a commercial success, although not to the degree of her previous three albums.

Toward the turn of the millennium, Carey began developing other projects, many of which she wasn't able to during her marriage. On April 14, 1998, Carey partook in the VH1 Divas benefit concert, where she sang alongside Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Gloria Estefan and Carole King. Carey had begun developing a film project ''All That Glitters'', later re-titled to simply ''Glitter'', and intended her songwriting to other projects, such as ''Men in Black'' (1997) and ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' (2000). After ''Glitter'' fell into developmental hell, Carey postponed the project, and began writing material for a new album. The executives at Sony Music, the parent company of Carey's label Columbia, wanted her to prepare a greatest hits collection in time for the commercially favorable holiday season. However, they disagreed as to what content and singles should constitute the album. Sony wanted to release an album that featured her number one singles in the United States, and her international chart toppers on the European versions, void of any new material, while Carey felt that a compilation album should reflect on her most personal songs, not just her most commercial. She felt that not including any new material would result in cheating her fans, therefore including four new songs that she had recorded. While compromised, Carey often expressed distaste towards the album's song selection, expressing her disappointment in the omission of her "favorite songs". The album titled, ''#1's'' (1998), featured a duet with Whitney Houston, "When You Believe", and was included on the soundtrack for ''The Prince of Egypt'' (1998). During the development of ''All That Glitters'', Carey had been introduced to DreamWorks producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, who asked her if she would record the song "When You Believe" for the soundtrack to the animated film ''The Prince of Egypt''. In an interview with ''Ebony'', Houston described working with Carey, as well as their growing friendship: "Mariah and I got along very great. We had never talked and never sang together before. We just had a chance for camaraderie, singer-to-singer, artist-to-artist, that kind of thing. We just laughed and talked and laughed and talked and sang in between that ... It's good to know that two ladies of soul and music can still be friends." ''#1's'' became a phenomenon in Japan, selling over one million copies in its opening week, and placing as the only international artist to accomplish this feat. When describing Carey's popularity in Japan throughout the 1990s, author Chris Nickson compared it to Beatlemania in the 1960s. The album sold over 3.25 million copies in Japan after only the first three months, and holds the record as the best-selling album by a non-Asian artist, while amassing global sales of over 17 million copies.

During the spring of 1999, Carey began working on the final album of her record contract with Sony, her ex-husband's label. During this time, Carey's strained relationship with Sony affected her work with writing partner Afanasieff, who had worked extensively with Carey throughout the first half of her career. She felt Mottola was trying to separate her from Afanasieff, in hopes of keeping their relationship permanently strained. Due to the pressure and the awkward relationship Carey had now developed with Sony, she completed the album in a period of three months in the summer of 1999, quicker than any of her other albums. The album, titled ''Rainbow'' (1999), found Carey once again working with a new array of music producers and songwriters, such as Jay-Z and DJ Clue. Carey also wrote two ballads with David Foster and Diane Warren, whom she seemingly used to replace Afanasieff. ''Rainbow'' was released on November 2, 1999, to the highest first week sales of her career at the time, however debuting at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200. Throughout early-2000, Carey's troubled relationship with Columbia grew, as they halted promotion after the album's first two singles. They felt ''Rainbow'' didn't have any strong single to be released, whereas Carey wanted a ballad regarding personal and inner strength released. The difference in opinion led to a very public feud, as Carey began posting messages on her webpage in early and mid-2000, telling fans inside information on the dispute, as well as instructing them to request "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" on radio stations. One of the messages Carey left on her page read: "Basically, a lot of you know the political situation in my professional career is not positive. It's been really, really hard. I don't even know if this message is going to get to you because I don't know if they want you to hear this. I'm getting a lot of negative feedback from certain corporate people. But I am not willing to give up." Fearing to lose their label's highest seller, Sony chose to release the song. Carey, initially content with the agreement, soon found out that the song had only been given a very limited and low-promotion release, which made charting extremely difficult and unlikely. Critical reception of ''Rainbow'' was generally enthusiastic, with the ''Sunday Herald'' saying that the album "sees her impressively tottering between soul ballads and collaborations with R&B; heavyweights like Snoop Doggy Dogg and Usher [...] It's a polished collection of pop-soul." ''Vibe'' magazine expressed similar sentiments, writing, "She pulls out all stops [...] ''Rainbow'' will garner even more adoration". Though a commercial success, ''Rainbow'' became Carey's lowest selling album to that point in her career.

2001–04: ''Glitter''; personal and professional struggles

After she received ''Billboard'''s Artist of the Decade Award and the World Music Award for Best-Selling Female Artist of the Millennium, Carey parted from Columbia and signed a record-breaking $100 million five-album recording contract with Virgin Records (EMI Records), Carey was given full conceptual and creative control over the project. She opted to record an album partly mixed with 1980s influenced disco and other similar genres, in order to go hand-in-hand with the film's setting. She often stated that Columbia had regarded her as a commodity, with her separation from Mottola exacerbating her relations with label executives. Just a few months later, in July 2001, it was widely reported that Carey had suffered a physical and emotional breakdown. She had left messages on her website that complained of being overworked, and her relationship with the Latin icon Luis Miguel ended. In an interview the following year, she said, "I was with people who didn't really know me and I had no personal assistant. I'd do interviews all day long and get two hours of sleep a night, if that." Due to the pressure from the media, her heavy work schedule and the split from Miguel, Carey began posting a series of disturbing messages on her official website, and displayed erratic behavior on several live promotional outings. On July 19, 2001, Carey made a surprise appearance on the MTV program ''Total Request Live'' (TRL). As the show's host Carson Daly began taping following a commercial break, Carey came out pushing an ice cream cart while wearing a large men's shirt, and began a striptease, in which she shed her shirt to reveal a tight yellow and green ensemble. While she later revealed that Daly was aware of her presence in the building prior to her appearance, Carey's appearance on TRL garnered strong media attention. Only days later, Carey began posting irregular voice notes and messages on her official website: "I'm trying to understand things in life right now and so I really don't feel that I should be doing music right now. What I'd like to do is just a take a little break or at least get one night of sleep without someone popping up about a video. All I really want is [to] just be me and that's what I should have done in the first place ... I don't say this much but guess what, I don't take care of myself." Following the quick removal of the messages, Berger commented that Carey had been "obviously exhausted and not thinking clearly" when she posted the letters.

On July 26, she was suddenly hospitalized, citing "extreme exhaustion" and a "physical and emotional breakdown". Carey was inducted at an un-disclosed hospital in Connecticut, and remained hospitalized and under doctor's care for two weeks, followed by an extended absence from the public. Following the heavy media coverage surrounding Carey's publicized breakdown and hospitalization, Virgin Records and 20th Century Fox delayed the release of both ''Glitter'', as well as its soundtrack of the same name. Consequently, critics suggested that in delaying ''Glitter'', hype for the project would have largely subsided, and would possibly hurt both ticket and album sales. When discussing the project's weak commercial reaction, Carey blamed both her frame of mind during the time of its release, its postponement, as well as the soundtrack having been released on September 11. Critics panned ''Glitter'', as well as its accompanying soundtrack; both were unsuccessful commercially. The accompanying soundtrack album, ''Glitter'', became Carey's lowest-selling album to that point. The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' dismissed it as "an absolute mess that'll go down as an annoying blemish on a career that, while not always critically heralded, was at least nearly consistently successful." Following the negative cloud that was ensuing Carey's personal life at the time, as well as the project's poor reception, her unprecedented $100 million five-album record deal with Virgin Records (EMI Records) was bought out for $50 million. Soon after, Carey flew to Capri, Italy for a period of five months, in which she began writing material for her new album, stemming from all the personal experiences she had endured throughout the past year. Carey later said that her time at Virgin was "a complete and total stress-fest [...] I made a total snap decision which was based on money and I never make decisions based on money. I learned a big lesson from that." Later that year, she signed a contract with Island Records, valued at more than $24 million, and launched the record label MonarC. To add further to Carey's emotional burdens, her father, with whom she had little contact since childhood, died of cancer that year.

In 2002, Carey was cast in the independent film, ''WiseGirls'', alongside Mira Sorvino and Melora Walters, who co-starred as waitresses at a mobster-operated restaurant. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and received generally negative critical response, though Carey's portrayal of the character was praised; Roger Friedman of Fox News referred to her as "a Thelma Ritter for the new millennium", and wrote , "Her line delivery is sharp and she manages to get the right laughs". Later that year, Carey performed the American national anthem to rave reviews at the Super Bowl XXXVI at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. Towards the end of 2002, Carey released her next studio album ''Charmbracelet'', which she said marked "a new lease on life" for her. Though released in the wake of ''Glitter'' and Carey's return to the music scene, sales of ''Charmbracelet'' were moderate and the quality of Carey's vocals came under criticism. Joan Anderson from ''The Boston Globe'' declared the album "the worst of her career, and revealed a voice [that is] no longer capable of either gravity-defying gymnastics or soft coos", while Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine expressed similar sentiments and wrote, "What is a greater problem is that Mariah's voice is shot, sounding in tatters throughout the record. She can no longer coo or softly croon nor can she perform her trademark gravity-defying vocal runs." In an attempt to "relaunch" her career following the poor reception to ''Glitter'', as well as her breakdown, Carey announced a world tour in April 2003. Lasting over eight months, the Charmbracelet World Tour: An Intimate Evening with Mariah Carey, became her most extensive tour to date, spanning sixty-nine shows around the world. Throughout the United States, the shows were done in smaller theaters, and something more Broadway-influenced, "It's much more intimate so you'll feel like you had an experience. You experience a night with me." However, while smaller productions were booked throughout the tour's stateside leg, Carey performed at stadiums in Asia and Europe, performing for a crowd of over 35,000 in Manila, 50,000 in Malaysia, and to over 70,000 people in China. In the United Kingdom, it became Carey's first tour to feature shows outside of London, booking arena stops in Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester. Charmbracelet World Tour: An Intimate Evening with Mariah Carey garnered generally positive reviews from music critics and concert goers, with many complimenting the quality of Carey's live vocals, as well as the production as a whole.

