The Making of Mariah

Click on the see what it took to craft her dynamic career.

Mariah Carey: March 27 - The R&B diva is looking better than ever at 42.(Photo: Stuart Wilson/Getty Images)

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The Making of Mariah Carey\r - While Long Island, New York, native Mariah Carey has had the type of Hall of Fame career that breeds envy — millions of records sold, international stardom, Grammy Awards, and record breaking hit singles — don't think for one second the pop icon lucked up on her achievements. It took hard work, supreme talent and some ingenious career moves to get Carey to the top of her game. Today the ageless beauty celebrates her 42nd birthday, so BET.com takes a look back at the components that went into crafting Carey's dynamic career.\r \r(Photo by Stuart Wilson/Getty Images)

The Voice\r\r - Mariah Carey appeared on the music scene in 1990 with her self-titled debut. The record stayed atop the charts for 11 consecutive weeks and won Grammy awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The album showed off Carey’s five-octave vocal register and produced four number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Vision of Love." This feat made her the first artist since the Jackson 5 to have their first four singles reach number one. This was only the beginning of Carey’s record-breaking career.\r(Photo: Courtesy Columbia Records)

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The Voice\r\r - Mariah Carey appeared on the music scene in 1990 with her self-titled debut. The record stayed atop the charts for 11 consecutive weeks and won Grammy awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The album showed off Carey’s five-octave vocal register and produced four number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Vision of Love." This feat made her the first artist since the Jackson 5 to have their first four singles reach number one. This was only the beginning of Carey’s record-breaking career.\r(Photo: Courtesy Columbia Records)

The Evolution of Mariah Carey - Mariah was already a star, but her epic performance on MTV Unplugged in 1992, highlighted by her cover of the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There," made her a supernova.

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The Performer\r  - With a raw, stripped-down sound, Carey showed off her vocal chops and put naysayers, who claimed she was just a studio artist, to rest with her 1992 performance on MTV Unplugged. She performed several hits from the Mariah Carey album but it was a last minute addition — a cover of the Jackson 5’s 1970 chart topping single “Ill Be There” — that scored her both critical acclaim and an unexpected hit. Sony released the track as an EP and it went on to sell 3 million copies.\r(Photo: Courtesy MTV Networks)

Mariah Carey Featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard: "Fantasy" - On paper a Mariah Carey and Ol' Dirty Bastard collaboration sounds like such a bad idea, which is exactly what made the single so brilliant. Carey’s sweet vocals and ODB’s drunken grit somehow matched perfectly over the Top 40 instrumental. “Me and Mariah go back like babies and pacifiers” gets you everytime.(Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images)

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Genre Bender\r  - Who could forget when Carey burst on the scene with none other than rap’s grimiest emcee, Ol’ Dirty Bastard? Their 1995 hit "Fantasy (Remix)” shocked the pop world with their unlikely collaboration and established a new industry standard mixing the genres of hip hop and pop. Carey went on to make sweet music with other hip hop artists like Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Nas and Mobb Deep and clearly influenced starlets like Taylor Swift, who recently hit up T.I. to join her onstage for a show in Atlanta.  (Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images)

The Smile\r  - Though Mariah has sold millions of records since her start in the industry, the R&B diva didn’t become a brand ambassador until much later in her career, beginning in 2006 with Intel, the computer software company and a year later striking a deal with Elizabeth Arden for her own fragrance, “M.” The fragrance sold so well that Carey continued creating signature scents — she now has 13. The most recent, a trio of scents called Lollipop Splash.  And just last month, Carey was named global ambassador of Jenny Craig after losing 70 pounds after giving birth to twins Roc and Roe.\r(Photo: Courtesy Elizabeth Arden)

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The Smile\r  - Though Mariah has sold millions of records since her start in the industry, the R&B diva didn’t become a brand ambassador until much later in her career, beginning in 2006 with Intel, the computer software company and a year later striking a deal with Elizabeth Arden for her own fragrance, “M.” The fragrance sold so well that Carey continued creating signature scents — she now has 13. The most recent, a trio of scents called Lollipop Splash.  And just last month, Carey was named global ambassador of Jenny Craig after losing 70 pounds after giving birth to twins Roc and Roe.\r(Photo: Courtesy Elizabeth Arden)

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Mariah Carey, The Emancipation of Mimi - Mariah Carey put the embarrassment of her 2001 film Glitter (and a subsequent hospital stay for “mental exhaustion”) behind her by reuniting with Jermaine Dupri for this career-saving 2005 blockbuster. (Photo: Columbia Records)

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Resilience \r\r  - After dealing with stress and exhaustion from her grueling schedule Carey took a break from the music scene and many feared she’d never be the same. But in April 2005, Mariah Carey proved non-believers wrong again with the release of The Emancipation of Mimi. The 14-track album included production from Jermaine Dupri and the Neptunes and featured rappers Nelly and Snoop Dogg. She released five singles in the U.S., two of which reached number one and another number two. The album received 10 Grammy nods and sold 6 million copies. (Photo: Courtesy Island Def Jam Records)

