How much do you really know about Mariah Carey? She was a backup singer before her big break with Sony, idolises Marilyn Monroe – and has more No 1 hits than Michael Jackson

Mariah Carey is a household name. The now 53-year-old singer has made record-breaking achievements during her career and every Christmas, whether you like it or not, a certain song starts playing, and it’s all we want for the holidays from there.

But besides the obvious, like her immense talent and charming personality, what else do you know about the American starlet? Here are nine facts we bet you didn’t know yet.

1. She’s named after a song from a Broadway musical

Mariah Carey was born on March 27, 1969, with a name derived from the stage. According to E!, Alfred Roy Carey and Patricia Hickey named their daughter after the song They Call The Wind Maria – which is pronounced “Mariah” despite its different spelling – from the 1951 Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon.

So perhaps it was destiny that Carey would go on to become one of the most successful pop stars of all time.

2. Carey takes after her mother, who is a Juilliard-trained opera singer and a vocal coach

Carey reportedly wowed her mum by imitating her operatic singing at just two years old. She started vocal lessons when she was four and quickly honed her skills so that after graduating high school she could move to New York City and pursue her dreams.

Despite their common talent, Carey and her mother’s relationship has been far from perfect. In her memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, the singer shared their struggles throughout the years. According to an excerpt in People, Patricia once told her, “You should only hope that one day you become half the singer I am.”

“Still, to this day, what she said haunts and hurts me. I don’t know if she meant to cut me down to size or it was just her bruised ego talking; all I know is that those words that shot out of her mouth pierced my chest and were buried in my heart,” Carey wrote in her memoir.