Carey's self-titled debut studio album, released in 1990, focused on re-recording and mastering several songs she had already written in high school alongside classmate, Ben Margulies. In 1988, Carey was discovered by Tommy Mottola, CEO of Columbia Records, and was promptly signed to the label. Afanasieff on 'Dreamlover' before and after he worked on it. put a whole different shade of colors into it.' The spirit of the song was up but it wasn't hitting hard enough. Their version of 'Dreamlover' was missing a lot of stuff. 'Mariah and Dave did this loop thing, and it was new to us pop producers at the time. Music Box remains Carey's highest seller with more than 28 million copies sold worldwide and is one of the best-selling albums of all time. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it Diamond, for shipments of ten million copies across the United States.

Commercially, the album reached number one in 15 countries, including Australia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. The album faced criticism regarding Carey's more mellow and laid-back tone in comparison to her previous work. Carey was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for 'Dreamlover' at the 1994 Grammy Awards and received the same nomination for ' Hero' at the 1995 Grammy Awards.ДЄfter its release, Music Box received generally mixed reviews from music critics. To promote Music Box, Carey embarked on the short but successful Music Box Tour which traveled to select cities in North America. 'Without You' became Carey's first number-one single in most European markets and reached the top three in the United States. The first three, ' Dreamlover', ' Hero' and ' Without You', became worldwide chart-topping singles, the latter becoming Carey's highest charting international single of her career. In future projects, they would continue writing material for Carey's albums, until her 1999 release Rainbow, where he is absent from the writing credits.ДЇour singles were released from the album. While the album featured a range of music producers, the bulk of the songwriting was done by Carey and her writing partner, Walter Afanasieff. Additional writers and producers were Robert ClivillГ©s and David Cole (a pair also known as C+C Music Factory) and Daryl Simmons. Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds first began working with Carey on Music Box, where he helped produce 'Never Forget You,' as well as being part of the songwriting process. In order to successfully take the album in a new direction, Carey and Afanasieff sought out new and innovative producers, as well as some from Carey's previous releases. Two additional tracks from the album sessions were released, with 'Do You Think of Me' serving as the B-side to 'Dreamlover' and 'Everything Fades Away' and being featured on international editions of Music Box. During this time frame, she experimented with different musical instruments, leading the album's sound away from her more contemporary previous two efforts. During the course of the album's development, Carey wanted to broaden her audience, choosing a more pop/ R&B oriented sound. The album comprises ballads primarily written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff, with whom she had previously worked on Emotions (1991), and a few urban dance tracks. It was released by Columbia Records on August 31, 1993, in North America. Music Box is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey.

Mariah carey hero live 2010