High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993. The album was followed by worldwide commercial success, Music Box (1993) and Merry Christmas (1994), with the former becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time. Both albums established Carey as Columbia`s highest-selling act, and eventually the best-selling artist on the decade. During the recording of her subsequent release, Daydream (1996), Carey began to deviate from her pop background, and slowly traversing into R B and hip-hop. This musical, as well as personal, transformation took full form with Butterfly, which she considered her magnum opus, due to the personal themes it touched on.