Mariah Carey Mourns the Deaths of Her Mom and Sister, Who Died on the Same Day (2024)

1970-present

Mariah Carey Now: Singer’s Mom and Sister Died on the Same Day

Mariah Carey is grieving the deaths of two family members. The 55-year-old singer confirmed in an August 26 statement that both her mother, Patricia, and her sister, Alison, recently died on the same day. Pat was 87 years old, and Alison was 63.

“My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend. Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day,” Carey told People. “I feel blessed that I was able to spend the last week with my mom before she passed. I appreciate everyone’s love and support and respect for my privacy during this impossible time.”

Mariah didn’t share details about the causes of death, but the Times Union reported Alison died in hospice care following complications with her internal organs.

The five-time Grammy winner had a complex relationship with her mom, who was a Julliard-trained opera singer and vocal coach. “Our relationship is a prickly rope of pride, pain, shame, gratitude, jealousy, admiration and disappointment,” Mariah wrote in her 2020 memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey. “A complicated love tethers my heart to my mother’s.”

Additionally, Mariah was estranged from her sister. In her memoir, she revealed Alison gave her drugs at a young age and put her in dangerous situations, writing that it was “emotionally and physically safer for me not to have any contact.” In 2021, Alison sued the “We Belong Together” singer for intentionally causing her emotional distress over the contents of the book. The lawsuit was unresolved when Alison died.

Legendary singer Mariah Carey has recorded 19 No. 1 songs, more than any other solo artist in Billboard Hot 100 history. The native New Yorker became an immediate sensation with her 1990 self-titled debut album thanks to her five-octave range and popular love ballads. By the end of the decade, Carey had released the diamond-certified albums Music Box and Daydream and eclipsed Michael Jackson’s record for most chart-topping singles by an individual. Her 2005 album, The Emancipation of Mimi, became that year’s best-selling record, and the five-time Grammy winner now stands as one of the most commercially successful artists of all time with more than 200 million albums sold worldwide. Her hit songs include “Vision of Love,” “Hero,” “One Sweet Day” with Boyz II Men, “We Belong Together,” and the modern holiday classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”

FULL NAME: Mariah Carey
BORN: March 27, 1969
BIRTHPLACE: Huntington, New York
SPOUSES: Tommy Mottola (1993-1998) and Nick Cannon (2008-2016)
CHILDREN: Moroccan and Monroe
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aries

Mariah Carey was born March 27, 1969, in Huntington, New York, on Long Island to Alfred Roy Carey, a Venezuelan aeronautical engineer, and Patricia Carey, a voice coach and opera singer. Alfred and Patricia divorced when Mariah was 3 years old.

Her parents had three kids together before their split, and Mariah is the youngest. She has an older brother named Morgan, and her older sister was Alison. Alison died in August 2024, on the same day that Mariah’s mother died. Her father died in 2002.

Young Mariah stunned her mother by imitating Patricia’s operatic singing as early as age 2. She began singing lessons at age 4. Eventually, Mariah developed a voice that spanned five octaves. Few singers have achieved this vocal feat; David Lee Roth and Yma Sumac are among the handful of people to have done so.

After graduating in 1987 from Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York, Mariah moved to Manhattan. There, she worked as a waiter and a coat check attendant and studied cosmetology while writing songs and actively pursuing a music career at night.

When she was 18 years old, Carey attended a CBS Records party with Brenda K. Starr, who Carey had started singing back-up for in concerts. Starr convinced Carey to bring along one of her demo tapes. She intended to give the tape to Columbia’s Jerry Greenberg, but Tommy Mottola, the president of Columbia Records (later Sony), intercepted it before she could hand it to Greenberg. After listening to the tape on the way home from the party, Mottola signed Carey immediately.

Since then, Carey has released 15 studio albums (including one soundtrack). All but one of those has made it into the Billboard 200’s top 5, and six albums have reached No. 1. Worldwide, the pop diva has sold more than 200 million albums. She is the fourth best-selling female artist of all time in the United States, behind Rihanna, Taylor Swift, and Beyonce.

