After closing out the 90s as the undisputed biggest-selling female recording artist of the decade, Mariah Carey unleashes her first and most anticipated album under the Virgin Records label and a soundtrack to compliment her first movie, “Glitter”.

The album, “Glitter”, features 12 new tracks that run the musical gamut, from Mariah's highly stylized dramatic pop ballads to straight-up urban-oriented party tunes.

“I came up with the original idea for “Glitter” because I grew up when there were movies like “Fame”, “Flashdance”, “Grease” and “Purple Rain”. These films incorporated music in a way that hadn't been done in a while so I got the idea and started to write songs immediately.”

Prominent producers such as Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, DJ Clark Kent, DJ Clue (co-producer of her #1 hit, 'Heartbreaker'), Damizza (producer of 'Crybaby' from her Rainbow LP) and others, “Glitter” takes a musical ride through the mind of Carey's troubled character, 'Billie'. “Because my love interest in the film is a DJ,” she explains, “and because the movie is set in the club world of 1982, I wanted to go the authentic route in working with DJs. Clark Kent was a really young kid who DJ'd in those days. And Clue, he was just natural. Damizza is just an all-round, amazingly talented guy who helped me enormously with this project.”

The effervescent, radio-ready pop-funk of “Loverboy”, co-produced with Clark Kent, serves as the perfect kick-off single. Riding a loop of Cameo's 1987 hit, “Candy,” Mariah enlisted Cameo's own Larry Blackmon and Thomas Jenkins to join her in the 2001 smash remake. “I had the original members sing with me in the studio, which was an incredible moment.” The single's rap remix features the interplay of Da Brat and Ludacris, in tandem with newcomers Twenty II and Shawnna. Continuing to wax nostalgic, “Glitter” features Mariah's true-to-the-original renditions of 80s songstress Cherelle's “I Didn't Mean To Turn You On” and “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life,” a New York area smash during the 80s. “I was obsessed with “I Didn't Mean To Turn You On,” Carey remembers. “Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis gave me that original track, and singing on top of it gave me chills.” “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life” fit perfectly because 'Billie' falls in love with the main character who is a DJ, and most DJs love that record anyway. I did the song with Rick James, and when I told him I wanted to do something in the vein of “All Night Long,” he gave me this great track which sounds like it's from 1982.”

“Glitter” also features some of Mariah's most stirring and emotive ballads, taken from the perspective of her sometimes-troubled character. Through the voice of 'Billie', Mariah conveys thoughts going through her character's mind, which center on the hurt associated with being abandoned as a child. Mariah explains, “I wrote the songs in order to carry different scenes in a certain way. The songs about a mother/daughter relationship are about 'Billie' and her relationship with her mother; the same thing applies to the songs I wrote for 'Billie' and 'Dice' (the male lead), and what's going on in their lives. It was a different experience for me, musically, catering songs to specific situations. I think people who were fans of “Vision of Love” and similar type songs are going to really like these ballads.” There is a newfound depth in the remarkably moving pop-soul selections like “Reflections”, “Lead The Way” (the movie's love theme) and “Never Too Far”.

Mariah Carey is no stranger to winning musicality. Raised in New York by her mother, a former opera singer and vocal coach, Mariah started singing at age four, and writing songs by junior high. Not long after she graduated from high school, Mariah's singing back up for Brenda K. Starr ultimately led to her signing with Columbia Records. As millions listened and watched, she christened her recording career with 1990's self-titled “Mariah Carey” album, which ultimately produced four #1 singles, eventually selling more than 12 million LPs worldwide. By the time the decade came to a close, each of Mariah's nine multi-platinum releases had gone Top Five, producing an unrivaled string of 15 #1 hits. Aside from her chart-topping cover of Jackson 5's “I'll Be There”, Mariah co-wrote all her #1 smashes. As well as being the only artiste to have had a #1 record in each year of the 90s and have more singles debut at #1 than any artiste, Mariah has more #1 singles than any female artist ever. Mariah also had more #1 singles than any contemporary recording artiste today - only the Beatles and Elvis Presley have more. In addition to the magnitude of winning multiple Grammy, Soul Train and American Music Awards, she was the first female to witness two albums reach the diamond-certified, 10 million sales mark. With this tremendous amount of success garnered in her in her relatively young career, Mariah Carey was named “Artist of the Decade” by the Billboard Music Awards and the “Best Selling Female Artist of the Millennium” by the World Music Awards.

With “Glitter”, her newly formed association with Virgin Records and a budding movie career, she recently wrapped the independently produced “Wise Girls” in which she co-stars opposite Academy Award winning actress Mira Sorvino - Mariah's star continues to burn bright.

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Never Too Far

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