2005–07: Return to prominence with ''The Emancipation of Mimi''

Throughout 2004, Carey focused on composing material for her tenth studio album, ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' (2005). The album found Carey working predominantly with Jermaine Dupri, as well as Bryan-Michael Cox, Manuel Seal, The Neptunes, Kanye West and Carey's longtime collaborator, Jermaine Dupri. The album debuted atop the charts in several countries, 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", while ''USA Today''s Elysa Gardner wrote, "The ballads and midtempo numbers that truly reflect the renewed confidence of a songbird who has taken her shots and kept on flying." The album's second single, "We Belong Together", became a "career re-defining" song for Carey, at a point when many critics had considered her career over. music critics heralded the song as her "return to form", as well as the "return of The Voice", while many felt it would revive "faith" in Carey's potential as a balladeer. "We Belong Together" broke several records in the United States and became Carey's sixteenth chart topper on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. After staying at number one for fourteen non-consecutive weeks, the song became the second longest running number one song in US chart history, behind Carey's 1996 collaboration with Boyz II Men, "One Sweet Day". ''Billboard'' listed it as the "song of the decade" and the ninth most popular song of all time. Besides its chart success, the song broke several airplay records, and according to Nielsen BDS, gathered both the largest one-day and one-week audiences in history.

During the week of September 25, 2005, Carey set another record, becoming the first female 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" held the number two spot. On the Billboard Hot 100 Year-end Chart of 2005, the song was declared the number one song, a career first for Carey. ''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''. The album earned ten Grammy Award nominations in 2006–07: eight in 2006 for the original release (the most received by Carey in a single year), and two in 2007 for the ''Ultra Platinum Edition''. In 2006 Carey won Best Contemporary R&B; Album for ''The Emancipation of Mimi'', as well as Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance and Best R&B; Song for "We Belong Together". ''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. At the end of 2005, the IFPI reported that ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' had sold more than 7.7 million copies globally, and was the second best-selling album of the year after Coldplay's ''X&Y;''. It was the best-selling album worldwide by a solo and female artist. To date, ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' has sold over 12 million copies worldwide. At the 48th Grammy Awards, Carey performed a medley of "We Belong Together" and "Fly Like a Bird". The performance earned the night's only standing ovation, prompting Teri Hatcher, who was presenting the next award, to exclaim, "It's like we've all just been saved!"

In support of the album, Carey embarked on her first headlining tour in three years, named The Adventures of Mimi: The Voice, The Hits, The Tour after a "Carey-centric fan's" music diary. The tour spanned forty stops, with thirty-two in the United States and Canada, two in Africa, and six in Japan. Tickets for the tour went on sale on June 2, 2006, with prices ranging from $95 to $150 USD, and featured Carey's long-time friend Randy Jackson as the tour's musical director. Carey's performances consisted of old songs from her catalog as well as her newest singles. The tour received warm critical reaction from music critics and concert goers, many of which celebrated the quality of Carey's live vocals, as well as the show as a whole. However, critics felt the show's excesses, such as Carey's often costume changes and pre-filmed clips, were unnecessary distractions. The tour proved successful, with Carey playing to over 60,000 fans in the two stop in Tunis alone. Midway through the tour, Carey booked a two-night concert engagement in Hong Kong, which was scheduled to take place following her Japanese shows. The shows were cancelled, however, after tickets went on sale. According to Carey's then-manager Benny Medina, the cancellation was due to the concert promoter's refusal to pay Carey her agreed-upon compensation. The promoter instead blamed poor ticket sales (allegedly, only 4,000 tickets had sold) and "Carey's outrageous demands". Carey ultimately sued the promoter, claiming $1 million in damages due to the concert's abrupt cancellation.

2007–09: ''E=MC²'', second marriage, and acting breakthrough

By spring 2007, Carey had begun to work on her eleventh studio album, ''E=MC²'', in a private villa in Anguilla. When asked regarding the album title's meaning, Carey said "Einstein's theory? Physics? ''Me?'' Hello! ...Of course I'm poking fun." She characterized it as "''Emancipation of Mimi'' to the second power", and said that she was "freer" on this album than any other. Although ''E=MC²'' was well received by most critics, some of them criticized it for being very similar to the formula used on ''The Emancipation of Mimi''. Two weeks before the album's release, "Touch My Body", the record's lead single reached the top position on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Carey's eighteenth number one and making her the solo artist with the most number one singles in United States history, surpassing the record held by Elvis Presley. Additionally, it gave Carey her 79th week atop the Hot 100, tying her with Presley as the artist with the most weeks at number one in the ''Billboard'' chart history." ''E=MC²'' debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 with 463,000 copies sold, the biggest opening week sales of her career. With six number one albums, Carey is now tied with Britney Spears and Janet Jackson in the United States for the third most number one albums for a female artist, behind Madonna with seven and Barbra Streisand's nine chart toppers. In 2008, ''Billboard'' magazine ranked her at number six on the "Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists", making Carey the second most successful female artist in the history of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Carey and actor/comedian Nick Cannon met while they shot her music video for her second single, "Bye Bye", on an island off the coast of Antigua. On April 30, 2008, Carey married Cannon at her private estate on Windermere Island in The Bahamas. Carey had a cameo appearance in Adam Sandler's 2008 film ''You Don't Mess with the Zohan'', playing herself. On January 20, 2009, Carey performed "Hero" at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball after Barack Obama was sworn as America's first African-American president. On July 7, 2009, Carey – alongside Trey Lorenz – performed her version of The Jackson 5 song "I'll Be There" at the memorial service for Michael Jackson. At the sight of Jackson's casket, Carey's voice, overwhelmed with emotion, cracked in the opening line of the song. She later apologized on ''The Today Show'', explaining how she did her best effort despite the circumstances.

In 2009, she appeared as a social worker in ''Precious'', the movie adaptation of the 1996 novel ''Push'' by Sapphire. The film garnered mostly positive reviews from critics, as has Carey's performance. ''Variety'' described her acting as "pitch-perfect". ''Precious'' won awards at both the Sundance Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival, receiving top honors there. In January 2010, Carey won the Breakthrough Actress Performance Award for her role in ''Precious'' at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. September 25, 2009, Carey's twelfth studio album, ''Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel'', was released. Reception for the album was generally positive, but mixed in certain aspects; Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic called it "her most interesting album in a decade", while Jon Caramanica from ''The New York Times'' criticized Carey's vocal performances, decrying her overuse of her softer vocal registers at the expense of her more powerful lower and upper registers. Commercially, the album debuted at number three on the ''Billboard'' 200, and became the lowest-selling studio album of her career. The album's lead single, "Obsessed", became her 40th entry on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and her highest debut on the chart since "My All" in 1998. The song debuted at number eleven and peaked at number seven on the chart, and became Carey's 27th US top-ten hit, tying her with Elton John and Janet Jackson as the fifth most top-ten hits. Within hours after the song's release, various outlets speculated that its target was rapper Eminem, in response to his song "Bagpipes from Baghdad", in which he taunted Carey's husband, Nick Cannon. According to MTV, Carey alludes to drug problems in "Obsessed", which Eminem opened up about on his sixth studio album, ''Relapse''. The album's follow-up single, a cover of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is", failed to achieve any significant chart success in the United States, or much throughout Europe, but managed to break airplay records in Brazil. The song spent 27 weeks atop the Brasil Hot 100 Airplay, making it the longest running song in the chart's history. On December 31, 2009, Carey embarked her seventh concert tour, Angels Advocate Tour, which visited the United States and Canada. Though stateside, the tour spanned few international dates, such as in Brazil and Singapore, where Carey played to over 100,000 spectators. On January 30, 2010, it was announced that Carey would release a remix album of ''Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel''; titled ''Angels Advocate'' (an R&B; remix album featuring a collection of newly remixed duets with some of Carey's favorite artists). The album was slated for a March 30, 2010 release, but was eventually cancelled.

2010–present: ''Merry Christmas II You'', motherhood and fourteenth studio album

Following the cancellation of the ''Angels Advocate'', it was announced that Carey would return to the studio to start work on her thirteenth studio album. It was later revealed that it would be her second Christmas album, the follow-up to ''Merry Christmas'' (1994), which became the best-selling Holiday album of all time. Long time collaborators for the project include Jermaine Dupri, Johntá Austin, Bryan-Michael Cox and Randy Jackson, as well as new collaborators such as Marc Shaiman. Dupri stated that a single would be released alongside the album before the year's end. During a press conference in Seoul, South Korea, in August 2010, Island Def Jam executive Matt Voss announced that the album would be out on November 2, 2010. and would include six new songs and a remix of her classic hit "All I Want for Christmas Is You". The album, titled ''Merry Christmas II You'', was released alongside an accompanying DVD, and was sent to retailers on November 2, 2010. ''Merry Christmas II You'' debuted at number four on the ''Billboard'' 200 with sales of 56,000 copies, surpassing the opening week sales of Carey's previous holiday album of 45,000 copies 16 years prior. It also became Carey's 16th top ten album in the United States. The album debuted at number one on the R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart, making it only the second Christmas album to top this chart.

