Mariah Carey "Make It Happen"

My Golden Rule: You can't complain about something if you're not doing anything to change it.

Mariah Carey "I'll Be There"

My Grandfather had an unusual reaction upon seeing Mariah Carey's music video to "I'll Be There" on VH-1. Since my parents didn't have cable, I caught up on MTV and VH-1 while visiting Grandma and Grandpa. The music video for "I'll Be There" was quite vanilla -- it merely contained footage from Mariah's MTV Unplugged special. Since I was a teenager at the time, all my Grandpa's questions about teenagers went directly to me as I apparently was some sort of unofficial spokesperson. About halfway through the video, Grandpa questioned why the folks in the audience of Mariah's video waved their arms side-to-side in the air during the chorus. I explained to him the crowd was just dancing along to the song. Somehow this was Grandpa's tipping point. He turned his swivel chair toward me and exclaimed, "Your generation is fucked." My Dad, who was also in the room at the time, looked to me and said, "Don't worry -- he said the same thing about my generation."

Toni Braxton "How Could An Angel Break My Heart?"

The dynamic duo of Kenny G and Babyface made appearances in two hit songs from 1997: Toni Braxton's somber "How Could An Angel Break My Heart?" featured Kenny's saxophone and Babyface's soothing voice while and Babyface's "Every Time I Close My Eyes" also included the saxy sounds of Kenny G (accompanied by Mariah Carey).

Mariah Carey "Someday"

Mariah Carey's final big note in her 1990 pop song "Someday" hit such a unique pitch, it caused a garage door to go up and down. Mariah Carey even shared the story of a little girl who used "Someday" as an audio garage door opener much to the dismay of her mother.

Mariah Carey "I Don't Wanna Cry"

The first four songs Mariah Carey released went to #1 on the Hot 100. "I Don't Wanna Cry" was the fourth of her four straight first-place finishers. The only other band to accomplish this? The Jackson 5.

Billy Joel "The River of Dreams"

Turn on a Top 40 radio station today, and you'll hear Childish Gambino, Drake and Camila Cabello. Turn on a Top 40 radio station in 1993, and you would've heard UB40, Mariah Carey and "The River of Dreams" from Billy Joel.

Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey "Endless Love"

Thirteen years after Lionel Richie and Diana Ross teamed up for the wildly popular ballad "Endless Love", Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey did the same. The love song came from Vandross' Songs album which contained covers of vintage R&B tunes.

Sweet Sensation "If Wishes Came True"

Sweet Sensation only placed one song on the Adult Contemporary Chart and they definitely made it count. "If Wishes Came True" is the answer to the question: what pop song knocked Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love" out of the #1 spot on the Hot 100. It happened on September 1, 1990.

Hootie & The Blowfish "Hold My Hand"

Let's take a look at the top songs of 1994 on Top 40 radio:

• Ace of Base "The Sign"
• All-4-One "I Swear"
• Boyz II Men "I'll Make Love to You"
• Celine Dion "The Power of Love"
• Mariah Carey "Hero"

By 1994 standards, Top 40 radio heavily leaned on R&B and Hip-Hop artists and music. A peak further down the Top 100 of 1994 turned up music from artists such as Salt-n-Peppa, R. Kelly, Coolio, and Warren G. This gave the pop-rock group Hootie & The Blowfish some struggles to find a mainstream radio format to embrace the band. Somehow, the Adult Contemporary format answered the call and immediately helped launch Hootie's career. Within 12 months, AC radio stations playlists featured four songs from Cracked Rear View (Hootie's debut album) as well as "I Go Blind" (prominently featured on the TV show Friends). Soon, Top 40 added Hootie's music--though most song charted higher on the Adult Contemporary Chart than the Hot 100--and the band's over-saturation likely attributed to its demise. 

Mariah Carey "Love Takes Time"

"Love Takes Time" almost never happened. Mariah Carey's debut album was already complete when she recorded the song. Since her album was in the process of being pressed into CDs and (at that time) cassette tapes, no one at Columbia Records wanted to add it. So Mariah went straight to the top and played the ballad for a record executive who liked the song, but didn't want to stop production of the album just to include another ballad. Mariah protested and eventually got her way. "Love Takes Time" is the name of the song, but the song itself took next to no time. From start to finish, the song took three days to complete -- something virtually unheard of. "Love Takes Time" became the album's second single and proved Mariah to be correct -- the song hit #1 on the Hot 100, Adult Contemporary, and R&B Charts in 1990.

