Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey was living a dream come true. After growing up poor, she burst on the music scene in 1990. Just 20 years old, her debut album sold over six million copies and made Mariah an instant superstar.

Her marriage to record executive Tommy Mottola was also straight out of a fairy tale, and it seemed that Carey would live happily ever after. But she soon found herself struggling both professionally and personally. Her marriage broke up, the movie she hoped would prove her an actress bombed, album sales fell, and she ended up hospitalized for exhaustion. Many thought her career was as good as over.

Mariah proved them wrong. In 2005, she released The Emancipation of Mimi, which became the bestselling album of the year and reestablished Carey as one of the most successful—and resilient—performers in music history.