Mariah Carey and Emotions

After signing her first record contract, the burgeoning star set to work on her first album. Mariah Carey (1990) included four No. 1 singles: “Vision of Love,” “Love Takes Time,” “Some Day,” and “I Don’t Wanna Cry.” The self-titled album, debuting that June, went platinum within two months and sold nine million copies by the end of the decade. A critical success to boot, Carey garnered five Grammy nominations, including in all four major categories (Album, Song, and Record of the Year as well as Best New Artist. She won the latter category at the 1991 Grammy Awards as “Vision of Love” won the trophy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Her second album, Emotions, was released in September 1991. The title track became her fifth No. 1 single while “Can’t Let Go” and “Make it Happen” were additional hits. The following March, Carey appeared on MTV’s Unplugged. This televised performance was released as an album and a home video, resulting in another No. 1 single (a cover of The Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There”).

Music Box, Merry Christmas, and Daydream

Carey soon reached even greater heights. Her next album, Music Box (1993), cut back a bit on the lavish studio production techniques heard in her previous albums and included the No. 1 singles “Dreamlover” and “Hero.” Music Box also became Carey’s first diamond-certified album, having sold 10 million copies by November 1997.

She first laid claim to the title “Queen of Christmas” in November 1994 with the arrival of Merry Christmas. The holiday album, which Carey was hesitant to record, combined traditional Christian hymns with new songs, most notably “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Now a modern Christmas classic, the tune has been played billions of times in the past three decades. It’s also one of two Christmas songs to ever reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, joining “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late).”

Another diamond-certified album was in store with 1995’s Daydream, which was also nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys. Its first single, “Fantasy,” debuted at No. 1 followed by another chart-topper “Always Be My Baby.” Carey broke new ground with “One Sweet Day,” her first collaboration track on an album. She wrote and performed the Grammy-nominated song with R&B group Boyz II Men. Another No. 1 hit, “One Sweet Day” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 16 consecutive weeks.

Final ’90s Albums: Butterfly and Rainbow

Two years after Daydream, Carey released Butterfly that resulted in her 12^th No. 1 hit: “Honey.” The Sean “Diddy” Combs–produced track demonstrated Carey’s continued interest in hip-hop and R&B. Butterfly also followed Daydream as her second album to debut at the top spot of the Billboard 200.

In 1998, she and fellow pop diva Whitney Houston recorded the duet “When You Believe” for the animated movie The Prince of Egypt. The tune later won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, though the trophy recognized the writer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz.

Carey rounded out the decade with a seventh album, Rainbow (1999). Many artists pitched in such as Jay-Z, Usher, Missy Elliott, and Snoop Dogg. That October, her duet with Jay-Z, “Heartbreaker,” joined her ever-growing list of No. 1 songs. With it, she surpassed Michael Jackson to become second only to The Beatles for the most No. 1 songs in the United States. Whereas Jackson racked up 13 chart-toppers in the span of 23 years, Carey recorded her 14 hits in just nine years.

2000s: The Emancipation of Mimi and More

In the early 2000s, Carey hopped around record labels. In April 2001, she signed a deal with Virgin Records, owned by EMI, for a reported $80 million. The partnership lasted less than a year, though not before the release of the Glitter soundtrack. The singer reportedly walked away from Virgin Records with nearly $50 million as part of her severance agreement. In May 2002, she signed a new deal with Universal Music Group’s Island/Def Jam Records.

The business end of her career newly secure, Carey released Charmbracelet in December 2002. The initial reception launched the album to third place on the mainstream chart, but only one of its songs, “Through The Rain,” landed on the Billboard Hot 100—at a disappointing No. 81.

Carey was back to her chart-topping ways with 2005’s The Emancipation of Mimi. It became the best-selling album in the United States of the year and has now sold seven million copies. Her 10^th record included the mega-hit “We Belong Together,” which stayed at No. 1 for 14 weeks and won two Grammy Awards in 2006. The Emancipation of Mimi was also named the Best Contemporary R&B Album, bringing Carey’s overall Grammy tally to five.

Her follow up in E=MC² (2008) proved she could still produce a platinum-certified album nearly two decades into her career. “Touch My Body” became another No. 1 song, as “Bye Bye” cracked the Hot 100’s top 20. E=MC² is her fourth and most recent album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The next year, she released Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel to relatively modest success.

