Dubbed the "Songbird Supreme" by Guinness World Records , Carey is known for her five-octave vocal range , melismatic singing style and signature use of the whistle register.
An influential figure in music , she was ranked as the fifth greatest singer of all time by Rolling Stone in Carey rose to fame in with her self-titled debut album and became the only artist to have their first five singles reach number one on the US Billboard Hot chart, from " Vision of Love " to " Emotions ". She achieved an international success with the best-selling albums Music Box and Daydream , before adopting a new image with hip hop -inflected sounds, following the release of Butterfly The remix of her song " Fantasy ", featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard , popularized the blend of pop and hip-hop into mainstream music.
With eleven consecutive years of US number-one songs, Billboard ranked Carey as the most successful artist of the s. Following a career decline and the failure of her film Glitter , she returned to the top of the charts with The Emancipation of Mimi , one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century.
Carey's public and personal life, including her diva persona, high-profile relationships and public breakdown in , has received widespread media coverage.
She has also been dubbed the "Queen of Christmas" due to the enduring popularity of her holiday music , particularly Merry Christmas , the best-selling holiday album , and its single " All I Want for Christmas Is You ", which is the best selling holiday single by a female artist of all time. Carey also served as an American Idol judge in and starred in the docu-series Mariah's World. She published a memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey , in Carey is one of the best-selling music artists , with over million records sold worldwide.