Backstreet Boys "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)"

Some fun facts about the Backstreet Boys first big hit:

• The song went to #2 on the Hot 100 in 1997 (blocked by "Mo Money, Mo Problems" from The Notorious B.I.G. and later Mariah Carey's "Honey") 
• The song also went to #2 on the Adult Contemporary Chart
• BSB record company originally wanted to release "You Want it to Be Good Girl (Get Yourself A Bad Boy)" instead of "Quit Playing Games", but the boys argued against it saying that particular song was their worst
• The original version of the song was recorded in 1995 and only featured Brian Littrell singing both verses -- Nick Carter was later added
• An Italian version of the song was also recorded but only featured Kevin Richardson and Howie Dorough 

Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston "When You Believe"

You would think a duet from two of the biggest female divas singers of their time would result in a huge hit, but that wasn't the case with the song "When You Believe" from Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. The duo recorded reportedly did not like one another and sought to disprove the rumors with the duet for The Prince of Egypt Soundtrack in 1998. While song only proved to be a Top 20 hit on the Hot 100, it fared much better on the Adult Contemporary Chart (#3).

Mariah Carey "Hero"

Some fun facts about one of Mariah Carey's biggest hits:

• Mariah originally wrote "Hero" for Gloria Estefan to sing in the 1992 movie Hero, but Mariah's then-fiance (and CEO of Sony Music) felt the song was too good and urged Mariah to keep it for herself
• A different song called "Heart of a Hero" by Luther Vandross wound up being on the Hero soundtrack
• Multiple people sued Mariah claiming the song was theirs including Sylvester Stallone's limo driver -- Mariah prevailed in each instance
• Despite the song's popularity, Mariah doesn't care for the ballad and said she only performs it to meet the demand of her audience
• My alarm clock went off each morning at 6:00 during my Junior year of high school and nine times out of then, this damn song would be playing

Nelly Furtado - "I'm Like a Bird"

Nelly Furtado's debut single, "I'm Like A Bird", won a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance -- a rare accomplishment achieved previously by Mariah Carey in 1990.  

Whitney Houston - "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)"

The summer of 2016 saw Justin Timberlake debut "Can't Stop the Feeling" in the #1 spot.  This begs the question: how often do songs debut in the #1 spot on the Hot 100?  Actually, not often.  In fact, it's only happened 26 times in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 -- including a record-setting four times in 1995.  That year saw not only Whitney Houston's "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" debut at #1, but also "You Are Not Alone" by Michael Jackson, "Fantasy" by Mariah Carey, and "One Sweet Day" by Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey.

Mariah Carey - "Emotions"

Mariah Carey's career still was in its infancy in 1991 when her disco-flavored "Emotions" took over the radio.  Not many people could get away with what was, in essence, squealing, yet she managed to turn it into a catchy hit pop song.

Mariah Carey - "Forever"

I recall the new Windy 100 midday personality talking about how Mariah Carey was rightfully labeled a "diva" after she made her limo drive around the block to drop her off on the opposite side of the street because then the photographers would capture her "better" side.

Babyface - "Everytime I Close My Eyes"

Babyface got some help from fellow '90s pop stars Mariah Carey and Kenny G for his soulful tune "Everytime I Close My Eyes".

Leona Lewis - "Bleeding Love"

How did Leona Lewis' career not take off?  As evidenced by her first big hit "Bleeding Love", the girl can sing.  Her signature ballad hit #1 in 35 countries--a feat that only Elton John has achieved.  Her style has drawn comparisons to Mariah Carey.  Oh, and she's drop-dead gorgeous.  

Mariah Carey - "Anytime You Need A Friend"

Mariah Carey gave all women an excuse to sing loudly in their cars during the summer of 1994 with "Anytime You Need A Friend".  The gospel-infused ballad made us all envious off Mariah's wide vocal range.