Mariah Carey is a performer.
Mariah Carey ( born March 27 , 1969 or 1970 ) is an American singer , songwriter , record producer , and actress . Following a contentious divorce from Sony Music head Tommy Mottola , Carey adopted a new image and traversed towards hip hop with the release of Butterfly ( 1997 ) . After a relatively unsuccessful period , she returned to the top of music charts with The Emancipation of Mimi ( 2005 ) .