Mariah Carey

On the surface, it seemed like a typical Mariah Carey night — lots of stuff was happening. Earlier on, Mariah, dressed to the nines in the current hot fashions, walked onto the stage amid thunderous applause to accept the Artist of the Decade Award at the prestigious Billboard Music Award ceremony held in the appropriately glitzy Las Vegas. There had been many awards over the years (and not a few slights), and Mariah had come to take them all in stride. But being named Artist of the Decade really meant something. It was kind of a validation for a meteoric rise to stardom that
had, by the end of the nineties, resulted in more than 100 million records sold worldwide, a series of soldout, critically praised concerts, and a reputation as one of the sweetest voices in pop and soul.