When producers got it right? Mariah writes and producers her own songs.

Exactly what i thought Music Box and Daydream were her career peaks and still her two best selling WW and here though Mimi is her 3rd so she did ahve success after just didn't sustain it.

I think her lack of success after daydream was directly correlated with her change in musical direction. She alienated most of her fanbase when she went RnB.

Alone? Don't think so. Every track that has been produced for her, features her name alongside the 'real' producer of the track. She has worked with an array of top producers across the years - I guess being the diva that she is rumoured to be, means that she demanded her name alongside theirs in the credits, for whatever input she had, which could of been lots, or very little.

When has Mariah Carey ever produced a beat for another artist? She is a singer/songwriter, who obviously has input in the production of her own songs.

Maybe I should re-word my phrase to - when the 'beats' were right...

Not really - she was making R'n'B joints even in 1993 with babyface on music box, and even dream lover has an R'n'B orientated vibe. Plus, day dream in 1995 was predominately R'n'B, and went 10 times platinum - at the peak of her career.

She lost fans because the quality of her music diminshed, and she became the ultimate diva.

Well you say that but really Music Box at its core is a pop dance record. Then Daydream contemporary R&B that could pleas old fans and new alike. Butterfly was the turning point and yes perhaps had she continued with the quality fo that album she would have had further success but she did alienate those who preffered her earlier wholeome image.

I remember when she released Honey, I was like "what has she done? Why is she going all rnb?" - but I grew to love Honey. I also loved her remix of Heartbreaker with Missy Elliot and DaBrat - now when I listen back I don't think "oh Mariah changed her sound" because it sounds very cool, very 90s.

However, I did not like one single song on Glitter - I wanted to, I tried to, but I just couldn't get into it at all.

Like Charmbracelet, few good songs there. Mimi - loved It's Like That and We Belong Together - and to be honest, I was so pleased for her that it was such a success.

Haven't got into any of her albums since Mimi.

Although the past few albums have not saw the heights of Daydream or Music Box, I don't think we can say she hasn't been successful, she just hasn't been AS successful as she was.

To me when I hear the name Mariah Carey I think mega superstar, because that's what she was/is. But how is she seen by the teenage generation now? Do they know who she is or her back catalogue of hits?do they know that once this girl was the cream of female vocalists? She's up their with Celine, Whitney, Cyndi, Janet, Shania

I agree with this. Butterfly was most definitely the turning point.

Considering she has had production credits from her very first album I doubt she is merely taking credit for others work. She has produced a few songs by herself but mainly co-produces with others. A lot of the samples she uses in her music were her idea. For example the Tom Tom club's genius of love sample she used in fantasy which was the foundation of the song was her idea to use.

Music box was full of adult contemporary stuff and had a lot of ballads. Yes her earlier work had some RnB undertones but it was predominantly adult contemporary. Butterfly was pretty much full on RnB with some hip hop elements thrown in. After that it went more towards hip hop (or maybe hip pop!).

Aww she did well. she brought out some great ballads, she used to be able to sing. I was a fan before her ego took over. Her ego is still the same as though she's got the best voice and she hasnt anymore.

Shes still got some good songs though.

That sample on Fantasy is what got me into the song and made me buy the album Daydream. Fantasy is my favourite Mariah song EVER!

Personally I quite like Butterfly. Honey (despite the awful title) was one of the best lead single in my opinion. the video totally smashes and the hook is infectious. Not to mention that it went on to become one of Mariah's biggest club hit. My All is one of her strongest ballad too.

The bad tuning point is definitely Rainbow. Heartbreaker was awful. Then of course the Glitter debacle was to follow.

It took a while but Honey grew on me

There were some good ballads on glitter. I agree rainbow wasn't a great album. It was her last for Sony and there were a lot of political things going on behind the scenes when it was recorded. Plus Mariah was also working on Glitter at the same time. I think all of that sadly took its tole on rainbow.

Well I'm probably one of her younger fans as I'm 19 and became a fan during the MIMI era (2005) and remember her being huge here at that time. Lets face it it, Mariah is Mariah and is a superstar all over the world and will be until the day she dies even if she never releases a single song again. She has so many hits, so many classic songs that still get played today.

She was pretty big when I was in senior school. Especially We Belong Together was absolutely huge, and all over the radio. There was the original version, and also a synth-pop/hip hop remix which was popular as well. She also had Get Your Number which I still hear in clubs today.

I'd say she stopped being "popular" after 2009. The last song I can remember there being a lot of hype around was Obsessed, which came out when I was in college, especially because of the music video. But her label didn't put it on iTunes until after all the hype died down.

I really like her. A fantastic pop/R&B star. I hope she can get another hit one day, but I look forward to her songs nonetheless.

Thats because Obsessed was her last big non christmas release. A lot of people forget that she hasn't had an original non christmas album out since 2009. Obsessed is actually my least favourite Mariah song and Memoirs is my least favourite album. I've never been able to get into any of them for whatever reason. I still absolutely love E=MC2 though!

i dont get it...

until i joined music forums ten years ago i always thought that she was just another singer. not to my taste at all, i hate those vocal gymnastics. i know no one who liked her, and i mix with music fans at pop music quizes, let alone mates, family, etc.

i was shocked at how popular she was on forums....

im on weather forums too, and theres alot of liking for cold weather.... its like huge amongst posters...but in real life no one likes the cold! i think mariahs apparent popularity on forums is not reflected in real life. tbh im not sure who actually likes her....

is it a gay thing? are there any straight males who like her? (well im sure there are, but as a % )

This.

Apart from the Christmas song, I can't actually think of another song of hers - yet I'm in my mid 30's.

I think 200 million record sales worldwide says she has quite a lot of fans. I accept that you don't like her but don't you think it's a bit ridiculous to try and pretend that one of the best selling female artists of all time, someone with more number one singles in the US than any other solo artists, the longest a running number one in US chart history and the biggest selling non- Japanese artist off all time (in Japan) is a nobody.

Hell even last week it was announced that she is in the top 10 female artists in the UK for single sales.

Cream of female vocalists-janet, cyndi and shania? Janet and cyndi are mediocre vocalists at best, shania is good at best...yes shania and janet are huge stars but u can't put them three up there with whitney celine and mariah vocally. No way.

I think she has a very strong fanbase here but I don't think she has really ever been able to sustain her appeal amongst the general music buying public.

I agree with this. maybe her music was played on the music channels but it wasn't played in the clubs. I certainly don't think she was ever considered a serious r&b/soul singer over here. I obviously know who she is but I would struggle to name more than a handful of her songs

From what I can remember things seemed to change for her in the uk around the release of butterfly. Her sales were still good but radio stopped playing her as much and people in the media started making snide comments about her and her music.

Singles like My All peaked Insude the top 10 on the first week of release then bombed down the charts.