Following the 1991 American Music Awards, multi-talented Mariah Carey, who had received several nominations, wasn't feeling very well. It was probably because her name never once followed “And the winner is…” Sure, that old cliche, “just being nominated is enough,” was no doubt felt. But let's face it, walking away with an arm full of AMA's would have made her day. Then, came the Grammys, followed by the “Soul Train Music Awards,” where the winner in Mariah came out a combined five times.
Winning suits her fine, too. After all, coming in on top of such mega-talents as Janet Jackson, Anita Baker, Paula Abdul, Lisa Stansfield, Madonna, etc., had to be quite satisfying. “It was a thrill,” she told a reporter atterward. “It's also kind of unreal to be getting all of this attention after only one album.
“Nevertheless, I thank God for everything that's happening to me.”
At the Grammys she gave a dynamic performance then won twice for Best Pop Vocalist - Female and Best New Artist. Looking like a vision herself in her trademark form-fitting short dress, her long curly hair framing ber quite pretty face, she graciously accepted her awards, thanking especially CBS President Tommy Mottola, her discoverer and mentor.
At the “Soul Train Music Awards” she also displayed a serious and very grateful persona. A product of an Irish opera singing mother and a father who's a Black aeronautical engineer, she won Best R&B Album, Best R&B Single - “Vision of Love” and Best R&B New Artist honors. Not bad for a pop soul sister with only one album under her belt.
Just how did Carey get to her present lofty position. Well three years ago, after striking out on her own at the tender age of 17, she was a background singer for her close friend Brenda K. Starr, a dance music diva whose career of late hasn't been nearly as successful as Mariah's. “I'm very grateful to Brenda for all of her help,” Carey says. “We're still great friends and encourage each other all the time.”
Her mother, Patricia Carey, who sang with the New York City Opera, was also her early vocal coach. Blessed with a seven octave voice, Mariah obviously got her vocal gift honestly. “My mother is an incredible singer. She gave me something very high to aspire to.”
The subject of her dad, Alfred Roy Carey, who is divorced from her mom and lives in Washington D.C., is one Carey doesn't care to discuss in any length, except to say their relationship is of a tenuous nature.
About her mixed heritage, which one New York writer falsely wrote: “Here's Another White Girl Trying to Sing Black,” Mariah says she has very precise opinions. She even confronted the guy at a media function in New York, telling him he was way off base. “I'm not a white girl trying to sing Black. I just want people to understand that with a white Irish mother and a Black Venezuelan father what I am is a human being. I can't help the way I look, I'm just trying to be me. And if people enjoy my music,” she told Ebony Magazine, “then they shouldn't care what I am.”
What she is is an enormously talented lady who has the music world in the palm of her hands. A composer, producer as well as songstress, she's certainly quite versatile, too.
On the #1 record tip, “Vision Of Love” and “Love Takes Time” have both gone gold. While her third single release “Someday,” is nearing the 500,000 copies sold mark too.
Saying she's not very interested in going the acting route like so many successful singers try, Mariah Carey is very happy being a singer. “That's all I want to do for the rest of my life,” she says. “That's my goal.”