Mariah Carey Surpasses Elvis with #1 Singles

This past week, Mariah Carey spent her second straight week at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with her new song called "Touch My Body." It was last week when Mariah Carey made history with that song. Not only did "Touch My Body" earn Mariah her 18^th number one single (which puts her in the lead among most top singles by a female), but it also officially put her ahead of Elvis Pressley in that category. Mariah Carey now owns the sole spot on number 2 when it comes to the top singles she has produced. Only the Beatles have more with 21, which is a number Carey certainly can surpass, which would make her on top of everyone in scoring number one singles.

It all started for Mariah Carey back in 1990 when she first started going to the top of the charts with her singles. Her first number one was scored in August of 1990 with the song "Vision of Love," which preceded the song "She Ain't Worth It" by Glenn Medeiros and Bobby Brown. Later that same year, Carey struck gold on the Hot 100 again with the song "Love Takes Time," which preceded the song "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice in November. Since then, Carey has never looked back, scoring number one after number one. Some of her biggest chart toppers include "Dreamlover," "One Sweet Day," "Fantasy," and others.

Most of Mariah Carey's chart toppers came in the 1990s right before the music we call hip hop and rap became popular. Besides some of the singles just mentioned, Carey scored other famous chart toppers like "When You Believe," "Emotions," "Always Be My Baby," "I Don't Want to Cry," and others. A full list of her chart toppers will be listed at the end of the article for anyone interested. There was even a time span where she scored a chart topper ten straight years spanning from 1990 to 2000. Even during that span when she wasn't making number ones, she still was getting close. In addition to her chart toppers, Carey also accumulated eight other songs that made the top five on the Hot 100, which further describes all of her success as a recording artist.

Later on however, Carey did adapt her music and reached the top of the chart again changing her early music to a newer style of music you hear from hip hop artists. Carey's earlier songs were mainly classified as popular music and grabbed the attention of many music listeners who listened back then. However, the unique thing with her is that she was able to capture another generation of music that very few acts carry with them. For example, many musical sensations only last one generation before they disappear and fade from the scene. Mariah Carey however showed that she could appeal to a new generation when she scored the number one, "We Belong Together," which stayed on top of the charts for four weeks and then 9 weeks more later on in the year.

That song showed that Carey still had it in her and even scored another chart topper in 2006 called "Don't Forget About Us," which stayed on top for two weeks. After a couple of years from being absent from topping the charts, Carey has returned with a vengeance for her new CD coming out called "E=MC." The date of that CD is still yet to be determined. As for the other albums she has made though, she has built a lot of success there too. It wasn't only scoring chart toppers with singles, but also with CDs too. In her music career, Carey has scored two diamond albums, which were called "Music Box" and "Daydream." Carey also had three albums that went over 5X platinum in sales and had many other multi-platinum records. Carey has sold over 60 million albums in the United States and over 140 million worldwide. Only Madonna and Barbra Streisand sold more American records than Carey did.

Therefore, this latest number one song only adds to her success she has already experienced over the years. Now at chart topper 18, Carey right now is the only artist with a real chance to shatter the mark held by the Beatles, which is the number of chart toppers. As of now, the Beatles have 20 chart toppers and Carey has 18, which makes her two away from tying and three away from breaking the record held by the Beatles. As of now with how her popularity seems not to be dying off, I say Carey has a shot at the Beatles and put them in their place for the most number ones. Maybe in the next couple of years, Carey can achieve that number and change musical history with her outstanding, motivational, and powerful voice she has in popular music today.

List of #1 Singles:

1990 : "Vision Of Love"

1990 : "Love Takes Time"

1991 : "Someday"

1991 : "I Don't Wanna Cry"

1991 : "Emotions"

1992 : "I'll Be There"

1993 : "Dreamlover"

1993-1994 : "Hero"

1995 : "Fantasy"

1995-1996 : "One Sweet Day"

1996 : "Always Be My Baby"

1997 : "Honey"

1998 : "My All"

1999 : "Heartbreaker"

2000 : "Thank God I Found You"

2005 : "We Belong Together"

2005-2006 : "Don't Forget About Us"

2008 : "Touch My Body"

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariah_Carey_singles_discography

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?g=Singles&f=The+Billboard+Hot+100

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100#See_also