Later Albums

Since 2010, Carey’s once white-hot career has cooled somewhat. Her second holiday album, Merry Christmas II You, arrived that year. Me. I Am Mariah...The Elusive Chanteuse (2014) marked her first original music in five years. It was followed by two Las Vegas residencies and 2018’s Caution, her 15^th studio album that earned mention on several albums of the year lists.

Carey’s latest releases have included a compilation album, a Christmas special recording, and a few anniversary editions of her ’90s albums. In 2022, she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Carey returned to Vegas for a third residency in spring and summer 2024. Dubbed The Celebration of Mimi, the residency included 16 shows.

Carey holds the record for most No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 by a solo artist. With 19 chart-topping tracks, she is one shy of The Beatles’ overall record. Carey has held the top spot in four decades, from the 1990s into the 2020s, making her the first artist to accomplish this feat. Well-aware of her airwave dominance, Carey even released a compilation album in November 1998 of her No. 1 hits up to that point. It was appropriately titled #1’s.

In December 2019, Carey achieved another milestone when her enduring holiday song, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” topped the charts 25 years after its release setting a new Billboard record for longevity.

Carey’s No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, in chronological order, are:

• “Vision of Love” (August 1990, four weeks at No. 1)
• “Love Takes Time” (November 1990, three weeks)
• “Someday” (March 1991, two weeks)
• “I Don’t Wanna Cry” (May 1991, two weeks)
• “Emotions” (October 1991, three weeks)
• “I’ll Be There” (June 1992, two weeks)
• “Dreamlover” (September 1993, eight weeks)
• “Hero” (December 1993, four weeks)
• “Fantasy” (September 1995, eight weeks)
• “One Sweet Day” with Boyz II Men (December 1995, 16 weeks)
• “Always Be My Baby” (May 1996, two weeks)
• “Honey” (September 1997, three weeks)
• “My All” (May 1998, one week)
• “Heartbreaker” featuring Jay-Z (October 1999, two weeks)
• “Thank God I Found You” featuring Joe & 98 Degrees (February 2000, one week)
• “We Belong Together” (June 2005, 14 weeks)
• “Don’t Forget About Us” (December 2005, two weeks)
• “Touch My Body” (April 2008, two weeks)
• “All I Want For Christmas Is You” (December 2019, 14 weeks)

Carey took her creative talents and embarked on a movie career in the late 1990s, though her onscreen work has never overshadowed her myriad musical successes.

After appearing in The Bachelor (1999), she starred in the semi-autobiographical Glitter (2001) as an aspiring singer seeking to making it big while navigating her relationship. Carey recorded the accompanying soundtrack album in addition to acting in the lead role. A month before Glitter was due in theaters, Carey was hospitalized and cancelled all her public appearances to promote the movie. The release of Glitter was subsequently pushed back from late August to late September 2001. Neither the movie nor the soundtrack generated much traction.

Carey didn’t stop acting there. She also had roles in the mob drama WiseGirls (2002) with Mira Sorvino, the indie flick Tennessee (2008), the Oscar-winning drama Precious (2009), and another Lee Daniels’ drama The Butler (2013). For Precious, Carey transformed from her high-glam diva persona into a nearly unrecognizable welfare caseworker and delivered a career-best performance.

In 2015, the Queen of Christmas starred in and directed A Christmas Melody, a holiday movie on the Hallmark Channel. Two years later, Carey lent her legendary voice to roles in two animated voices: The Lego Batman Movie and The Star. She also made cameos in the comedies You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (2008), Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016), and Girls Trip (2017).

The “Hero” singer has also appeared on various TV shows. In 2012, Carey was chosen as a new judge for Season 12 of the popular reality competition series American Idol. She took a seat alongside Randy Jackson, Nicki Minaj, and Keith Urban and ultimately didn’t enjoy the gig. “That was the worst experience of my life,” Carey later said. “Pitting two females against each other wasn’t cool. It should have been about the contestants instead of about some nonexistent feud [with Minaj].”

In 2013, Carey voiced a character for three episodes of the animated TV series American Dad! Three years later, she launched The Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour and Mariah’s World, a TV docuseries on E! network, which followed her European tour.

As of March 2024, Mariah Carey’s net worth is estimated at $350 million. The bulk of her wealth stems from her music career, with royalties from “All I Want For Christmas Is You” accounting for a considerable portion. Various news outlets have pegged her annual take-home between $2.5 million and $3 million. In 2023, a music industry veteran told the Associated Press that the tune, which Carey co-wrote, was likely to exceed $100 million in lifetime earnings that holiday season.

