![Mariah Carey arrives at MTV's "TRL," June 18, 2001, about a month before her surprise appearance on the show and subsequent emotional and physical breakdown.](https://s.hswstatic.com/gif/10-celeb-meltdowns-2.jpg "Mariah Carey arrives at MTV's "TRL," June 18, 2001, about a month before her surprise appearance on the show and subsequent emotional and physical breakdown.")
Mariah Carey's voice spans more than five octaves, from alto to notes that are beyond soprano. That's special, as most singers are trained within a three-octave range. She was discovered when she was just 18 by Tommy Mottola, then-president of Columbia Records, and released her first album in 1990. It produced four No.1 singles. Mariah was a hit.
But by 2001, Mariah's world was cracking. She had split from her first husband, Mottola, and from Columbia Records. Mariah also made a surprise appearance on the MTV show "Total Request Live," where she passed out free popsicles from an ice-cream cart while stripping off an oversized T-shirt. She explained that her surprise appearance was her "therapy" and repeatedly told screaming fans and host Carson Daly, "You like this."
Whether Mariah's appearance was a publicity stunt or a sign of her instability, there's no disputing that, after her MTV performance and subsequent messages left on her Web site, Mariah was later hospitalized for a "physical and emotional collapse." After two weeks in psychiatric care, she was released from the hospital.
