Mariah Carey's Top 40 biggest singles on the Official Chart

Mariah's 30 years of hits, ranked in order of sales and streams.
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Mariah Carey, Mimi, the elusive chanteuse... Mariah Carey has taken on many guises throughout her 30-year career. However, one thing that has remained constant is her unmistakable, otherworldly vocal talents. 

During that time, she's notched up 39 Top 40 hits on the Official Singles Chart, including two Number 1s, totalling more than 8 million combined sales. Her track record when it comes to albums is equally as robust; 6.3 million sales across 13 Top 10s, two of which reached the top spot. Look over Mariah's full Official Chart history.

With her fifteenth studio album Caution out this month, we've dived into the sales and streams behind her singles and albums to reveal her biggest to date. 

Vision Of Love 

After signing to Columbia Records in 1988, Mariah was put to work with some of the world's top producers, including Narada Michael Walden, who co-produced her debut single Vision Of Love. The production of the song was typical of late '80s pop, but the powerhouse vocals were not, leading it to win a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It places 16th on her UK Top 40 with 198,000 combined sales.  

Emotions 

The sales and overall chart performance of this 1991 single don't quite match the adulation and air time it still gets today. The lead single from the titular album, Emotions proved Mariah could pull off a disco moment as well as the big ballads - and still find space to show off her famous whistle register. The single peaked at 17 in the UK and ranks as her 22nd biggest single, with 137,000 combined sales. 

Without You

Mariah's first UK Number 1 single arrived in 1993 the form of her third single from her third album Music Box. The album itself was more pop-focused that its predecessor (1992's Emotions), and Without You - a cover of the '70s rock band Badfinger's track but performed in the style of Harry Nilsson's 1971 cover - struck a near-perfect balance of radio friendly hooks with a showstopping vocal. It's Mariah's second biggest song in the UK with 548,000 combined sales, split between 490,000 sales and 6 million streams. 

Fantasy

Mariah took greater control of her sound for her fifth album Daydream, which leaned towards R&B and hip-hop. The album's lead single Fantasy - her fourth biggest single in the UK - was remixed to feature Dirty Ol Bastard, marking the first time a major female pop star had collaborated with a rapper. The track topped out at Number 4 on the Official Singles Chart and has shifted 479,000.  

When You Believe 

When Mariah first signed to Columbia, she was their pop female equivalent to rival Madonna and Whitney Houston. Ten years later, Mariah and Whitney teamed up on When You Believe, a song for animated movie The Prince of Egypt. It was the ultimate diva-off - and it didn't disappoint, winning an Oscar for Best Original Song. The track reached Number 4 on the chart in 1998 and places eighth in Mariah's overall chart. 

Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)

It may seem implausible now, but back in 2000, Westlife were almost as big - if not bigger - than Mariah Carey in the UK, with a clean streak of five chart-toppers at this point. Mariah had recorded a cover of the Phil Collins track for her seventh album Rainbow and had minor success with it across Europe, but the addition of Westlife sent it to the top of the Official UK Singles Chart for two weeks. Watching the music video 18 years on, we're still not entirely convinced Mariah knows who Westlife are.

We Belong Together 

Determined not to be put down after years of hefty bashing from critics for 2001's Glitter and 2002's Charmbracelet, Mariah made a glorious return to form in 2005 with The Emancipation of Mimi. The album featured a string of successful singles, but it was big ballad We Belong Together that was the true career re-definer. Peaking at Number 2 in the UK, it's Mariah's fourth biggest single with combined sales of 474,000. 

   

All I Want For Christmas Is You

The ever-expanding legacy of Mariah's festive single is a joy to behold. Originally peaking at Number 2 in the UK in 1994, the introduction of music downloads and later streaming has allowed it to re-enter the chart every year since 2007, returning to its Number 2 peak last year. 

The song reportedly earns her around £376,000 a year in royalties - and that's not including the matching spin-off book, animated movie and "Super Festive!" version with Justin Bieber she's since produced since - not bad for a song she claims to have written in around 15 minutes. To date, All I Want For Christmas Is You has shifted 1.81 million in the UK, split between 1.2 million CD singles/downloads and 61.4 million streams.

