29th Anniversary of Mariah Carey’s ‘Music Box’ album

Today marks the 29th anniversary of Mariah Carey’s timeless ‘Music Box’ album.

With the exception of the Badfinger cover, ‘Without You’, Mariah co-wrote and co-produced every song on the album, working with Walter Afanasieff, Robert Clivillés, David Cole, Babyface, Dave Hall and Daryl Simmons.

The iconic release topped the charts in fourteen countries and remains one of the best-selling albums in history, with reportedly over 30 million copies sold.

In the US, the album was certified Diamond (last certified in 1997) and was #1 for eight weeks. It spent 31 weeks in the Top 10, and 128 weeks overall on the Billboard 200 chart. It was also #1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

In Australia, the album was certified 12x Platinum (last certified in 2011). It spent a total of eighteen weeks at #1 throughout 1994, and was also #1 on that year’s ARIA End of Year chart.

The singles from the album include worldwide hits, ‘Dreamlover’, ‘Hero’, ‘Without You’, and ‘Anytime You Need a Friend’.

International editions of the album included the bonus track ‘Everything Fades Away’, while Latin American editions had the Spanish version of ‘Hero’. The 2020 compilation ‘The Rarities’ gave ‘Everything Fades Away’ a wider release after 27 years, as well as ‘Dreamlover’ B-side ‘Do You Think Of Me’ and never previously heard ‘All I Live For’ from the ‘Music Box’ sessions.

Prior to the album’s release, Mariah filmed her now-famous show at Proctor’s Theatre in New York, which aired as a Thanksgiving special on NBC, and was later released commercially. Performances from this show were used for the ‘Hero’ and ‘Without You’ music videos.

Mariah embarked on the ‘Music Box Tour’ in November 1993 to promote the album, playing six shows around the United States. There has never been professional footage released from the tour, however fan footage of the full show at Madison Square Garden in New York City is available on YouTube.

In 2020, Mariah marked her 30 year milestone in the music industry, and ‘Music Box’ was celebrated with two vinyl releases (black and ‘Dreamlover Cream’), as well as digital EPs for ‘Dreamlover‘, ‘Never Forget You’, and ‘Anytime You Need a Friend‘. Her YouTube channel was also updated with remastered music videos in HD, rare live performances from the era, and a never-before-seen video for ‘Anytime You Need a Friend (Soul Convention Remix)’.