Mariah Carey surpasses Elvis in No. 1s



LOS ANGELES - With her 18th chart-topper "Touch My Body," Mariah Carey has passed Elvis Presley for the most No. 1 singles on the Billboard singles chart, and is now second only to the Beatles. But while the diva was in full celebration mode after learning of her latest milestone, she was also quick to put her accomplishment in perspective.

"I really can never put myself in the category of people who have not only revolutionized music but also changed the world," Carey told The Associated Press on Tuesday via phone from London. "That's a completely different era and time ... I'm just feeling really happy and grateful."

Carey's single is the new No. 1 single on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart: The song also is No. 1 on the trade magazine's digital download chart thanks to a precedent-setting 286,000 downloads in its debut week. She had been tied with Presley with 17 No. 1 singles; the Beatles are the all-time leaders with 20. (Madonna also beat a Presley record this week, surpassing the King for the most top 10 hits with her 37th for her hit "4 Minutes.")

Carey said being in such company was gratifying not only because of her personal success, but what it meant for women and minorities.

"For me, in my mind the accomplishment is just that much sweeter," she said. "In terms of my ethnicity, always feeling like an outsider, always feeling different ... for me it's about saying, 'Thank you Lord, for giving me the faith to believe in myself when other people had written me off.'"

"Touch My Body" is the first single off of Carey's upcoming album "EMC2," due out April 16. It is the follow-up to her Grammy-winning disc "The Emancipation of Mimi," released in 2005, that year's best-selling album with five million copies sold; it marked a huge comeback for the multiplatinum superstar after personal and professional setbacks.

Like that album, Carey said "EMC2" continues her sense of freedom and rebirth: "It's like emancipation of Mariah Carey to the second power and beyond."

Carey, 38, said this is the most enjoyable point of her nearly two-decade old career, and that's her priority these days, not trying to set sales records or even making pop history.

"I've gone through enough of my life worrying about that kind if thing," said Carey.

"I want to encourage anyone else out there who feels like maybe they can't overcome an obstacle, I feel like I'm living proof ... never lose your faith," she added. "I'm seriously a grateful individual right now."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080403/ap_en_...Hyuq0jj309xFb8C

GAG! I saw that yesterday.

Madonna also broke an Elvis record this week, when 4 Minutes surged from #68 to #3. She now has the record for most top 10 hits in the Rock Era. Perviously, she was tied with Elvis for that record.

Had you read this article, you'd see it has been written in there also.

congratulations to mariah carey! she is a singer, unlike other old divas that have to do other stunts to get attention or rely on controversy since they have no singing talent.

Mariah is amazing.

janet who? madonna what?

Whatev JP!

Madonna and Mariah actually have something in common: they have cr*ppy lyrics.

And somehow... I agree with JP. Especially the Janet thing. Janet who?

Lyrcis do not matter to me. well not when i put on mariah, lol.

and wow. sylph, we seem to go throguh this phase of agreeing for like 2 days, then disagree for liek 2 weeks. its intersting!

Yeah, we do have these phases! And it's cool!

RE: the lyrics - I don't care much for them too. I hate it when pretentious people start pimping the "music" based on the lyrics... If I want lyrics, I read poetry. There's plenty of it out there, thank you very much. I want melody, among other things.

i feel the same way.

i mean there are songs i will lvoe because of lyrics, but for the most part i dont care about the lyrics of a song.

Mariah's music is hideously boring and doesn't age well I find. I might not be crazy about Madonna and Janet at the moment, but I can still sit through most of their albums and love most of their singles, no matter how old they are. Mariah's music has a really bland quality to it, it really meshes with the times. I think Madonna and Janet have a variety of material that makes them stand out, Mariah not so much.

different strokes....

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/...1,2886214.story

Mariah tops Elvis? It's nothing to get all shook up about

By Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

April 5, 2008

Elvis Presley fans are a hunka-hunka burning mad after this week's shocking revelation that Mariah Carey has surpassed the King on the list of all-time No. 1 hit makers.

With her latest single, "Touch My Body," topping Billboard's Hot 100 as of Wednesday, Carey's career total of No. 1 singles has hit 18, one more than Elvis. You'd think Western democracy had collapsed overnight.

