
Mariah Carey
Photo: Kevin Winter
Black Sounds Beautiful: How Mariah Carey Went From Feeling Out Of Place To One Of The Bestselling Woman Artists Of All Time
Mariah Carey has been at the top of the music world for a while—four decades, to be specific.
At just 20 years old, the singer/songwriter topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart five times with singles from her self-titled debut album. The eponymous album earned Carey five GRAMMY nominations at the 33rd Annual GRAMMY Awards in 1991, including two wins for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her single "Vision Of Love."
Watch the newest episode of Black Sounds Beautiful below to learn how the five-octave singer continued to reach new heights throughout her career.
Coming from Irish, African American and Afro Venezuelan descent, Carey faced peculiar criticisms regarding her racial identity throughout her career. She sang about how the commentary affected her on her 1997 track "Outside."
"It's hard to explain," the 34-time GRAMMY nominee sang. "Inherently, it's just always been strange/ Neither here nor there/ Always somewhat out of place everywhere."
"Outside" was the outro song on Carey's Butterfly album, which would earn the megastar three GRAMMY nominations for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best Rhythm & Blues Song.
Watch the video above to see how Carey made a home for herself at the top of the charts and how she's using her success to give back to the community.
Check down below for more breakdowns on some of the top Black artists in music.