Talented and beautiful singer Mariah Carey (1970-), all grown-up now, was born on this day in New York City. Emerging from a turbulent childhood, she struggled with the multi-racial upbringing of her black Venezuelan father and Irish mother.

"A lot of my life I've been in search of a way to come to terms with my ethnic background," she explained. "I was sort of a displaced person growing up."

A true survivor, over and over again, she has overcome adversity to soar...

In the years since the debut of Vision of Love (1990), this multi-octave singer as of March 2006 had sold over 128 million records worldwide and garnished 17 #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, tied with Elvis Presley. The Beatles hold the record of 20.

Carey has legions of fans who love her halter-topped, hip-hop, R&B style... And detractors who dis her racy spandex attire along with her ego. "In this world I call the shots, and I think I know best," she told Glamour magazine in 1999.

"Don't be afraid to sing out loud," she advised Fame Academy students. "Sing along with the melody."

Over the last few years, Carey has held her own under media scrutiny over her divorce, label change, acting fiasco, and emotional breakdown. She has won Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, Billboard's "Artist of the Decade" Award and the World Music Award for "World's Best Selling Female Artist of the Millennium."

She is a master at melisma-- the vocal technique of taking one syllable of a lyric and stretching it over several notes. "My (long-range) goal," she revealed, "is to be like the artists I admire and who've had long-standing careers long before me - like Whitney Houston, Madonna, Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, and Chaka Khan."

Whatever age you are, continue to grow up and out.