In May 2010, Carey dropped out of her planned appearance in ''For Colored Girls'', the film adaptation of the play ''For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf'', citing medical reasons. After much media speculation, Carey confirmed on October 28, 2010, that she and Cannon were expecting a baby, and that she would be due in the spring of 2011. Carey also revealed that she had been pregnant shortly after her wedding with Cannon, but she miscarried. On April 30, 2011, the couple's third wedding anniversary, Carey gave birth to fraternal twins via C-section. The twins were named Monroe, after Marilyn Monroe, and Moroccan Scott, after Cannon proposed to Carey in her Moroccan-style room; Scott is Cannon's middle name and his grandmother's maiden name. On February 11, 2011, Carey announced on HSN, that she recorded a duet with Tony Bennett for his upcoming "Duets" album, titled "When Do The Bells Ring For Me". Following the birth of their children, Cannon revealed during an interview with ''Billboard'' that Carey had already begun working on a new record. Cannon said "She's been working away, and we have a studio in the crib, and [the pregnancy] has totally inspired her on so many different levels. You're definitely gonna see some new phenomenal music from Mariah" and assured Carey would plan on releasing it by the end of the year. In October 2011, Carey announced that she re-recorded her song "All I Want for Christmas Is You" with Justin Bieber as a duet for his Christmas album, ''Under the Mistletoe''. On November 5, 2011, Carey and Bieber filmed a music video for the duet at the Macy's in New York City. On October 21, 2011, a pre-taped interview with Barbara Walters aired on ABC's 20/20, during the interview Carey and Cannon allowed the cameras to photograph/film twins Moroccan and Monroe for the first time ever. In November 2011, Carey was included in the remix to the mixtape single "Warning" by Uncle Murda, the remix also features 50 Cent and Young Jeezy. That same month, Carey announced that she and John Legend collaborated on a duet, "When Christmas Comes", which was originally part of Carey's 2010 holiday album "Merry Christmas II You".

Artistry

Musical style

Love is the subject of the majority of Carey's lyrics, although she has written about themes such as racism, social alienation, death, world hunger, and spirituality. She has said that much of her work is partly autobiographical, but ''Time'' magazine wrote: "If only Mariah Carey's music had the drama of her life. Her songs are often sugary and artificial—NutraSweet soul. But her life has passion and conflict," applying it to the first stages of her career. He commented that as her album's progressed, so too her songwriting and music blossomed into more mature and meaningful material. Jim Faber of the ''New York Daily News'', made similar comments, "For Carey, vocalizing is all about the performance, not the emotions that inspired it. Singing, to her, represents a physical challenge, not an emotional unburdening." While reviewing ''Music Box'', Stephen Holden from ''Rolling Stone'' commented that Carey sang with "sustained passion", while ''Entertainment Weekly''s Arion Berger wrote that during some vocal moments, Carey becomes "too overwhelmed to put her passion into words." In 2001, ''The Village Voice'' wrote in regards to what they considered Carey's "centerless ballads", writing, "Carey's Strawberry Shortcake soul still provides the template with which teen-pop cuties draw curlicues around those centerless [Diane] Warren ballads [...] it's largely because of [Blige] that the new R&B; demands a greater range of emotional expression, smarter poetry, more from-the-gut testifying, and less unnecessary notes than the squeaky-clean and just plain squeaky Mariah era. Nowadays it's the Christina Aguileras and Jessica Simpsons who awkwardly oversing, while the women with roof-raising lung power keep it in check when tune or lyric demands."

Carey's output makes use of electronic instruments such as drum machines, keyboards and synthesizers. Many of her songs contain piano-driven melodies, as she was given piano lessons when she was six years old. Carey said that she cannot read sheet music and prefers to collaborate with a pianist when composing her material, but feels that it is easier to experiment with faster and less conventional melodies and chord progressions using this technique. While Carey learned to play the piano at a young age, and incorporates several ranges of production and instrumentation into her music, she has maintained that her voice has always been her most important asset: "My voice is my instrument; it always has been." Carey began commissioning remixes of her material early in her career and helped to spearhead the practice of recording entirely new vocals for remixes. Disc jockey David Morales has collaborated with Carey on several occasions, starting with "Dreamlover" (1993), which popularized the tradition of remixing R&B; songs into house records, and which ''Slant'' magazine named one of the greatest dance songs of all time. From "Fantasy" (1995) onward, Carey enlisted both hip-hop and house producers to re-structure her album compositions. ''Entertainment Weekly'' included two remixes of "Fantasy" on a list of Carey's greatest recordings compiled in 2005: a National Dance Music Award-winning remix produced by Morales, and a Sean Combs production featuring rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard. The latter has been credited with popularizing the R&B;/hip-hop collaboration trend that has continued into the 2000s, through artists such as Ashanti and Beyoncé. Combs said that Carey "knows the importance of mixes, so you feel like you're with an artist who appreciates your work—an artist who wants to come up with something with you".

Voice and timbre

Mariah Carey possesses a 5-octave vocal range, and has the ability to reach notes beyond the 7th octave. 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. Carey said of the poll, "What it really means is voice of the MTV generation. Of course, it's an enormous compliment, but I don't feel that way about myself." She also placed second in ''Cove'' magazine's list of "The 100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists".

Regarding her voice type, Carey said that she is alto, while French-American baritone and singing teacher in the Conservatoire de Paris Malcolm Walker states that she is light lyric soprano, "because the upper register is much more healthy than the lower register." However, within contemporary forms of music, singers are classified by the style of music they sing. There is currently no authoritative voice classification system within non-classical music. Attempts have been made to adopt classical voice type terms to other forms of singing, but they are controversial, because the development of classic voice categorizations were made with the understanding that the singer would amplify his or her voice with their natural resonators, without a microphone.

Baritone Malcolm Walker as well as music critic Stephen Holden of ''The New York Times'' and vocal pedagogue Jeannette Lo Vetri describes Carey's voice as "pure, full, rounded and warm", adding that belting and head voices has a great brightness. Malcolm Walker praise her belting voice, saying it "works very well" and states that Carey "passes easily in head voice. It's her true voice." The middle register is "ample and full" and the voice resonates with strong vibrato. Jon Pareles, of ''The New York Times'', describes Carey's lower register as "rich" and "husky", on the other hand, Walker, Holden, and Lo Vetri state it's "tired", "distended" in its lowest parts. Carey also possesses a "whisper register". In an interview with the singer, Ron Givens of ''Entertainment Weekly'' described it this way, "In one brief swoop, she seems to squeal and roar at the same time: whisper register." Additionally, towards the late 1990s, Carey began incorporating breathy vocals into her material, usually beginning the song and then building up to a "full throated" climax. Tim Levell from the BBC News described her vocals as "sultry close-to-the-mic breathiness", while ''USA Today''s Elysa Gardner wrote "it's impossible to deny the impact her vocal style, a florid blend of breathy riffing and resonant belting, has had on today's young pop and R&B; stars." Tenor Juan Diego Flórez has described her whistle register in detail, saying "Her whistle register is beautiful, fluid, very free and resonant—she has a "ring" in it. She shows an exceptionnal texture manipulation in this register : It can be bright, silky, crystalline, airy, piercing, metallic. She can imitate an electric guitar, a bird chirping, a piccolo... She can also phrase in that register. And the greatest thing about her whistle is that she use it for express different moods and feelings. She is the only pop singer who do that."

Voice experts praise Carey's vocal technique, stating that she can deliver very fast staccatos, marcato, portato and arpeggios with great control, "always keeps a neutral larynx position—except sometimes in her lower register" and "glides effortlessly from bottom to top and vice versa." Diego Flórez said "either in chest, head voices and whistle, she has a gorgeous mastery of dynamics" and describes her legato as "silky." Carey's musicianship is of high-level. Soprano Montserrat Caballé and Diego Flòrez said she has a "refined", "subtle" phrasing, a "perfect" sense of rhythm, and a high architectural sense of line-proportion, climax and resolve, ideas and themes. Jon Pareles adds "she can linger over sensual turns, ... syncopate like a scat singer." Her sense of pitch is admired, Flórez specify that "no matter how fast she executes her melismas, she always stay in tune."

Influences

Carey has said that from childhood she has been influenced by R&B; and soul musicians such as Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. Her music contains strong influences of gospel music, and she credits The Clark Sisters, Shirley Caesar and Edwin Hawkins as the most influential in her early years. When Carey incorporated hip-hop into her sound, speculation arose that she was making an attempt to take advantage of the genre's popularity, but she told ''Newsweek'', "People just don't understand. I grew up with this music". She has expressed appreciation for rappers such as The Sugarhill Gang, Eric B. & Rakim, the Wu-Tang Clan, The Notorious B.I.G. and Mobb Deep, with whom she collaborated on the single "The Roof (Back in Time)" (1998). Carey was heavily influenced by Minnie Riperton, and began experimenting with the whistle register due to her original practice of the range.

