Her name was derived from the song "They Call the Wind Maria", originally from the 1951 Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon and popularized by the 1969 Hollywood film of the same name. During Mariah's Music Box Tour, the song was played as an "introduction" at the beginning of the concert.

Carey began vocal training under the tutelage of her mother, a classically trained opera singer.

In high school, she was frequently absent, and her classmates gave her the nickname Mirage.

I don't know if it's real
But I like the way I feel inside
You've got me feeling emotions
Deeper than I've ever dreamed of
You've got me feeling emotions
Higher than the heavens above

After marrying a black man, Mariah's mother Patricia was disowned by her family. Racial tensions also prevented the Carey family from integrating into their community. While living in Huntington, New York, neighbors poisoned the family dog and set fire to their car.

After moving to New York City, she completed 500 hours of beauty school.

Carey is the first artist in history to have their first five singles become consecutive number one songs on the Billboard Hot 100 (from "Vision of Love" to "Emotions").

Oh, baby, I've got a dependency
Always strung out for another taste of your honey

In the late 1990's, Mariah started calling her loved ones, friends, and fans "lambs", and it just stuck. As a group, the are called her "Lambily" (a combination of "lambs" and "family").

Mariah has a five octave range, with the ability to reach notes beyond the 7th octave. Ron Givens of Entertainment Weekly described it this way: "First, a rippling, soulful ooh comes rolling effortlessly from her throat: alto. Then, after a quick breath, she goes for the stratosphere, with a sound that nearly changes the barometric pressure in the room. In one brief swoop, she seems to squeal and roar at the same time."