Carey has also made money from her acting work and TV appearances. For judging one season of American Idol, Carey was reportedly paid $18 million. Elsewhere, she secured a book deal for her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey. “I want to tell the story of the moments—the ups ad downs, the triumphs and traumas, the debacles and the dreams that contributed to the person I am today,” she said in her book announcement.

Capitalizing on her star power, Carey is an active fundraiser for The Fresh Air Fund, a nonprofit agency that provides free summer vacations to disadvantaged children in New York City, and is the co-founder of Camp Mariah, one of the organization’s initiatives.

Currently single, Carey has been married twice and has two kids.

In June 1993, the singer married music executive Tommy Mottola in a spectacular ceremony at Manhattan’s St. Thomas Episcopal Church. Their relationship began professionally in the late 1980s. Mottola, then the president of Columbia Records, listened to Carey’s demo tape and quickly signed her to the label. By 1991, they had begun dating despite their 20-year age gap. Carey was 24 and Mottola 43 when they tied the knot.

The marriage was an unhappy one for Carey, who has since described Mottola as “controlling” and compared the marriage to prison. “There was no ­freedom for me as a human being,” she told Cosmopolitan in 2019. “It was almost like being a prisoner.” The couple divorced in 1998, and Mottola wrote in his 2013 memoir that their relationship was “absolutely wrong and inappropriate.”

Carey’s second husband was rapper and actor Nick Cannon, who is 10 years younger than she. The pair began a whirlwind relationship after he appeared in her music video for “Bye Bye.” After dating for less than two months, the couple married on April 30, 2008, in a secret ceremony in the Bahamas.

Soon after, Carey became pregnant, news she reluctantly shared in a now-controversial 2008 interview on The Ellen Degeneres Show. Degeneres pressured Carey into announcing the pregnancy on air by offering her champagne. “I was extremely uncomfortable with that moment is all I can say,” Carey told Vulture in 2020. “And I really have had a hard time grappling with the aftermath.” The singer suffered a miscarriage, something that she had prior experience with, after the TV appearance.

But eventually, Carey and Cannon did become parents. Carey announced they were expecting in October 2010 and memorably performed a Christmas special with her baby bump on full display. The 41-year-old singer gave birth to twins on her fourth wedding anniversary in April 2011. Her daughter, Monroe, is nicknamed “Roe,” and her son, Moroccan, goes by “Roc.”

Carey and Cannon stayed together for six years before announcing their separation in August 2014. Their divorce was finalized in 2016. The former couple has continued to co-parent their kids.

In addition to her ex-husbands, Carey has had other serious relationships. She Latin singer Luis Miguel for three years, beginning around 1998. They reportedly ended things in summer 2001. After splitting for her second husband, Carey got engaged to Australian businessman James Packer in January 2016, but that October, it was announced that the couple had split.

Most recently, Carey’s long-term boyfriend was Bryan Tanaka, one of her backup dancers who was also featured in her reality show Mariah’s World. She confirmed the relationship in 2017. After seven years together, Tanaka announced their breakup in December 2023.

In July 2001, Carey was admitted into a New York–area hospital and put under psychiatric care after suffering what her publicists called a “physical and emotional collapse.” Carey was released from the hospital after two weeks but not before she was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder.

For years, Carey kept her mental health disease a secret. She finally shared details in an April 2018 cover story for People. After her 2001 diagnosis, the singer said she refused to acknowledge it for years. “Until recently I lived in denial and isolation and in constant fear someone would expose me,” she said. “It was too heavy a burden to carry, and I simply couldn’t do that anymore.”

Carey said she turned things around after finally reaching out for help and that she began undergoing therapy and taking medication regularly. “I’m just in a really good place right now, where I’m comfortable discussing my struggles with bipolar II disorder,” she said. “I’m hopeful we can get to a place where the stigma is lifted from people going through anything alone. It can be incredibly isolating. It does not have to define you and I refuse to allow it to define me or control me.”

• Never, never listen to anybody that try to discourage you.
• Forget the image, forget the ensemble, forget the rumors, forget the short skirts, the big hair, whatever! I owe this to the fans, and I will never forget you.

Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn’t look right, contact us!