Mariah Carey Was Madonna's Biggest Threat of Her Career?

[DiscoHeaven23 35,007]

There's no doubt that Madonna ruled the 80's. She had 17 top 10 hits in the 80's alone. Had three #1 albums and sold about 27 million albums in the US during that decade.

 

Certainly Madonna was challenged by Cyndi Lauper at the start of her career, but Cyndi faded after two albums and Madonna didn't.

 

 

Of course there was Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson that came along. I mean 7 #1 songs in a row by Whitney was massive. But Whitney only had 2 albums in the 80's compared to Madonna's 4. And there's no record of Madonna being pressed by Whitney in the 1980's. In the 90's the women seemed seemed a little pressed by each other though, but each weren't in the prime of their careers. 

 

In 1990, while Madonna was still at the top of her game with songs like Vogue hitting the top of the chart. A skinny sweet 20 year old came along with the voice of an angel. Instantly, Mariah Carey blew up with all four singles from her first album going #1. This was followed by a #1 lead single from her next album Emotions and two other Top 5 singles from that album. Another #1 hit followed from her MTV Unplugged performance. As the 90's progressed Madonna was struggling with her image and her album Erotica. As she stated in her recent speech, the media and GP were tearing her apart.

 

 

And this was a time when Mariah Carey was America's sweetheart. The world hadn't seen success like Mariah's since Madonna in the 80's. Now there was a new girl on top.

 

 

 

And this truely seemed to be hard on Madonna. I believe that Madonna has had no bigger competition in her career than Mariah Carey. 

 

In 1995, Madonna showed her true feelings about Mariah. Madonna said in press interviews, "Mariah isn't particularly smart. I'd rather kill myself than be Mariah Carey." 1995 was perhaps the peak of Mariah's career. It's the year she released the #1 song of the decade. It was also the year Mariah began firing back at Madonna. 

 

 

This back and forth between the two carried on for years from that point on. Whitney Houston and Mariah even teamed up on Oprah once to shade Madonna

 

 

[dannydevito 10,658]

mariah would say she doesnt know ha

[Lucas 20,509]

I had know idea they shaded each other so much lmao, such queens

[DiscoHeaven23 35,007]

Just now, GagaInTheZone said:

I had know idea they shaded each other so much lmao, such queens

the funny thing is, they've never met each other 

[Noah 25,857]

Madonna was super jealous of Mariah and that's a fact. Mariah had a #1 in every year from 1990 - 2001. Because 'Erotica' got very mixed reviews by the public due to them only pointing out the sexy stuff and not the meaning-full stuff and Mariah being MEGA promoted by Sony, Mariah was truly a thorn in Madge's eyes. 

I think if they met now, they'd like eachother as they are both hard working and talented.

[Antichrist 9,818]

Madonna over Mariah anyday, this shouldn't even be a question.

[jojuun 4,159]

Mariah: "She's a legend, she's been around a long time and I'm very happy for her."
 

[Delusional Aura 5,129]

The original katy and gaga 2013 

[jojuun 4,159]

While I love Mariah and her diva antics, let's face it...

Madonna has impacted culture. Madonna set a standard, a blue-print. Mariah is an R&B diva. Mariah wears glamorous gowns with 90 pounds of weave in her hair and sings a beautiful song and that's it. Madonna is an all-around entertainer. The most choreo we've ever gotten out of Mariah was that two-step thing in the Honey video and she couldn't even hit that in sync with the dancers when she did it live.

Mariah has had an incredible run in the charts back then, true. But she has never sold concert tickets the way Madonna has. Not during her peak, not before and definitely not after. 

And as much as Mariah's team likes to lie by introducing her as "the highest selling female of all time"... It's simply not true. Nielsen Soundscan, Billboard AND Guinness World Records all confirm Madonna is way ahead. In fact, Mariah isn't even in the top 3. Nana Mouskouri and Celine are #2 and #3 respectively. Mariah is #4.

Mariah was never a "threat". When Mariah was singing love songs, Madonna was making videos that, to this day, are being played in museums. If Madonna was interested in taking Mariah on chart-wise, she would've made albums full of Take A Bow's. It's probably Madonna most radio-friendly song of the nineties and it was a MAJOR chart success. All of her other stuff was conceptual and not GP-friendly.

There is NO comparison. Madonna is a performance artist who makes albums in order to perform them live, Mariah is a very talented vocalist that focusses on those vocals. Apples and oranges.

What Madonna was doing in 1994 vs. what Mariah was doing in 1994:

 

And in 1995 Mariah had endeed reached her ultimate peek and Madonna was prepping for the recording of Evita and released a best-off cd that wasn't even well-promoted.

[Sexxx 5,473]

Mariah and Madonna obviously compete in two different leagues

nonetheless ... Mariah >>>

[Noah 25,857]

2 minutes ago, jojuun said:

While I love Mariah and her diva antics, let's face it...

Madonna has impacted culture. Madonna set a standard, a blue-print. Mariah is an R&B diva. Mariah wears glamorous gowns with 90 pounds of weave in her hair and sings a beautiful song and that's it. Madonna is an all-around entertainer. The most choreo we've ever gotten out of Mariah was that two-step thing in the Honey video and she couldn't even hit that in sync with the dancers when she did it live.

Mariah has had an incredible run in the charts back then, true. But she has never sold concert tickets the way Madonna has. Not during her peak, not before and definitely not after. 

And as much as Mariah's team likes to lie by introducing her as "the highest selling female of all time"... It's simply not true. Nielsen Soundscan, Billboard AND Guinness World Records all confirm Madonna is way ahead. In fact, Mariah isn't even in the top 3. Nana Mouskouri and Celine are #2 and #3 respectively. Mariah is #4.

Mariah was never a "threat". When Mariah was singing love songs, Madonna was making videos that, to this day, are being played in museums. If Madonna was interested in taking Mariah on chart-wise, she would've made albums full of Take A Bow's. It's probably Madonna most radio-friendly song of the nineties and it was a MAJOR chart success. All of her other stuff was conceptual and not GP-friendly.

There is NO comparison. Madonna is a performance artist who makes albums in order to perform them live, Mariah is a very talented vocalist that focusses on those vocals. Apples and oranges.

 

You're comparing this in the wrong way. Mariah has impacted EVERY pop/rnb Vocalist nowadays. Madonna is more for the people who are entertainers/do pop music. Mariah is a vocalist. Madonna an Entertainer. Mariah was famous for her vocals. Madonna famous for her constant change/evolution as an artist. It comes down to preference in the end. Both are incredibly talented in the end. 

[HEARTSTOP 3,109]

The only threat to Madonna's career is herself.

Just like any other artist.

[jojuun 4,159]

3 minutes ago, Noah said:

You're comparing this in the wrong way. Mariah has impacted EVERY pop/rnb Vocalist nowadays. Madonna is more for the people who are entertainers/do pop music. Mariah is a vocalist. Madonna an Entertainer. Mariah was famous for her vocals. Madonna famous for her constant change/evolution as an artist. It comes down to preference in the end. Both are incredibly talented in the end. 

That's what I'm saying.

[brizoda 3,109]

Madonna has always been a biiitch all of her career

[jojuun 4,159]

1 minute ago, brizoda said:

Madonna has always been a biiitch all of her career