Photo By Photo: Columbia Records

Talk That Talk\r  - Many forget that in addition to her stellar vocal abilities, Mariah Carey is also a songwriter who has penned nearly every song in her 20-year career. With over 100 million records sold and 18 number-one hits, Carey’s music makes a clear connection with fans. And her personal tracks like her 1995 collaboration with the R&B group Boyz II Men,  “One Sweet Day,” which she dedicated to a friend she lost to AIDS and her sister who had contracted the virus, made the biggest impact. The song is the longest running number-one song in U.S. chart history, with 16 weeks at the top of the charts. (Photo: Frank Micelotta/ImageDirect)

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Talk That Talk\r  - Many forget that in addition to her stellar vocal abilities, Mariah Carey is also a songwriter who has penned nearly every song in her 20-year career. With over 100 million records sold and 18 number-one hits, Carey’s music makes a clear connection with fans. And her personal tracks like her 1995 collaboration with the R&B group Boyz II Men,  “One Sweet Day,” which she dedicated to a friend she lost to AIDS and her sister who had contracted the virus, made the biggest impact. The song is the longest running number-one song in U.S. chart history, with 16 weeks at the top of the charts. (Photo: Frank Micelotta/ImageDirect)

Mass Appeal  \r  \r - Mimi's got some diehard fans, all of whom she lovingly calls Lambs. The multi-racial songstress gets love from everyone across the globe, that’s why she’s one of the top-selling artists in history. Many young people have said that Carey’s open discussion about her mixed race heritage helped them cope with “fitting in” and feeling accepted by others. And lending her heartfelt vocals on tracks like “Hero,” which she sang on a 2001 telethon to support the troops, “America: A Tribute to Heroes” showcased not only her talent but represented Carey as a symbol of the melting pot of America. (Photo: Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)

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Mass Appeal  \r  \r - Mimi's got some diehard fans, all of whom she lovingly calls Lambs. The multi-racial songstress gets love from everyone across the globe, that’s why she’s one of the top-selling artists in history. Many young people have said that Carey’s open discussion about her mixed race heritage helped them cope with “fitting in” and feeling accepted by others. And lending her heartfelt vocals on tracks like “Hero,” which she sang on a 2001 telethon to support the troops, “America: A Tribute to Heroes” showcased not only her talent but represented Carey as a symbol of the melting pot of America. (Photo: Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)

The Evolution of Mariah Carey - After the disappointment of Glitter, Mariah proved her talents truly extended to acting after all with her acclaimed supporting performance in 2009's Precious.

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Hollywood Calls\r\r - Mariah got her first taste of Hollywood with the film Glitter. Though the film was not a critical or commercial success, Mariah was undeterred and continued acting with minor roles in films like Wise Girls, co-starring alongside Mira Sorvino. In 2009 Mariah began working on a small independent film with director Malcolm Lee based on the novel Push by Sapphire, titled Precious. No one in the cast would have ever guessed that the movie would be an Oscar favorite telling the story of an abused teen with two children trying to find peace of mind and graduate high school. Mariah's character played a pivotal role in the film as the young woman’s social worker, helping to dramatically alter the teen’s tragic life.\r(Photo: Courtesy Lionsgate Films)

Love of a Lifetime\r\r  - After her four-year marriage to her boss, Sony music executive Tommy Mottola, ended in 1997, Mariah was living the single life. She of course was quite the catch, with her talent, good looks, successful career and fat bank account. In her time on the dating scene, she was romantically linked to Yankee Derek Jeter and rapper Eminem. But it was in 2008 when she married her prince charming, funny guy Nick Cannon, that Carey says she met her soul mate. The unlikely pair had a whirlwind romance, including tattoos of each other’s names and an intimate wedding ceremony organized in just a few weeks. Three years later, the couple is still together and recently gave birth to twins, Monroe and Moroccan. Who says you can’t have it all? (Photo: Courtesy ABC/ DONNA SVENNEVIK)

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Love of a Lifetime\r\r  - After her four-year marriage to her boss, Sony music executive Tommy Mottola, ended in 1997, Mariah was living the single life. She of course was quite the catch, with her talent, good looks, successful career and fat bank account. In her time on the dating scene, she was romantically linked to Yankee Derek Jeter and rapper Eminem. But it was in 2008 when she married her prince charming, funny guy Nick Cannon, that Carey says she met her soul mate. The unlikely pair had a whirlwind romance, including tattoos of each other’s names and an intimate wedding ceremony organized in just a few weeks. Three years later, the couple is still together and recently gave birth to twins, Monroe and Moroccan. Who says you can’t have it all? (Photo: Courtesy ABC/ DONNA SVENNEVIK)