During Carey's career, her vocal and musical style, along with her level of success, has been compared to Whitney Houston and Celine Dion. Carey and her peers, according to Garry Mulholland, are "the princesses of wails [...] virtuoso vocalists who blend chart-oriented pop with mature MOR torch song". Author and writer Lucy O'Brien attributed the comeback of Barbra Streisand's "old-fashioned showgirl" to Carey and Dion, and described them and Houston as "groomed, airbrushed and overblown to perfection". Carey's musical transition and use of more revealing clothing during the late 1990s were, in part, initiated to distance herself from this image, and she subsequently said that most of her early work was "schmaltzy MOR". Some have noted that unlike Houston and Dion, Carey co-writes her own songs, and the ''Guinness Rockopedia'' (1998) classified her as the "songbird supreme".

Legacy

Carey's vocal style and singing ability have significantly impacted popular and contemporary music. As music critic G. Brown from ''The Denver Post'' wrote, "For better or worse, Mariah Carey's five-octave range and melismatic style have influenced a generation of pop singers." According to ''Rolling Stone'', "Her mastery of melisma, the fluttering strings of notes that decorate songs like "Vision of Love", inspired the entire ''American Idol'' vocal school, for better or worse, and virtually every other female R&B; singer since the Nineties." Jody Rosen of ''Slate Magazine'' wrote of Carey's influence in modern music, calling her the most influential vocal stylist of the last two decades, the person who made rococo melismatic singing. Rosen further exemplified Carey’s influence by drawing parallel with American Idol, which to her, “often played out as a clash of melisma-mad Mariah wannabes. And, today, nearly 20 years after Carey's debut, major labels continue to bet the farm on young stars such as the winner of Britain's X Factor show, Leona Lewis, with her Generation Next gloss on Mariah's big voice and big hair." Sean Daly of ''St. Petersburg Times'' wrote, "Depending on how you feel about public humiliation, the best/worst parts of American Idol are the audition shows, which normally break down into three distinct parts:(1) The Talented Kids.(2) The Weird Kids.(3) The Mariahs." Daly further commented, "The Mariahs are the hardest ones to watch, mainly because most of them think they're reeeaaally good. The poor, disillusioned hopefuls plant themselves in front of judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson – then proceed to stretch, break and mutilate every note of a song, often Mariah's Hero, a tune that has ruined more throats than smoker's cough." ''New York Magazine's'' editor Roger Deckker said that in regarding Carey as an influential artist in music, he commented that "Whitney Houston may have introduced melisma (the vocally acrobatic style of lending a word an extra syllable or twenty) to the charts, but it was Mariah—with her jaw-dropping range—who made it into America’s default sound." Deckker also added that "Every time you turn on American Idol, you are watching her children". Despite her vocal prowess, Carey's vocal technique particularly with the use of melisma and belting, has been subject to public scrutiny mainly because of young singers such as from talent shows have been overly imitating her singing technique in which critics commented "Mariah Carey is, without a doubt, the worst thing to happen to amateur singing since the karaoke machine". As Professor Katherine L. Meizel noted in her book, ‘’The Mediation of Identity Politics in American Idol’’, “Carey’s influence not just stops in the emulation of melisma or her singing amongst the wannabe’s, it’s also her persona, her diva, her stardom which inspires them.... a pre-fame conic look.”

}} Carey’s influence is notable in numerous hip hop, pop and R&B; artists, including Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Christina Aguilera, Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, Nelly Furtado, Leona Lewis, Brandy Norwood, Jessica Simpson, Pink, and Missy Elliott, among others. Knowles credits Carey's singing and her song "Vision of Love" as influencing her to begin practicing vocal "runs" as a child, as well as helping her pursue a career as a musician. Rihanna has stated that Carey is one of her major influences and idol. Christina Aguilera has cited in her early stages of her career that Carey is a big influence in her singing career and being one of her idols. According to Pier Dominguez, author of ''Christina Aguilera: a star is made : the unauthorized biography'', Aguilera has stated how she loved listening to Whitney Houston, but it was Carey who had the biggest influence on her vocal styling. Carey's carefully choreographed image of a grown woman struck a chord on Aguilera. Her influence on Aguilera also grew from the fact that both were of mixed heritage. Philip Brasor, editor of ''The Japan Times'', expressed how Carey's vocal and melismatic style even influenced Asian singers. He wrote regarding Japanese superstar Utada Hikaru, "Utada sang what she heard, from the diaphragm and with her own take on the kind of melisma that became de rigueur in American pop after the ascendance of Mariah Carey." In an article called "Out With Mariah's Melisma, In With Kesha's Kick", writer David Browne of ''The New York Times'' discusses how the ubiquitous melisma pop style has suddenly fallen down from pop culture in favor of young stars who uses the now ubiquitous autotune in which the first mentioned was heavily popularized into mainstream pop culture with the likes of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. Browne had commented "But beginning two decades ago, melisma overtook pop in a way it hadn’t before. Mariah Carey’s debut hit from 1990, “Vision of Love,” followed two years later by Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You,” set the bar insanely high for notes stretched louder, longer and knottier than most pop fans had ever heard." Browne further added "A subsequent generation of singers, including Ms. Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé, built their careers around melisma. (Men like Brian McKnight and Tyrese also indulged in it, but women tended to dominate the form.)"

Carey is also credited for introducing R&B; and hip hop into mainstream pop culture, and for popularizing rap as a featuring act through her post-1995 songs. Sasha Frere-Jones, editor of ''The New Yorker'' commented, "It became standard for R&B;/hip-hop stars like Missy Elliott and Beyoncé, to combine melodies with rapped verses. And young white pop stars—including Britney Spears, 'N Sync, and Christina Aguilera—have spent much of the past ten years making pop music that is unmistakably R&B.;" Moreover Jones concludes that "[Carey’s] idea of pairing a female songbird with the leading male MCs of hip-hop changed R&B; and, eventually, all of pop. Although now anyone is free to use this idea, the success of “The Emancipation of Mimi” suggests that it still belongs to Carey." Judnick Mayard, writer of ''The Fader'', wrote that in regarding of R&B; and hip hop collaboration, "The champion of this movement is Mariah Carey." Mayard also expressed that "To this day ODB and Mariah may still be the best and most random hip hop collaboration of all time", citing that due to the record "Fantasy", "R&B; and Hip Hop were the best of step siblings." Kelfa Sanneh of ''The New York Times'' wrote, "In the mid-1990s Ms. Carey pioneered a subgenre that some people call the thug-love duet. Nowadays clean-cut pop stars are expected to collaborate with roughneck rappers, but when Ms. Carey teamed up with Ol' Dirty Bastard, of the Wu-Tang Clan, for the 1995 hit "Fantasy (Remix)", it was a surprise, and a smash." Aside from her pop culture and musical influence, Carey is credited for releasing a classic Christmas song called "All I Want For Christmas Is You". In a retrospective look at Carey's career, Sasha Frere-Jones of ''The New Yorker'' said, the "charming" song was one of Carey's biggest accomplishments, calling it "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon". ''Rolling Stone'' ranked "All I Want for Christmas Is You" fourth on its Greatest Rock and Roll Christmas Songs list, calling it a "holiday standard." Following the release of her ''Greatest Hits'' album, Devon Powers of Popmatters has said in his review that "She has influenced countless female vocalists after her. At 32, she is already a living legend—even if she never sings another note." Carey’s business ventures include the launch of her perfumes, her clothing line, and books. She has portrayed the true nature of being a superstar, according to sociologist Naomi Hirahara, and is a classic example of the word "diva". Carey is never seen without her large entourage, whether it be award shows, performances or as guests on late night specials. Hirahara says, "her demands are sporadic, her looks are glamorous, she is hardly of her age, but she is still ruling. Nowadays people emulate the idea of being a diva, but Carey was the original one in true sense of the term."

Honors and awards

Throughout Carey's career, she has collected many honors and awards, including the World Music Awards' Best Selling Female Artist of the Millennium, the Grammy's Best New Artist in 1991, ''Billboard'''s Special Achievement Award for the Artist of the Decade during the 1990s. In a career spanning over 20 years, Carey has sold over 200 million albums, singles, and videos worldwide, making her one of the biggest-selling artists in music history. Carey is ranked as the best-selling female artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era, with over 52 million copies sold. Possessing a five-octave vocal range, Carey was ranked first in MTV and ''Blender'' magazine's 2003 countdown of the 22 Greatest Voices in Music, and was placed second in ''Cove'' magazine's list of "The 100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists". Aside from her voice, she has become known for her songwriting. Yahoo Music editor Jason Ankeny wrote, "She earned frequent comparison to rivals Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, but did them both one better by composing all of her own material." According to ''Billboard'' magazine, she was the most successful artist of the 1990s in the United States. At the 2000 World Music Awards, Carey was given a Legend Award for being the "best-selling female pop artist of the millennium", as well as the "Best-selling artist of the 90s" in the United States, after releasing a series of albums of multi-platinum status in Asia and Europe, such as ''Music Box'' and ''Number 1's''. She is also a recipient of the Chopard Diamond Award in 2003, recognizing sales of over 100 million albums worldwide. Additionally, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) lists Carey as the third-best-selling female artist, with shipments of over 63 million units in the US. In Japan, Carey has the top four highest-selling albums of all time by a non-Asian artist.

