Mariah Carey Has More Number 1’s than Elvis

James Joyner @ Gone Hollywood | Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Would you believe that Mariah Carey is bigger than Elvis? Me neither. But she has actually had more number one records than The King.

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.”

That’s both the right standpoint to take from a PR standpoint and, well, right. Still, there have been a lot of big stars and she’s in rarified company:

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.”)

But, of course, there’s the politics of identity:

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.’”

Goodness yes. She was 20 years old before she made it big. It’s amazing she persevered so long.

Mariah Carey Has More Number 1’s than Elvis

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