Mariah Carey albums discography

American singer Mariah Carey has released sixteen studio albums, two soundtrack albums, seven compilation albums, three extended plays, one remix album, and six anniversary albums. Carey is one of the best-selling musical artists of all-time, having sold over 220 million records.

After signing with Columbia Records in the late 1980s, Carey began recording her eponymous debut album (1990). A critical and commercial success, it peaked atop the US Billboard 200 and has received nonupls platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). This was followed by Emotions (1991) and her first extended play, MTV Unplugged (1992), both of which peaked within the top four in the US. Carey then released her third studio album Music Box (1993), to critical and commercial success; it topped the charts in multiple countries, went on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time, and was certified diamond by the RIAA. This was followed by her first holiday album Merry Christmas (1994), which became one of the best selling holiday albums and was also certified diamond by the RIAA. Throughout the latter half of the 1990s, Carey went on to release a string of successful albums including the diamond certified album, Daydream (1995), Butterfly (1997), and her first compilation album, #1's (1998). The latter is the best-selling album in Japan by a non-Asian artist. In 1999, Carey released Rainbow which debuted at number two in the US and became her first studio album since 1994 to not reach the top position.

By 2000, Carey parted with Columbia and signed a five-album deal with Virgin Records, releasing her eighth studio album Glitter (2001), which also served as the soundtrack to the film of same name. Both the album and film were commercial and critical failures, primarily due to its controversies and setbacks. After being bought out of Virgin, Carey signed a new deal with Island Def Jam to release her next album, Charmbracelet (2002) to moderate success. During this time, both a second compilation, Greatest Hits (2001) and her first remix album, The Remixes (2003), was released as part of her contract with Columbia. After a musical hiatus, Carey made a comeback with the hip-hop and R&B-inspired album, The Emancipation of Mimi (2005) which received critical and commercial success, debuting atop the Billboard 200, and becoming both the best-selling album of 2005 in the US, and one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century. This was followed by E=MC² (2008) which also debuted atop the chart. She also released the compilation album The Ballads (2008) which debuted at number ten in the US. Carey went on to release Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009), her second holiday album Merry Christmas II You (2010), and Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse (2014) to varying commercial and critical success, but all debuting top four in the US.

In 2015, Carey signed with Epic Records, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. She released both the compilation album, #1 to Infinity (2015) and soundtrack to Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You (2017). She released her fifteenth studio album, Caution (2018) to critical praise, with critics deeming it another mini-musical comeback following a period of moderate success. In 2020, she released a compilation album The Rarities (2020) featuring unreleased songs, B-sides and live performances. She also released an accompanying soundtrack to her Christmas special Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special (2020). During the early 2020s, Carey released various anniversary editions for her albums including that for Butterfly, Music Box, Rainbow, Merry Christmas, and The Emancipation of Mimi featuring remixes and unreleased songs. By 2025, Carey had signed with the media company Gamma and released her sixteenth studio album, Here for It All (2025).