Carey has spent a record 79 weeks at the number-one position on ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the artist with the most weeks at number-one in US chart history. On that same chart, she has accumulated 18 number-one singles, which ties her with Elvis Presley for the second most number-one singles in the chart's history (after only The Beatles). In 1994, Carey released her holiday album ''Merry Christmas'' has sold over 15 million copies worldwide, and is the best-selling Christmas album of all time. It also produced the successful single "All I Want for Christmas Is You", which became the only holiday song and ringtone to reach multi-platinum status in the US. In Japan, ''Number 1's'' has sold over 3,250,000 copies and is the best-selling album of all time in Japan by a non-Asian artist. Her hit single "One Sweet Day", which featured Boyz II Men, spent sixteen consecutive weeks at the top of ''Billboard''s Hot 100 chart in 1996, setting the record for the most weeks atop the Hot 100 chart in history. After Carey's success in Asia with ''Merry Christmas'', ''Billboard'' estimated Carey as the all-time best-selling international artist in Japan. In 2008, ''Billboard'' listed "We Belong Together" ninth on The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs and second on Top Billboard Hot 100 R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. The song was also declared the most popular song of the 2000s decade by ''Billboard''. In 2009, Carey's cover of Foreigner's song "I Want to Know What Love Is" became the longest-running number-one song in Brazilian singles chart history, spending 27 consecutive weeks at number-one. Additionally, Carey has had three songs debut at number-one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100: "Fantasy", "One Sweet Day" and "Honey", making her the artist with the most number-one debuts in the chart's 52-year history. Also, she is the first female artist to debut at number 1 in the U.S. with "Fantasy". In 2010, Carey's 13th album and second Christmas album, ''Merry Christmas II You'', debuted at No.1 on the R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart, making it only the second Christmas album to top that chart. On November 19, 2010, ''Billboard'' magazine named Carey in their "Top 50 R&B;/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years" chart at number four.

Philanthropy and other activities

Carey is a philanthropist who has donated time and money to organizations such as the Fresh Air Fund. She became associated with the Fund in the early 1990s, and is the co-founder of a camp located in Fishkill, New York, that enables inner-city youth to embrace the arts and introduces them to career opportunities. The camp was called Camp Mariah "for her generous support and dedication to Fresh Air children", and she received a Congressional Horizon Award for her youth-related charity work. She is well-known nationally for her work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation in granting the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses, and in November 2006 she was awarded the Foundation's Wish Idol for her "extraordinary generosity and her many wish granting achievements". Carey has volunteered for the New York City Police Athletic League and contributed to the obstetrics department of New York Presbyterian Hospital Cornell Medical Center. A percentage of the sales of ''MTV Unplugged'' was donated to various other charities. In 2008, Carey was named Hunger Ambassador of the World Hunger Relief Movement. In February 2010, the song, "100%", which was originally written and recorded for the film, ''Precious'', was used as one of the theme songs for the 2010 Winter Olympics, with all money proceeds going to Team USA.

One of Carey's most high-profile benefit concert appearances was on VH1's 1998 ''Divas Live'' special, during which she performed alongside other female singers in support of the Save the Music Foundation. The concert was a ratings success, and Carey participated in the Divas 2000 special. In 2007, the Save the Music Foundation honored Carey at their tenth gala event for her support towards the foundation since its inception. She appeared at the ''America: A Tribute to Heroes'' nationally televised fundraiser in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, and in December 2001, she performed before peacekeeping troops in Kosovo. Carey hosted the CBS television special ''At Home for the Holidays'', which documented real-life stories of adopted children and foster families, from the Wayback Machine on October 22, 2001. In 2005, Carey performed for Live 8 in London and at the Hurricane Katrina relief telethon "Shelter from the Storm". In August 2008, Carey and other singers recorded the charity single, "Just Stand Up" produced by Babyface and L. A. Reid, to support "Stand Up to Cancer".

Declining offers to appear in commercials in the United States during her early career, Carey was not involved in brand marketing initiatives until 2006, when she participated in endorsements for Intel Centrino personal computers and launched a jewelry and accessories line for teenagers, Glamorized, in American Claire's and Icing stores. During this period, as part of a partnership with Pepsi and Motorola, Carey recorded and promoted a series of exclusive ringtones, including "Time of Your Life". She signed a licensing deal with the cosmetics company Elizabeth Arden, and in 2007, she released her own fragrance, "M". In 2007, ''Forbes'' named her as the fifth richest woman in entertainment, with an estimated net worth of US $270 million. In November 2011, it was reported that Carey's net worth was valued at more than $500 million. On November 29, 2010, she debuted a collection on HSN, the collection range included jewelry, shoes and fragrances. In November 2011, Carey was announced as the new global ambassador for Jenny Craig, following her weight loss with the program after giving birth to fraternal twins in April. Carey claims she lost on the program.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	!scope="row"	Ilana
2001	!scope="row"	Billie Frank
2002	''WiseGirls''	Raychel
2003	''Death of a Dynasty''	Herself	Cameo appearance
2005	''State Property 2''	Dame's Wifey
2008	''You Don't Mess with the Zohan''	Herself	Cameo appearance
2009	!scope="row"	Krystal
2009	!scope="row"	Mrs. Weiss		Palm Springs International Film Festival>Palm Springs International Film Festival Breakthrough Performance Award	Capri Hollywood International Film Festival Award for Supporting Actress of the Year	Black Reel Awards of 2010>Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble	Boston Society of Film Critics>Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Ensemble Cast	Black Reel Awards of 2010>Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress	Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture	Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture	Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2009>Critics' Choice Awards for Best Acting Ensemble

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2002	''Ally McBeal''	Candy Cushnip
2003	''The Proud Family''	Herself	Voice role

Discography

''Mariah Carey'' (1990)

''Emotions'' (1991)

''Music Box'' (1993)

''Merry Christmas'' (1994)

''Daydream'' (1995)

''Butterfly'' (1997)

''Rainbow'' (1999)

''Glitter'' (2001)

''Charmbracelet'' (2002)

''The Emancipation of Mimi'' (2005)

''E=MC²'' (2008)

''Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel'' (2009)

''Merry Christmas II You'' (2010)

See also

List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance chart

List of awards received by Mariah Carey

List of best-selling music artists

List of best selling music artists in U.S.

List of Mariah Carey tours

Notes

References

Hardy, Phil. ''The Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music: Fully Revised Third Edition'' (2001). pg. 156–157. UK: Faber and Faber Limited. ISBN 0-571-19608-X.

Mulholland, Garry. ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music'' (2003). pg. 57. UK: Flame Tree Publishing. ISBN 1-904041-70-1.

''Fred Bronson's Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, 5th Edition'' (ISBN 0-8230-7677-6)

''Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Sixties'' (ISBN 0-89820-074-1)

''Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Nineties'' (ISBN 0-89820-137-3)

Additional information concerning Carey's chart history can be retrieved and verified in ''Billboard's'' online archive services and print editions of the magazine.

External links

Mariah Carey at LAUNCHcast

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Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
name	Jim Jones
birth name	James W. Jones
birth date	May 13, 1931
birth place	Lynn, Indiana, U.S.
death date	November 18, 1978
death place	Jonestown, Guyana
occupation	Leader, Peoples Temple }}

James Warren "Jim" Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, which is best known for the November 18, 1978 mass suicide of more than 900 Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana along with the killings of five other people at a nearby airstrip.

Jones was born in Indiana and started the Temple in that state in the 1950s. Jones and the Temple later moved to California, and both gained notoriety with the move of the Temple's headquarters to San Francisco in the mid-1970s.

The incident in Guyana ranks among the largest mass murders/mass suicides in history, and was the single greatest loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the events of September 11, 2001. Among the dead was Leo Ryan, who remains the only Congressman assassinated in the line of duty as a Congressman in the history of the United States.

Early life

Jim Jones was born in Crete, Indiana, a rural unincorporated community in Randolph County near the Ohio border, to James Thurman Jones (May 31, 1887 – May 29, 1951), a World War I veteran, and Lynetta Putnam (April 16, 1902 – December 11, 1977). He was of Irish and Welsh descent. Jones would later claim partial Cherokee ancestry through his mother, though this was likely false according to his maternal second cousin Barbara Shaffer. Economic difficulties during the Great Depression necessitated that Jones' family move to nearby Lynn, Indiana in 1934. Jim Jones and a childhood friend both claimed that Jones' father was associated with the Ku Klux Klan.

In interviews for the 2006 documentary ''Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple'', childhood acquaintances recalled Jones as being a "really weird kid" who was "obsessed with religion ... obsessed with death". They alleged that as a child, Jones frequently held funerals for small animals and had reportedly stabbed a cat to death.

Jones was a voracious reader as a child and studied Joseph Stalin, Karl Marx, Mahatma Gandhi and Adolf Hitler carefully, noting each of their strengths and weaknesses. After Jones' parents separated, he moved with his mother to Richmond, Indiana. He graduated from Richmond High School early and with honors in December 1948.

Jones married nurse Marceline Baldwin in 1949, and moved to Bloomington, Indiana. He attended Indiana University at Bloomington, where a speech by Eleanor Roosevelt about the plight of African Americans impressed him. Jones' sympathetic statements about communism offended Marceline's grandmother. In 1951, Jones moved to Indianapolis, where he attended night school at Butler University, earning a degree in secondary education in 1961.

Building the Temple

Indiana beginnings

In 1951, Jones became a member of the Communist Party USA, and began attending meetings and rallies in Indianapolis. He became flustered with harassment he received during the McCarthy Hearings, particularly regarding an event he attended with his mother focusing on Paul Robeson, after which she was harassed by the FBI in front of her co-workers for attending. He also became frustrated with what he perceived to be ostracism of open communists in the United States, especially during the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. This frustration, among other things, provoked a seminal moment for Jones in which he asked himself "how can I demonstrate my Marxism? The thought was, infiltrate the church."

