Contemporarily, commercial comebacks don’t come any bigger than Mariah Carey‘s seismic return to chart dominance with ‘The Emancipation of Mimi.’
A legendary body of work that is now celebrating its sweet 16th anniversary.
Prior to its release on April 12 2005, the diva’s career was on uncertain terrain.
The underperformance of 2001’s ‘Glitter’ (which has become a legend in and of itself) effectively KO’d the star’s colossal Virgin Records deal; and then 2002 follow-up ‘Charmbracelet’ (her first release for Island Def Jam) did not deliver commercially either — despite favorable reviews and her omnipresence on the media promo trail.
Fortunately for the songbird, the latter LP – her first to be shepherded by LA Reid – would prove to be the calm before the showstopping storm.
For, following the one-two punch thrown by ‘Emancipation’s preceding singles ‘It’s Like That’ and ‘We Belong Together,’ Carey would go on to light the match on one of the hottest streaks of her iconic career. Unquestionably, the album saw her blaze her way to the top of the Pop cultural landscape once again.
With ‘Mimi,’ the star earned her 16th and 17th #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, was certified 6x Platinum in the US (pure sales), and sold over 12 million copies of the album worldwide. For many, the era served as a millennial mirroring of Tina Turner’s’ ‘Private Dancer.’ And arguably such a comeback story and level of success that has yet to be seen since.
In salute of the set’s 16th anniversary, That Grape Juice has tallied our top tracks from ‘The Emancipation Of Mimi.’
Check out the list below…
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