Mariah Carey made history.
Mariah Carey . Carey and Boyz II Men spent a record sixteen weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in 1995 -- 96 with `` One Sweet Day , '' which remains the longest-running number-one song in US chart history . In 1998 , she was honored as the world 's best-selling recording artist of the 1990s at the World Music Awards and subsequently named the best-selling female artist of the millennium in 2000 . Throughout her career , Carey has sold more than 200 million records worldwide , making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time . According to the RIAA , she is the third-best-selling female artist in the United States , with 63.5 million certified albums .