Jones' interest in religion began during his childhood, primarily because he found making friends difficult, though initially he vacillated on his church of choice. Jones was surprised when a Methodist superintendent helped him to get a start in the church even though he knew Jones to be a communist and Jones did not meet him through the Communist Party. In 1952, Jones became a student pastor in Sommerset Southside Methodist Church, but claims he left that church because its leaders barred him from integrating blacks into his congregation. Around this time, Jones witnessed a faith-healing service at the Seventh Day Baptist Church. He observed that it attracted people and their money and concluded that, with financial resources from such healings, he could help accomplish his social goals.

Jones then began his own church, which changed names until it became the Peoples Temple Christian Church Full Gospel. Jones sold pet monkeys door-to-door to raise funds for his church.

Jones moved away from the Communist Party and Maoists when CPUSA members and Mao Tse-tung became critical of some of the policies of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

Integrationist

In 1960, Indianapolis Democratic Mayor Charles Boswell appointed Jones director of the Human Rights Commission. Jones ignored Boswell's advice to keep a low profile, finding new outlets for his views on local radio and television programs. When the mayor and other commissioners asked Jones to curtail his public actions, he resisted and was wildly cheered at a meeting of the NAACP and Urban League when he yelled for his audience to be more militant, and climaxed with "Let my people go!"

During this time, Jones also helped to integrate churches, restaurants, the telephone company, the police department, a theater, an amusement park, and the Methodist Hospital. After swastikas were painted on the homes of two African American families, Jones personally walked the neighborhood comforting African Americans and counseling white families not to move, in order to prevent white flight. He also set up stings to catch restaurants refusing to serve African American customers and wrote to American Nazi leaders then leaked their responses to the media. When Jones was accidentally placed in the black ward of a hospital after a collapse in 1961, he refused to be moved and began to make the beds, and empty the bed pans of black patients. Political pressures resulting from Jones' actions caused hospital officials to desegregate the wards.

Jones received considerable criticism in Indiana for his integrationist views. White-owned businesses and locals were critical of him. A swastika was placed on the Temple, a stick of dynamite was left in a Temple coal pile, and a dead cat was thrown at Jones' house after a threatening phone call. Other incidents occurred, though some suspect that Jones himself may have been involved in at least some of them.

Jones' "Rainbow Family"

Jim and Marceline Jones adopted several children of at least partial non-Caucasian ancestry; he referred to the clan as his "rainbow family," and stated: "Integration is a more personal thing with me now. It's a question of my son's future." Jones portrayed the Temple overall as a "rainbow family."

The couple adopted three children of Korean-American ancestry: Lew, Suzanne and Stephanie. Jones had been encouraging Temple members to adopt orphans from war ravaged Korea. Jones had long been critical of the United States' opposition to communist leader Kim Il-Sung's 1950 invasion of South Korea, calling it the "war of liberation" and stating that "the south is a living example of all that socialism in the north has overcome." In 1954, he and his wife also adopted Agnes Jones, who was partly of Native American descent. Agnes was 11 at the time of her adoption. Suzanne Jones was adopted at the age of six in 1959. In June 1959, the couple had their only biological child, Stephan Gandhi Jones.

Two years later, in 1961, the Joneses became the first white couple in Indiana to adopt a black child, James Warren Jones, Jr. Marceline was once spat upon while she carried Jim Jr.

The couple also adopted another son, who was white, named Tim. Tim Jones, whose birth mother was a member of the Peoples Temple, was originally named Timothy Glen Tupper.

Asylum

After a 1961 Temple speech about nuclear apocalypse, and a January 1962 ''Esquire Magazine'' article listing Belo Horizonte, Brazil, as a safe place in a nuclear war, Jones traveled with his family to the Brazilian city with the idea of setting up a new Temple location.

On his way to Brazil, Jones made his first trip into Guyana. After arriving in Belo Horizonte, the Joneses rented a modest three bedroom home. Jones studied the local economy and receptiveness of racial minorities to his message, though language remained a barrier. Jones was careful not to portray himself as a communist in a foreign territory, and spoke of an apostolic communal lifestyle rather than of Castro or Marx.

After becoming frustrated with the lack of resources in the locale, in mid-1963, the Joneses moved to Rio de Janeiro. There, they worked with the poor in Rio's slums. Jones also explored local Brazilian religion.

Jones was plagued by guilt for leaving behind the Indiana civil rights struggle and possibly losing what he had struggled to build there. When Jones' associate preachers in Indiana told him that the Temple was about to collapse without him, Jones returned.

California Eden

After Jones' return to Indiana from Brazil, in 1965, Jones claimed that the world would be engulfed in a nuclear war on July 15, 1967, that would then create a new socialist Eden on earth, and that the Temple must move to Northern California for safety. Accordingly, the Temple began moving to Happy Valley, California, near Ukiah.

While Jones always spoke of the social gospel's virtues, before the late 1960s Jones chose to conceal that his gospel was actually communism. By the late 1960s, Jones began at least partially openly revealing in Temple sermons his "Apostolic Socialism" concept. Specifically, "those who remained drugged with the opiate of religion had to be brought to enlightenment — socialism." Jones often mixed those concepts, such as preaching that "If you're born in capitalist America, racist America, fascist America, then you're born in sin. But if you're born in socialism, you're not born in sin."

By the early 1970s, Jones began deriding traditional Christianity as "fly away religion," rejecting the Bible as being white men’s justification to subordinate women and subjugate people of color and stating that it spoke of a "Sky God" who was no God at all. Jones authored a booklet titled "The Letter Killeth," criticizing the King James Bible. Jones also began preaching that he was the reincarnation of Jesus of Nazareth, Mahatma Gandhi, Buddha, Vladimir Lenin, and Father Divine. In the documentary ''Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple'', former Temple member Hue Fortson, Jr. quoted Jones as saying, "What you need to believe in is what you can see ... If you see me as your friend, I'll be your friend. As you see me as your father, I'll be your father, for those of you that don't have a father ... If you see me as your savior, I'll be your savior. If you see me as your God, I'll be your God."

By the spring of 1976, Jones began openly admitting even to outsiders that he was an atheist. Despite the Temple's fear that the IRS was investigating its religious tax exemption, by 1977 Marceline Jones admitted to the ''New York Times'' that, as early as age 18 when he watched his then idol Mao Zedong overthrow the Chinese government, Jim Jones realized that the way to achieve social change through Marxism in the United States was to mobilize people through religion. She stated that "Jim used religion to try to get some people out of the opiate of religion," and had slammed the Bible on the table yelling "I've got to destroy this paper idol!" In one sermon, Jones said that, "You're gonna help yourself, or you'll get no help! There's only one hope of glory; that's within you! Nobody's gonna come out of the sky! There's no heaven up there! We'll have to make heaven down here!"

Move to San Francisco

The move of Peoples Temple headquarters to San Francisco in 1975 invigorated Jones' political career. After the Temple served an important role in the mayoral election victory of George Moscone in 1975, Moscone appointed Jones as the Chairman of the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission.

Unlike most other figures deemed as cult leaders, Jones was able to gain public support and contact with prominent local and national United States politicians. For example, Jones and Moscone met privately with vice presidential candidate Walter Mondale on his campaign plane days before the 1976 election and Mondale publicly praised the Temple. First Lady Rosalynn Carter also personally met with Jones on multiple occasions, corresponded with him about Cuba, and spoke with him at the grand opening of the San Francisco Democratic Party Headquarters where Jones garnered louder applause than Mrs. Carter.

In September 1976, Willie Brown served as master of ceremonies at a large testimonial dinner for Jones attended by Governor Jerry Brown and Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally and other political figures. At that dinner, while introducing Jones, Willie Brown stated "Let me present to you what you should see every day when you look in the mirror in the early morning hours ... Let me present to you a combination of Martin King, Angela Davis, Albert Einstein ... Chairman Mao." Harvey Milk, who spoke at political rallies at the Temple, and wrote to Jones after a visit to the Temple: "Rev Jim, It may take me many a day to come back down from the high that I reach today. I found something dear today. I found a sense of being that makes up for all the hours and energy placed in a fight. I found what you wanted me to find. I shall be back. For I can never leave."

In his San Francisco Temple apartment, Jones regularly hosted San Francisco radical political figures such as Angela Davis for discussions. He spoke with friend and ''San Francisco Sun-Reporter'' publisher Dr. Carlton Goodlett about Jones' remorse regarding not being able to travel to socialist countries such as China and the Soviet Union, speculating that he could be Chief Dairyman of the Soviet Union. After his criticisms caused increased tensions with the Nation of Islam, Jones spoke at a huge rally healing the rift between the two groups in the Los Angeles Convention center attended by many of Jones' closest political acquaintances. Jones also enjoyed a favorable relationship with Warith Deen Mohammed, son of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad.

While Jones forged media alliances with key columnists and others at the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' and other media outlets, the move to San Francisco also brought increasing media scrutiny. After Chronicle reporter Marshall Kilduff encountered resistance to publishing an exposé, he brought his story to New West Magazine. In the summer of 1977, Jones and several hundred Temple members moved to the Temple's "Agricultural Project" in Guyana after they learned of the contents of Kilduff's article to be published in which former Temple members claimed they were physically, emotionally, and sexually abused. Jones named the settlement Jonestown after himself.

