We’re switching gears in today’s episode and focusing on one of the world’s true pop divas. We’re talking about the Queen of Christmas, Mariah Carey! Get excited everyone!  Born on March 27, 1970 in Huntington, New York, Carey overcame adversity in her family life and struggled with racism to break onto the music scene with force. Starting out singing jingles for local radio advertisers, she signed a record deal at the age of just 19 when she released her first single, “Vision of Love”, and self-titled album.  It  went on to earn her 5 Grammy nominations and 2 wins for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Female Artist and Best New Artist in 1990. Mariah Carey swiftly became a household name and one of the world's top-selling recording artists. She has been known in the music industry as a multi-faceted talent, writing and co-writing most of her songs, producing, and also arranging. These talents have garnered 35 Grammy nominations with a total of 5 wins to her name.   Her countless accolades are too many to name for our short time here, but range from numerous Billboard and BMI Pop Music Awards, including the Billboard Icon Award in 2011; and the achievement she states she’s most proud of, the Congressional Horizon Award in 1999 for her humanitarian work with Fresh Air Fund and Camp Mariah. She’ll also be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2022.   Mariah Carey has smashed a multitude of records. She’s had 19 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, the most for any solo artist. 1995’s “Fantasy” was the first single to debut at #1 by a female artist. And, “One Sweet Day” was the  longest running #1 single in American history at 16 weeks, a record that was held for 23 years. Carey is also the only artist to have a number-one song in each year of a single decade, the 90’s.  But, her career has extended far beyond the 90’s alone. Having famously paired her pop vocals with rappers like ODB and Puff she was free to expand her sound and move further into hip hop and R&B after she broke from her Columbia record deal in 2001. She went on to release smash hits like “We Belong Together” and ”Shake It Off”.  Before I wrap up, let’s not forget her worldwide Christmas Hit, All I Want for Christmas Is You. It  topped the charts in 2019, 25 years after it’s initial release,  and stayed there into January of 2020, giving Mariah number one songs in every decade for 4 decades running.   Mariah Carey truly is one of the greatest influential singers of all time. Her magic ingredient isn't just her buttery 5-octave vocal range. She says that the magic lays in always believing in herself.