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Billboard’s Greatest Pop Star of 1991: Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is Billboard's Greatest Pop Star of 1991 for how she became a sensation on the strength of her peerless vocals and songwriting skills.
Could she skirt sophomore slump and match the staggering success of her self-titled debut, which had earned her a best new artist Grammy that February that pushed the album — by then eight months old — to No. “I Don’t Wanna Cry,” the tear-jerker fourth single from the self-titled LP, topped the Hot 100 in March, just a month after her Grammys debut, where she left the crowd and viewers at home stunned by a powerful rendition of “Vision of Love.” She owned the year, with her softly curled hair and whistle-register vocal punches, on display in the first-ever live televised performance of “Emotions,” at the MTV Video Music Awards in early September. Honorable Mention: Michael Jackson ( Dangerous, “Black or White,” $65 million Sony contract extension), Garth Brooks ( Ropin’ the Wind, “The Thunder Rolls,” “Shameless”), Color Me Badd ( C.M.B., “I Wanna Sex You Up,” “I Adore Mi Amor”)
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