Jonestown's formation and operation

Jones had first started building Jonestown in 1974 as a means to create both a "socialist paradise" and a "sanctuary" from the media scrutiny which had started in 1972. Regarding the former goal, Jones purported to establish Jonestown as a benevolent model communist community stating, "I believe we’re the purest communists there are." In that regard, like the restrictive emigration policies of the then Soviet Union, Cuba, North Korea and other communist states, Jones did not permit members to leave Jonestown.

Religious scholar Mary McCormick Maaga argues that Jones' authority decreased after he moved to the isolated commune, because he was not needed for recruitment and he could not hide his drug addiction from rank and file members. In spite of the allegations prior to Jones' departure to Jonestown, the leader was still respected by some for setting up a racially mixed church which helped the disadvantaged; 68 percent of Jonestown's residents were black.

New children

Jim Jones claimed that he was the biological father of John Victor Stoen, although the birth certificate lists Grace and Timothy Stoen as the parents of the boy. The Temple repeatedly claimed that Jones fathered the child when, in 1971, Temple member Tim Stoen had requested that Jones have sex with Grace Stoen to keep her from defecting. After Grace Stoen later defected in 1976 and began divorce proceedings against Tim Stoen in 1977, in order to avoid potentially giving up the boy in a custody dispute with Grace, Jones ordered Tim to take John to Guyana in February 1977.

After purported father Tim Stoen defected from the Temple in June 1977, the Temple kept John Stoen in Jonestown. The custody dispute over John Stoen would become a linchpin of several battles between the Temple and the Concerned Relatives.

Jim Jones also fathered a son, Jim Jon (Kimo), with Carolyn Louise Moore Layton, a Temple member.

Pressure and waning political support

While most of Jones' political allies broke ties after Jones' departure, some did not. As a show of support, Willie Brown spoke out against enemies at a rally at the Peoples Temple, also attended by Harvey Milk and Art Agnos. Most importantly for Jones and the Temple, Moscone's office shortly thereafter issued a press release saying that Jones had broken no laws. In the Fall of 1977, Tim Stoen and other relatives in Jonestown formed a "Concerned Relatives" group. Stoen traveled to Washington D.C. in January 1978 to visit with Congressmen, including Leo Ryan and State Department officials, and wrote a "white paper" to Congress detailing the dispute and pressing for Congressional correspondence. Stoen's efforts aroused the curiosity of Ryan, who wrote a letter on Stoen's behalf to Guyanese Prime Minister Forbes Burnham.

Amidst growing pressure in the United States to investigate the Temple, on February 19, 1978, Harvey Milk wrote a letter of support for the Peoples Temple to President Jimmy Carter. Therein, Milk wrote that Jones was known "as a man of the highest character." Regarding the leader of those attempting to extricate relatives from Jonestown, Milk wrote he was "attempting to damage Rev. Jones reputation" with "apparent bold-faced lies."

On April 11, 1978, the Concerned Relatives distributed a packet of documents, including letters and affidavits, that they titled an "Accusation of Human Rights Violations by Rev. James Warren Jones" to the Peoples Temple, members of the press and members of Congress. In June 1978, escaped Temple member Deborah Layton provided the group with a further affidavit detailing alleged crimes by the Peoples Temple and substandard living conditions in Jonestown.

Facing increasing scrutiny, in the summer of 1978, Jones also hired noted JFK assassination conspiracy theorists Mark Lane and Donald Freed to help make the case of a "grand conspiracy" by intelligence agencies against the Peoples Temple. Jones told Lane he wanted to "pull an Eldridge Cleaver", referring to a fugitive Black Panther who was able to return to the United States after repairing his reputation.

Visit by Congressman Ryan, murders

In November 1978, U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan led a fact-finding mission to Jonestown to investigate allegations of human rights abuses. Ryan's delegation included relatives of Temple members, Don Harris, an NBC network news reporter, an NBC cameraman and reporters for various newspapers. The group arrived in Georgetown on November 15. On November 17, Ryan's delegation traveled by airplane to Jonestown. The delegation left hurriedly the afternoon of November 18 after Temple member Don Sly attacked Ryan with a knife. The attack was thwarted, bringing the visit to an abrupt end. Congressman Ryan and his people succeeded in taking with them fifteen People's Temple members who had expressed a wish to leave. At that time, Jones made no attempt to prevent their departure.

Port Kaituma Airstrip shootings

As members of Ryan's delegation boarded two planes at the airstrip, Jones' "Red Brigade" armed guards arrived in a tractor-pulled trailer and began shooting at the delegation. The guards killed Congressman Ryan and four others near a twin engine Otter aircraft. At the same time, one of the supposed defectors, Larry Layton, drew a weapon and began firing on members of the party that had already boarded a small Cessna. An NBC cameraman was able to capture footage of the first few seconds of the shooting at the Otter. The five killed at the airstrip were Congressman Ryan; Don Harris, a reporter from NBC; Bob Brown, a cameraman from NBC; San Francisco Examiner photographer Greg Robinson; and Temple member Patricia Parks. Surviving the attack were future Congresswoman Jackie Speier, then a staff member for Ryan; Richard Dwyer, the Deputy Chief of Mission from the U.S. Embassy at Georgetown; Bob Flick, a producer for NBC News; Steve Sung, an NBC sound engineer; Tim Reiterman, a ''San Francisco Examiner'' reporter; Ron Javers, a ''San Francisco Chronicle'' reporter; Charles Krause, a ''Washington Post'' reporter; and several defecting Temple members.

Deaths in Jonestown

Later that same day, 909 inhabitants of Jonestown, 303 of them children, died of apparent cyanide poisoning, mostly in and around a pavilion. This resulted in the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the September 11, 2001 attacks. No video was taken during the mass suicide, though the FBI did recover a 45 minute audio recording of the suicide in progress.

On that tape, Jones tells Temple members that the Soviet Union, with whom the Temple had been negotiating a potential exodus for months, would not take them after the Temple had murdered Ryan and four others at a nearby airstrip. The reason given by Jones to commit suicide was consistent with his previously stated conspiracy theories of intelligence organizations allegedly conspiring against the Temple, that men would "parachute in here on us," "shoot some of our innocent babies" and "they'll torture our children, they'll torture some of our people here, they'll torture our seniors." Parroting Jones' prior statements that hostile forces would convert captured children to fascism, one temple member states "the ones that they take captured, they're gonna just let them grow up and be dummies." Given that reasoning, Jones and several members argued that the group should commit "revolutionary suicide" by drinking cyanide-laced grape flavored Flavor-Aid along with a sedative. One member, Christine Miller, dissents toward the beginning of the tape. When members apparently cried, Jones counseled "Stop this hysterics. This is not the way for people who are Socialists or Communists to die. No way for us to die. We must die with some dignity." Jones can be heard saying, "Don't be afraid to die," that death is "just stepping over into another plane" and that "[death is] a friend." At the end of the tape, Jones concludes: "We didn't commit suicide, we committed an act of revolutionary suicide protesting the conditions of an inhumane world." According to escaping Temple members, children were given the drink first and families were told to lie down together. Mass suicide had been previously discussed in simulated events called "White Nights" on a regular basis. During at least one such prior White Night, members drank liquid that Jones falsely told them was poison.

Jones was found dead in a deck chair with a gunshot wound to his head that Guyanese coroner Cyrill Mootoo stated was consistent with a self-inflicted gun wound. However, Jones' son Stephan believes his father may have directed someone else to shoot him. An autopsy of Jones' body also showed levels of the barbiturate Pentobarbital which may have been lethal to humans who had not developed physiological tolerance. Jones' drug usage (including LSD and marijuana) was confirmed by his son, Stephan, and Jones' doctor in San Francisco.

Other issues

On December 13, 1973, Jones was arrested and charged with soliciting a man for sex in a movie theater bathroom known for homosexual activity, in MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. The man was an undercover Los Angeles Police Department vice officer. Jones is on record as later telling his followers that he was "the only true heterosexual", but at least one account exists of his sexual abuse of a male member of his congregation in front of the followers, ostensibly to prove the man's own homosexual tendencies.

While Jones banned sex among Temple members outside of marriage, he himself voraciously engaged in sexual relations with both male and female Temple members. Jones, however, claimed that he detested engaging in homosexual activity and did so only for the male temple adherents' own good, purportedly to connect them symbolically with him (Jones).

One of Jones' sources of inspiration was the controversial International Peace Mission movement leader Father Divine. Jones had borrowed the term "revolutionary suicide" from Black Panther leader and Peoples Temple supporter Huey Newton who had argued "the slow suicide of life in the ghetto" ought to be replaced by revolutionary struggle that would end only in victory (socialism and self determination) or revolutionary suicide (death).

Family aftermath

Marceline

Jim Jones' wife, Marceline, was found poisoned at the pavilion. On the final morning of Ryan's visit, Marceline had taken reporters on a tour of Jonestown.

Found near Marceline Jones' body was a signed and witnessed will leaving all bank accounts "in my name" to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and writing that Suzanne Jones Cartmell should receive no assets.

Stephan, Jim Jr. and Tim Jones

Stephan, Jim Jr., and Tim Jones did not take part in the mass suicide because they were playing with the Peoples Temple basketball team against the Guyanese national team in Georgetown. At the time of events in Jonestown, Stephan and Tim were both nineteen and Jim Jones Jr. was eighteen. Tim's biological family, the Tuppers, which consisted of his three biological sisters, biological brother, and biological mother, all died at Jonestown. Three days before the tragedy, Stephan Jones refused, over the radio, to comply with an order by his father to return the team to Jonestown for Ryan's visit.

