Like a phoenix from the ashes

Following these failures, Virgin and Carey parted ways early in 2002, with the label paying her US$ 28 million. That spring, she found a new home with Island/Def Jam, where she set up her own label, MonarC Music. In December, she released her ninth album, Charmbracelet, which failed to become a success. Everyone was ready to write Mariah off as a 'has been.'

But the minstrel wasn't ready to give up. Although she took nearly three years for a follow-up, Mariah is now riding high on the US pop charts with her comeback album, The Emancipation of Mimi. She is also leading the field of nominees for the American Music Awards (AMA) with four nominations for the album in both pop/rock and soul/R&B categories...Mimi has sold more than 3 million copies in the United States since its release in April. The single We belong together recently ended a 14-week run atop Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart.

However, success is not an unfamiliar phenomenon to Mariah. She was the best-selling female artiste of the 1990s through best-selling albums like Music Box, Daydream, Butterfly and Rainbow. She rose to superstardom on the strength of her stunning five-octave voice; she moved to effortlessly from glossy ballads to hip-hop numbers she earned frequent comparison to rivals Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, but did them both one better by composing all of her own material. According to Columbia Records and Universal Music, Carey has sold a total of 150 million records worldwide.

Compiled by Cultural Correspondent