Mariah outsells Elvis
Is Mariah Carey one of the greatest pop artists of all time? asked Ken Levine in Huffingtonpost.com. For most music fans, that's a laughable proposition, yet "Touch My Body", the latest single from her album E=MC2, marks 18 no. 1 songs for the pop diva - second only to the Beatles. This means that the woman who gave us Glitter now has more chart-topping hits than Elvis Presley. Not surprisingly, the song that put the nail in the coffin includes such cringe-worthy lyrics as "I'll hug you tighter than my favorite jeans".
But as Elvis himself said, 50 million - or in Carey's case, 61.5 million - fans can't be wrong, said Jody Rosen in Slate.com. Considering that Carey made her debut less than 20 years ago, she deserves a little respect from all "the haters". Her voice - "that cyclonic force capable of hurtling unnumbered octaves, shattering crystalware, and inducing musicogenic epileptic seizures in Japanese women" - has influenced countless contemporary pop singers, for good or ill.
All this tells us is that no. 1 hits are no longer a signifier of true cultural influence, said Mario Tarradell in The Dallas Morning News. Carey's recent success is a product of the collapsing music industry and the rise of digital downloads. As one of a dwindling number of big-name acts, she has less competition. Still, if she surpasses the Beatles' record of 20 no. 1s, I'll shed a tear. (The Week Daily)
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