During the events at Jonestown, Stephan, Tim, and Jim Jones Jr. drove to the American Embassy in Guyana in an attempt to receive help. The Guyanese soldiers guarding the embassy refused to let them in after hearing about the shootings at the Port Kaituma airstrip. Later, the three returned to the Temple's headquarters in Georgetown to find the bodies of Sharon Amos and her three children. Guyanese soldiers kept the Jones brothers under house arrest for five days, interrogating them about the deaths in Georgetown. Stephan Jones was accused of being involved in the Georgetown deaths, and was placed in a Guyanese prison for three months. Tim Jones and Johnny Cobb, another member of the Peoples Temple basketball team, were asked to go to Jonestown and help identify the bodies of people who had died. After returning to the United States, Jim Jones Jr. was placed under police surveillance for several months while he lived with his older sister, Suzanne, who had previously turned against the Temple.

When Jonestown was first being established, Stephan Jones had originally avoided two attempts by his father to relocate to the settlement. He eventually moved to Jonestown after a third and final attempt. He has since said that he gave into his father's wishes to move to Jonestown because of his mother. Stephan Jones is now a businessman, and married with three daughters. He appeared in the documentary ''Jonestown: Paradise Lost'' which aired on the History Channel and Discovery Channel. He stated he will not watch the documentary and has never grieved for his father. Jim Jones Jr., who lost his wife and unborn child at Jonestown, returned to San Francisco. He remarried and has three sons from this marriage, including Rob Jones, a high-school basketball star who went on to play for the University of San Diego before transferring to Saint Mary's College of California.

Lew, Agnes and Suzanne Jones

Lew and Agnes Jones both died at Jonestown. Agnes Jones was thirty-five years old at the time of her death. Her husband and four children all died at Jonestown. Lew Jones, who was twenty-one years old at the time of his death, died alongside his wife Terry and son Chaeoke. Stephanie Jones had died at age five in a car accident. Suzanne Jones married Mike Cartmell; both turned against the Temple and were not in Jonestown on November 18, 1978. After this decision to abandon the Temple, Jones referred to Suzanne openly as "my goddamned, no good for nothing daughter" and stated that she was not to be trusted. In a signed note found at the time of her death, Marceline Jones directed that the Jones' funds were to be given to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and specified: "I especially request that none of these are allowed to get into the hands of my adopted daughter, Suzanne Jones Cartmell." Cartmell had two children and died of colon cancer in November 2006.

John Stoen and Kimo

Specific references to Tim Stoen, the father of John Stoen, including the logistics of possibly murdering him, are made on the Temple's final "death tape," as well as a discussion over whether the Temple should include John Stoen among those committing "revolutionary suicide." At Jonestown, John Stoen was found poisoned in Jim Jones' cabin.

Both Jim Jon (Kimo) and his mother, Carolyn Layton, died during the events at Jonestown.

See also

Cult suicide

Doomsday cult

List of people who have claimed to be Jesus

List of Buddha claimants

Notes

References

Bibliography

Chidester, David, ''Salvation and Suicide: Jim Jones, the People's Temple and Jonestown (Religion in North America)'', 2nd rev.ed., Indiana University Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0253216328

Klineman, George and Sherman Butler. ''The Cult That Died''. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1980. ISBN 0-399-12540-X.

Layton, Deborah. ''Seductive Poison''. Anchor Books, 1999. ISBN 0-385-48984-6.

Maaga, Mary McCormick. ''Hearing the voices of Jonestown''. Syracuse University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8156-0515-3.

Naipaul, Shiva. ''Black & White''. Hamish Hamilton, London, 1980. ISBN 0-241-10337-1.

External links

The Jonestown Institute

FBI No. Q 042 The "Jonestown Death Tape", Recorded 18 November 1978 (Internet Archive)

Transcript of Jones' final speech, just before the mass suicide

The first part of a series of articles about Jim Jones published in the San Francisco Examiner in 1972.

History Channel Video and Stills

Isaacson, Barry. From Silver Lake to Suicide: One Family's Secret History of the Jonestown Massacre

Mass Suicide at Jonestown: 30 Years Later, Time magazine

Jonestown 30 Years Later photo gallery published Friday, October 17, 2008.

American Experience documentary, "Jonestown: The Life And Death Of Peoples Temple", shown on PBS

Jonestown: 25 Years Later How spiritual journey ended in destruction: Jim Jones led his flock to death in jungle by Michael Taylor, San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Published Thursday, November 12, 1998.

Utopian nightmare Jonestown: What did we learn? Larry D. Hatfield, of The Examiner staff, Gregory Lewis and Eric Brazil of The Examiner staff and Examiner Librarian Judy Canter contributed to this report. Published Sunday, November 8, 1998.

Jones Captivated S.F.'s Liberal Elite: They were late to discover how cunningly he curried favor by Michael Taylor, San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. And [Haunted by Memories of Hell ] by Kevin Fagan, San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Published Thursday, November 12, 1998. Both stories were included in the first of a two-part series.

The End To Innocent Acceptance Of Sects Sharper scrutiny is Jonestown legacy by Don Lattin, San Francisco Chronicle religion writer. And Most Peoples Temple Documents Still Sealed by Michael Taylor and Don Lattin, San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. And Surviving the Heart of Darkness: Twenty years later, Jackie Speier remembers how her companions and rum helped her endure the night of the Jonestown massacre by Maitland Zane, San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Published Friday, November 13, 1998. All stories were included in the second part of a two-part series.

Inside Peoples Temple Marshall Kilduff and Phil Tracy, Used by permission of authors for the San Francisco Chronicle. Published Monday, August 1, 1977.

Category:1931 births Category:1978 deaths Category:African Americans' rights activists Category:American atheists Category:American communists Category:Bisexual people Category:Butler University alumni Category:Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) clergy Category:former Christians Category:Deaths by firearm in Guyana Category:Faith healers Category:Founders of religions Category:History of Guyana Category:LGBT people from the United States Category:Members of the Communist Party USA Category:People from Randolph County, Indiana Category:People from Richmond, Indiana Category:Peoples Temple Category:Suicides in Guyana Category:American emigrants to Guyana ca:Jim Jones cs:Jim Jones de:Jim Jones es:Jim Jones (pastor) fa:جیم جونز fr:Jim Jones (pasteur) ko:짐 존스 hr:Jim Jones id:James Warren Jones is:Jim Jones it:Jim Jones he:ג'ים ג'ונס hu:Jim Jones nl:Jim Jones ja:ジム・ジョーンズ no:Jim Jones nn:Jim Jones pl:Jim Jones (przywódca sekty) pt:Jim Jones ru:Джонс, Джеймс Уоррен simple:Jim Jones fi:Jim Jones sv:Jim Jones th:จิม โจนส์ tr:Jim Jones zh:吉姆·琼斯

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	French Montana
Background	solo_singer
Birth place	November 09, 1984Rabat, Morocco
Origin	Mott Haven, Bronx, New York City, United States
Genre	Gangsta rap, Hip hop, Mafioso rap
Occupation	Rapper
Years active	2002 – Present
Label	Mizay Entertainment (2010-Present), Cocaine City Records }}

French Montana (born November 9, 1984) is an American rapper and singer of Moroccan and Somali descent. He is the founder of Cocaine City Records.

Background

Karim Kharbouch, better known by his stage name ''French Montana'', was born in Rabat, Morocco. French emigrated with his mother Khadija Guled who is of the Somali descent and little brother in 1996, when he was 13, to the Bronx in New York City.

His artist name is a conflation of French (from the French protectorate of Morocco) and Montana (from the fictitious Tony Montana in the 1983 movie Scarface).

Cocaine City Records

In 2002, French Montana created the ''Cocaine City'' DVD imprint as a means of showcasing his talent as an underground artist and a new voice from the New York streets. To gain a broader fan base, French incorporated interviews with major artists, as well as some up and comers. What started out as simply a medium for developing an audience quickly grew into one of the top-selling "street DVDs".

The international success of the DVD series helped to propel French's rap career to an entirely new level. By creating and producing ''Cocaine City'', French Montana evolved from an aspiring rapper in the streets of the Bronx, to the newest musician to sign with platinum-selling recording artist Akon’s record label, Konvict Music. By early 2009, French had flooded the streets with various mixtapes, including "Live from Africa", "Laundry Man" with Evil Empire, and "In Demand" with DJ Lazy K. His frequent collaborations with Harlem-bred rapper Max B have also helped keep a steady buzz, and helped fuel the success of the duo’s latest project, the mixtape/DVD combo "Coke Wave."

2009-Present

In 2009, French Montana signed a deal with Akon's Konvict Muzik record label, but left the label in 2011 left due to album delays. He is reportedly close to signing a deal with Rick Ross's Maybach Music Group.

Montana is currently signed to Debra Antney's Mizay Entertainment Management.

Discography

; Mixtapes

''The Laundry Man'' (2009)

''Mac Wit Da Cheese'' (2009)

''The Laundry Man 2'' (2009)

''Cocaine Konvicts: Gangsta Grillz'' (2009)

''Mac & Cheese 2'' (2010)

''Coke Boys'' (2010)

''Mr. 16: Casino Life'' (2011)

''Coke Boys 2'' (2011)

References

External links

French Montana - Breakthrough Artist 2009/2010

French Montana - Last.fm

XXL magazine - French Montana

CHAMP Magazine

Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:Underground rappers Category:People from the Bronx Category:Rappers from New York Category:Rappers from New York City Category:American people of Moroccan descent Category:American people of Somali descent