Mariah Carey

"Hit after hit" fairly describes Mariah Carey's first decade of chart dominance, as her distinctive vocals were all but inescapable on '90s radio. Whether paying homage to past classics, like the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" and Badfinger/Harry Nilsson's gilt-edged heartbreaker "Without You," or adding a new song to the pop-R&B canon ("Fantasy"), the diva of Afro-Venezuelan/Irish descent has continually enthralled millions. Mariah exhibits her ease in the realm of rap, in Next Steps.

Mariah Carey's stardom made her a confident peer of fellow superstars, like Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross. On the other hand, her love of hip-hop shines through collaborations with Snoop Dogg ("Crybaby," "Say Somethin'") and other standout red-hot hook-ups with the likes of Busta Rhymes (uncharacteristically chilled on "I Know What You Want") and Jay-Z ("Heartbreaker"). Her assurance on both mellow and bangin' tracks is undeniable. Even rock monsters benefit from the Carey touch, in Deep Cuts.

With her albums so packed with hits, these tracks couldn't all be singles, but they all hit their marks — so go further now, with Mariah's cover of, yes, Brit-metal legends Def Leppard ("Bringin' on the Heartbreak"). Her 2005 release, The Emancipation of Mimi, confirmed she never allows her impeccable standards to drop for a second, with the superlative tracks "We Belong Together" and "Shake It Off" (here remixed into a state of pure dance-floor delirium).

Mariah Carey's music runs on twin tracks: languid, dripping pop-soul ballads and club-ready jams, often with a healthy dose of hip-hop injected. She provided the '90s with some of its biggest hits, from the still-indelible "Vision of Love" to the Boyz II Men collaboration "One Sweet Day." Check out her 21st-century smashes, like "We Belong Together," some of the lesser-known but worthy cuts like "Forever" (from 1995's Daydream) then head back to the future on with the inviting "Touch My Body" from 2008's E=MC2.