Aside from Margulies, Carey worked with a range of professional writers and producers, all of whom were hired by Columbia CEO, Tommy Mottola.

Mariah Carey featured production and writing from Rhett Lawrence, Ric Wake and Narada Michael Walden, all of whom were top record producers at the time.

Mariah Carey was certified nine-times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of nine million copies in the United States.

Mariah Carey fared well in other worldwide territories, reaching the top ten in Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

[6] After meeting with Carey and her mother Patricia for the first time, Mottola said, "When I heard and saw Mariah, there was absolutely no doubt that she was in every way destined for super-stardom."

[6] Mottola had assumed the top position at Sony, the parent label of Columbia, and began taking the company through various stages of change.

[13] As he began playing different notes on the electric keyboard, Carey directed him on the chord changes, while providing the chorus, lyrics and melody.

"[15] Aside from the heavy marketing and promotional campaign held by Sony Music, Carey performed on several television programs and award ceremonies, stateside and throughout Europe.

[16] In September 1990, Carey appeared on Good Morning America where she performed an a cappella version of "Vision of Love", alongside the Billy T. Scott Ensemble.

[16] "Vision of Love" was performed on various other American television shows such as Saturday Night Live, Showtime at the Apollo, The Oprah Winfrey Show and the 1991 Grammy Awards, as well as European programs such as The Veronica Countdown (the Netherlands), Le monde est la vous (France), Kulan (Sweden) and Wogan (United Kingdom).

In Europe, "Love Takes Time" was also performed in Pop Formule (the Netherlands), Kulan (Sweden) and Des O'Connor Tonight (United Kingdom).

[16] The third single from Mariah Carey, "Someday", was performed at the 1991 American Music Awards which helped it reach number one in the United States.

Both "Vision of Love" and "I Don't Wanna Cry" were performed on Carey's Asian and European Daydream World Tour (1996).

[18] "Vision of Love" reached number one in Canada and New Zealand as well, and appeared within the top ten in Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

[19] Additionally, Rolling Stone said that "the fluttering strings of notes that decorate songs like 'Vision of Love', inspired the entire American Idol vocal school, for better or worse, and virtually every other female R&B singer since the nineties.

[16] In a contemporary review, Entertainment Weekly wrote that Carey possessed an "astonishing vocal range and high ideals", but criticized the album's lyrical content.

[33] Robert Christgau was more critical in The Village Voice, unenthusiastically touching on the opera roots of Carey's mother while finding much of the material clueless about its love themes.

[39] Jan DeKnock from the Chicago Tribune was more impressed by the album, finding it abundant with "sparkling tracks" that showcase Carey's songwriting and production talents, particularly "Vanishing".

"[43] Ashley S. Battel from AllMusic found the record "extremely impressive" and described the songs as "smooth-sounding ballads and uplifting dance/R&B cuts" on an album that served "as a springboard for future successes".

[49] To date, Mariah Carey is certified seven-times Platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), denoting shipments of 700,000 copies.

[51] After spending 40 weeks fluctuating in the chart, the album was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting shipments of 300,000 copies.

Elsewhere in Europe, Mariah Carey reached the top-twenty in Switzerland; the top-thirty in Germany and Finland; and the top-forty in Hungary and Spain.

[58] Commenting on the success of the album in the "particularly saturated female pop landscape in 1990", Anderson further states that the record helped Carey carve a place as the foremost musician of her generation.

Writing for Complex, Elena Bergeron described the record as "the album that launched a million runs", stating that it "gave an entire generation of would-be divas something to sing into their hairbrushes".

[59] R&B singer Beyoncé said that she began doing vocal "runs" after listening to "Vision of Love" for the first time, stating that it inspired her to follow a path into the music industry.

[60] Pop singer Christina Aguilera has also stated how Carey's album had the biggest influence on her vocal stylings and delivery.

[61] Carey's two wins at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards was also commented upon by critics, particularly in regards to the lip-syncing controversy surrounding Milli Vanilli the prior year.

Speaking to the press after winning Best New Artist, Carey stated: "With all the controversy surrounding this award, I hope to bring it back to a real singer-songwriter category, where everyone else following me can be as proud as I am to receive this honor".

As noted by Professor Michael Eric Dyson in his book, Between God and Gangsta Rap: Bearing Witness to Black Culture, Carey's "refusal to bow to public pressure" surrounding the nature of her ethnicity exposed "the messy, sometimes arbitrary, politics of definition and categorisation" and "the racial contradictions at the centre of contemporary pop music" at the time.

[64] Sika Dagbovie-Mullins of Florida Atlantic University further credited Carey for breaking down existent racial barriers between pop and R&B, hailing her being a "multiracial heroine" for generations of mixed-race singers and songwriters.