Raiff Celebrates Mariah's 20 Years in Music: 1991

Posted by Raiff on Sunday, 16-May-2010, 12:01PM EDT

At the top of 1991, Mariah's newfound popularity (she was a triple-platinum artist at this point) showed no signs of waning in the slightest. "Someday" went to radio and became a massive hit fast (it was actually the biggest radio hit of the four singles) pushing Mariah Carey to four-times platinum status and to #1 on the Billboard 200 (where it stayed atop the charts for 11 weeks) in the last week of February. A week later, "Someday" reached the summit on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed for 2 consecutive weeks total.

On February 20, newcomer Mariah joined music's biggest names at the 33rd Grammy Awards at Radio City Music Hall. She left that night with two honors: Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal for "Vision Of Love," which she also performed on the telecast. In a 1992 interview, Mariah had this to say about performing: "What harder audience could you possibly have? And that was like only the fifth live thing I'd ever done, or something, and it's like getting up there and being in front of those people is horrifying.

"When I got up on the stage and I was actually accepting my award, it didn't seem real," Mariah told Good Morning America in 1991 when recalling winning Best New Artist. "I was just like standing there looking at these faces of these famous producers and musicians and people out in the audience. It was really the most incredible moment of my life. I mean, I can't imagine anything topping that."

All this, and her first album hadn't even run its course yet. In April, "I Don't Wanna Cry" debuted at radio and Mariah Carey was certified five-times platinum literally a few weeks later. "I Don't Wanna Cry" moved just as fast as its predecessors on the charts, reaching #1 in eight weeks. After four straight number one singles (still an unprecedented feat for a female artist), over 5 million in album sales in just one year and later on a high placing on Billboard's 1991 year-end album chart (#1), Mariah Carey was in the commercial vicinity of top albums by female singers like Whitney Houston, Madonna, Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson.

Hot on the heels of her phenominally successful debut record, Mariah didn't skip a beat returning to the studio to work on her second album. On August 31, "Emotions," the title track and first single from the upcoming record, debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #35, the highest entry of any of Mariah's singles up to that point. Six weeks later, the song reached number one, where it stayed for three weeks. "Emotions" also gave Mariah the distinction of being the first artist to have her first five singles reach number one.

In September, the Emotions album hit shelves worldwide. The record boasted production credits from David Cole & Robert Clivilles of C&C Music Factory, Walter Afanasieff, and, most notably, Mariah herself. "Emotions was my first effort as a producer," she told MTV News in 1991. "I co-produced the whole album and it was a lot of fun. But more importantly it gave me the chance to be very intricately involved in every aspect of the recording and I loved it."

If Mariah or Sony were worried at all about the "sophomore jinx," their concerns were quickly put to rest upon the release of the album. Emotions was well-received by critics. New York Newsday found that the record had "the sort of genuine passion that was completely missing from the first album."

Entertainment Weekly proclaimed that Mariah "reaches for epiphany on every cut." People concluded that "Carey is truly a transcendent talent." The acclaimed album went on to debut and peak at #4 on the Billboard charts.

Mariah's promotional circuit for the Emotions album included stops at Saturday Night Live, The Arsenio Hall Show, Soul Train, and a performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. She also promoted overseas in Europe, where she performed on shows such as Des O'Connor and Top of the Pops.

Three more number one singles and a top five album were not the only highlights of 1991 for Mariah. In addition to her Grammys, she accepted an American Music Award, five Billboard Music Awards, five BMI Pop Awards, and also was voted "Best New Female Artist" in the Rolling Stone Magazine Readers' Pick Awards. Mariah told Good Morning America that 1991 was

MARIAH QUOTES

"If I wanted to stay home and write songs and make a moderate living, I could do that. I'm not worried that I have to go back and waitress." New York

"When you start believing the hype, that's when you go downhill. I definitely feel the same person I was two years ago when no one wanted to listen to my tape. That's what keeps me grounded. Maybe because I'm doing the same thing, music - that's what gives me the most pleasure. The rush of being new and hot can fade - it will fade - but the music will always be there." Q

"I can't help the way I look, because it's me. I don't try to look a certain way or sing a certain way." Ebony

"Singing makes me incredibly happy. Music makes me immeasurably happy." Ebony

"My priority is to do music that I'm proud of and that I'll continue to be proud of ten years from now, twenty years from now. It's amazing to think that people enjoy what I do and are going to, sort of acknowledge me as a singer and a songwriter and that makes me feel really good." MTV News

"From now on, all I really want to do is continue to grow as an artist and to just continue putting out music and hope that people that have supported me will stay with me. You know, you can't always be number one, you can't always be winning every award. But I mean just to be putting music out there and to be having some level of success has always been my goal." MTV News

"I'm not trying to prove anything. I'm just trying to have a long career as a singer-songwriter and be singing twenty years from now, thirty years from now. It's always been my dream and it's incredible to be able to have this success and I just want to keep on going." MTV News

"There's absolutely nothing in the world that I would rather do than sing and write songs and be surrounded by music. It's everything to me. There's never been a moment in my life when I didn't know that this was it for me. This is what I want to do." The Today Show

"Some people are just more comfortable in the studio. I'm more comfortable because it's a controlled environment, it's a creative environment. That's where I'm at my best. That's what I do. I'm an introverted person and it's hard for me to get out there and really Hollywood and really ham it up. It's just not who I am. But I do want to go out there and see the people who supported me and perform for those people and do the best that I can do." The Today Show

TV APPEARANCES