Mariah Carey's Top 40 biggest singles on the Official Chart 

POS TITLE ARTIST PEAK YEAR
1 ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU MARIAH CAREY 2 1994
2 WITHOUT YOU MARIAH CAREY 1 1994
3 FANTASY MARIAH CAREY 4 1995
4 WE BELONG TOGETHER MARIAH CAREY 2 2005
5 AGAINST ALL ODDS MARIAH CAREY FT WESTLIFE 1 2000
6 HERO MARIAH CAREY 7 1993
7 ALWAYS BE MY BABY MARIAH CAREY 3 1996
8 WHEN YOU BELIEVE MARIAH CAREY & WHITNEY HOUSTON 4 1998
9 ONE SWEET DAY MARIAH CAREY & BOYZ II MEN 6 1995
10 ENDLESS LOVE LUTHER VANDROSS & MARIAH CAREY 3 1994
11 HEARTBREAKER MARIAH CAREY 5 1999
12 BEAUTIFUL MARIAH CAREY FT MIGUEL 22 2013
13 HONEY MARIAH CAREY 3 1997
14 I'LL BE THERE MARIAH CAREY 2 1992
15 MY ALL MARIAH CAREY 4 1998
16 VISION OF LOVE MARIAH CAREY 9 1990
17 TOUCH MY BODY MARIAH CAREY 5 2008
18 DREAMLOVER MARIAH CAREY 9 1993
19 I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT BUSTA RHYMES & MARIAH CAREY 3 2003
20 IT'S LIKE THAT MARIAH CAREY 4 2005
21 GET YOUR NUMBER/SHAKE IT OFF MARIAH CAREY 9 2005
22 EMOTIONS MARIAH CAREY 17 1991
23 ANYTIME YOU NEED A FRIEND MARIAH CAREY 8 1994
24 OPEN ARMS MARIAH CAREY 4 1996
25 THANK GOD I FOUND YOU MARIAH CAREY 10 2000
26 I STILL BELIEVE MARIAH CAREY 16 1999
27 BUTTERFLY MARIAH CAREY 22 1997
28 OBSESSED MARIAH CAREY 52 2009
29 THROUGH THE RAIN MARIAH CAREY 8 2002
30 CAN'T LET GO MARIAH CAREY 20 1992
31 BYE BYE MARIAH CAREY 30 2008
32 I WANT TO KNOW WHAT LOVE IS MARIAH CAREY 19 2009
33 DON'T FORGET ABOUT US MARIAH CAREY 11 2005
34 LOVE TAKES TIME MARIAH CAREY 37 1990
35 ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU JUSTIN BIEBER & MARIAH CAREY N/A 2011
36 LOVERBOY MARIAH CAREY 12 2001
37 MAKE IT HAPPEN MARIAH CAREY 17 1992
38 SOMEDAY MARIAH CAREY 38 1991
39 SAY SOMETHIN' MARIAH CAREY FT SNOOP DOGG 27 2006
40 BOY (I NEED YOU) MARIAH CAREY FT CAM'RON 17 2002

©2018 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

Listen to Mariah's Official Top 40 singles on Spotify and Deezer

When it comes to albums, 1993's Music Box - her first Number 1 - is leader of the pack, with an impressive 1.18 million combined sales, while two retrospectives, 2001's Greatest Hits (809k) and 1998's #1s (768k) at 2 and 3. 

The Emancipation Of Mimi is her next biggest studio album (671k), and Daydream completes the Top 5 with sales of 649k. 

Mariah Carey's Top 10 biggest albums on the Official Chart

POS TITLE ARTIST PEAK YEAR
1 MUSIC BOX MARIAH CAREY 1 1993
2 GREATEST HITS MARIAH CAREY 7 2001
3 NO 1'S MARIAH CAREY 10 1998
4 THE EMANCIPATION OF MIMI MARIAH CAREY 7 2005
5 DAYDREAM MARIAH CAREY 1 1995
6 MERRY CHRISTMAS MARIAH CAREY 32 1994
7 BUTTERFLY MARIAH CAREY 2 1997
8 RAINBOW MARIAH CAREY 8 1999
9 THE BALLADS MARIAH CAREY 13 2008
10 MARIAH CAREY MARIAH CAREY 6 1990

©2018 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

Article image: Sarah McColgan

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LM

Lee Moore

4

Come on OCC, address these comments..there's no way on earth Music Box has only sold the figure you quote; same goes for Daydream and Mariah Carey.. all I can assume is that sales prior to 1994 are missing?

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Official Charts

-1

Hi Lee, that figure includes sales prior to 1994.

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etin

0

I thought music box had 5 platinums

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Bengy

3

The OCC database starts on February 1994 so maybe they forgot to add on sales from 1993.

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etin

0

I think so. It was on chart whole year and surprised that emotions wasnt in top 10

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Bengy

0

1993's Music Box - her first Number 1 - is leader of the pack, with an impressive 1.18 million combined sales. But BPI says it is certified at 5 times platinum or 1.5m sales. Are these for record company shipments or are you using the lower DUS figures for 1994 to 1996?

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Official Charts

-1

Hi Bengy, the 1.5m figure from the BPI is shipments. Our figure is sales, including DUS figures pre-1994.

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Bengy

1

Thanks for your explanation.
But I thought DUS started at week 5 of 1994? There are no pre-1994 DUS figures surely?

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etin

0

what is DUS ?

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Bengy

6

Defined Universe Sales. To do with statistical analysis.
You can read the OCC article here.
https://www.officialcharts.com/getting-into-the-charts/the-chart-retailers/

Previously Gallup used Panel Sales and Multipliers from a sample (250) of retailers to estimate the total market.