The 12 Best Songs of Mariah Carey's Career

Mariah Carey has been ubiquitous in pop culture since her self-titled debut album came out in 1990 and nearly went Diamond. Fast forward to 2020, and she has the most no. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 of any solo artist and one of the most iconic voices in modern music, capable of both dulcet lower tones and soaring falsetto runs. Her mastery of the whistle register has become her signature, whether it's in studio version of tracks like "Emotions" or at her live shows. So if any celeb is long overdue for a career-encompassing memoir, it's Carey, whose book, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, is out now.

Choosing the 12 best songs that Carey has made over 30 years is no easy feat, and her deep discography means that some iconic hits couldn't make the cut, like "I Don't Wanna Cry," "Dreamlover," and "Heartbreaker." Plus, as a shrewd R&B star who embraced hip-hop before many of her peers, several of Carey's songs have remixes nearly as iconic as the original.

But those we have featured here show how Carey has grown from a charming radio pop newcomer ("Vision of Love") to a poignant balladeer ("Hero") to a modern R&B queen ("We Belong Together"). And she also happened to record a holiday song so universally beloved ("All I Want For Christmas is You") that it topped the charts 25 years after its release. She's currently rightly being given her flowers as a musical trailblazer, while continuing to record and release new material into the 2020s.

Read on for the best 12 songs in Mariah Carey's career, and leave a comment if there are any you think we missed.