My advice? Get over it.

I grew up loving Elvis' music. I was born the same year he first set foot in Sam Phillips' Sun studio in Memphis, and my first memory of music is that of a teenage neighbor belting out "You ain't nuthin' but a hound dog!" in 1956, when I was 3.

But this brouhaha? It's only numbers. Besides, Carey isn't even No. 1 on the all-time list. She's still behind the Beatles, who scored 20 No. 1 hits from 1963 to 1970. We haven't heard this much racket over who's No. 2 since Florida in 2000.

It took Elvis from 1956 to 1969, almost twice as long as the Beatles, to rack up all his chart-toppers, although 16 of those came in just the six years from 1956 to 1962. His final No. 1 came straggling in in 1969, with "Suspicious Minds."

Carey, on the other hand, has taken 18 years to reach the top of the heap 18 times. A No. 1 single per year, on average, is no easy feat, and she clearly deserves credit for maintaining such a lengthy hold on pop audiences' affections.

Those who wish to cling desperately to numerical supremacy can take comfort in the fact that Presley still holds a comfortable lead on the list of Top 500 artists for albums and singles, as compiled by researcher Joel Whitburn. On his sliding scale, in which musicians get points for each recording that reaches No. 1, 2, etc., Elvis tops both. In the most recent editions of his Record Research books from Billboard's charts, Elvis has 9,406 points on the singles list. Carey is No. 5 with 4,295 points. On the album ranking, Elvis racked up 17,309 points, ahead of Frank Sinatra (13,313), the Beatles (13,231) and all others. Carey was No. 91, behind the Lettermen, Billy Vaughn and Journey.

Still, it's only numbers. Carey's latest accomplishment doesn't change one iota the seismic impact Elvis had, and continues to have, on pop culture.

How many times he sold more records or got more radio airplay than any other act during his lifetime is impressive. The real measure of what made Elvis so great is how many other musicians since have seductively swayed their hips, playfully sneered an upper lip or refused to be bound within the confines of rock, blues, country, R&B or any single musical genre.

That number is incalculable.

Gary Bryan, the morning DJ at oldies station KRTH-FM (101.1), notes that, "while Mariah is a terrific singer, and this is a great accomplishment, you can't quantify someone's place in music history by chart statistics. Some people reflect their time, and some define their times. Mariah is a reflection of her time. . . . Elvis, on the other hand, defined his time, much as the Beatles later did. Mariah doesn't have that kind of iconic stature."

Need proof?

Ever seen a velvet Mariah painting? Me neither. Are horny couples racing to Vegas chapels to be wed by Mariah impersonators? I thought not. And I guarantee that 40 years from now, no singer will ever quip "Thankyou . . . thankyouverymuch" after a song and make people think of Carey.

So, Elvis fans, worry not. The King's place in history is secure, even if Carey manages to score another 18 No. 1 hits.

If that happens, she'd overtake the Beatles, in which case . . . forget everything I just said.

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What is an unpleasant surprise in this topic is that you've actually spent some time looking for a critic that will bash Mariah's achievement as - non-existent. The guy can write all he wants, but the fact remains - she surpassed Elvis. I believe that the number of people who would call Elvis' music sh!t equals the number of people who would call Mariah's music sh!t. The guy just lost me with these:

I grew up loving Elvis' music. I was born the same year he first...

What the hell does the year of birth thing mean? Who the hell cares? And he's an Elvis fan, thus not objective.

Besides, Carey isn't even No. 1 on the all-time list.

And so isn't Elvis... So by underlining this, he's online undermining his text, nothing else.

As far as Mariah's "bland" music... I, and a gazillion of other people, can say the same about Madonna - sh!tty songs all the way; to me, many of her singles and albums are completely forgettable, even if I'm a big fan (and music plays just a tiny part of the reason why I like Madonna).

Just don't get me started on Janet... She does nothing for me.

You find Mariah's music boring, I don't. End of story.

Being a song written by Carey, it has helped Mariah break the tie with Barry Gibb and takes the 3rd place for songwriters with most #1 hits. Only Paul McCartney with thirty-two and John Lennon with twenty-six have more.