One of the top-selling female artist in music history, Carey has been known to go for days at a time without uttering a word, and once spent $9,500 on a life-sized cake made in her image.

After a series of chart-topping successes, Carey was offered a four-album $100 million contract from Virgin Records in 2001. What seemed like a good idea at the time quickly fell apart following the disastrous reaction to Carey's semi-autobiographical film Glitter and her very public breakdown that year on MTV. Carey checked herself into a mental hospital and Virgin came to its senses, buying out her contract for $28 million.