Mariah Carey celebrates her 51st birthday today. With her impressive five-octave vocal range, the pop singer rose quickly to super stardom in the early ’90s. She’s secured her role as the “Queen of Christmas” with her smash hit, “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”

Mariah Carey is an international sensation: she is one of the best-selling artists of all time, producing tons of number one hits and record-breaking albums. With 34 Grammy Award nominations, Carey has taken home five awards, including the 1991 award for best new artist. She is credited as a trailblazer for numerous female vocalists: Beyoncé, Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga have cited her as an inspiration.

We’ve chosen the top 10 best songs we believe Mariah Carey has to date.

• 10. “Obsessed”

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  This heavily autotuned diss track was written in response to Eminem’s claims that Carey had dated him.

• 9. “Don’t Forget About Us”

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  From her 2005 album 'The Emancipation of Mimi,' produced by Jermaine Dupri. Lyrically, the song deals with the emotions that are sometimes felt after the loss of their relationship. Carey explained that the true meaning of the song is left to be interpreted by the listener.

• 8. “Touch My Body”

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  From Carey's eleventh studio album 'E=MC2,' released in 2008. The song broke the record for the highest opening week download tallies in US chart history.
• 7. “Get Your Number”

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  Featuring Jermaine Dupri includes a pop and R&B mashup, with an '80s synth influence. The song is built around a sample of 1982's "Just An Illusion" by Imagination.

• 6. “Always Be My Baby”

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  From her 1995 album 'Daydream,' had us at "doo-doo-doo-dow." Also produced by Jermaine Dupri, the ballad's lyrics describe the sense of attachment Carey still feels towards her former lover. When asked about his experience of working with the singer, Dupri said: “She can pretty much do anything with her voice.”

• 5. “Shake It Off”

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  For the music video, Carey had to be carried around set because she couldn't walk in her ultra-high heels. Even though they were making her feet bleed, she refused the director's offer to trade them for comfortable slippers because she insisted she couldn't wear flat shoes. "My feet repel them," she laughed.
• 4. “Hero”

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  This inspirational ballad was made for the 1992 Dustin Hoffman film of the same name.

• 3. “Emotions”

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  Musically, “Emotions” borrows heavily from Seventies disco to create a winning formula that went on to win her another number one in the US. Carey's vocal range spans more than four octaves on the track, one of the highest notes produced by a human voice in the history of recorded music.

• 2. “All I Want For Christmas”

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  Christmas means hearing this song everywhere you go. The song sold more than 16 million copies worldwide.
• 1. “We Belong Together”

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  This was Carey’s big comeback track after a few years out of the spotlight. She said of recording the ballad: “I had the chills. I had a great feeling about it when we finished writing the song, and I was flying back from Atlanta at some crazy hour of the morning... But we were listening to it on the plane ride on the way home, and even from the demo version, I really felt something very special.”

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