Greatest Hits

A double-album collection spanning Carey's Columbia years, featuring fifteen US number-one singles and fan-favorite deep cuts.

Released by Columbia Records on December 4, 2001, Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. Issued after Carey's departure from Columbia, the album spans her tenure with the label and includes most of her singles released between 1990 and 2000. It features her then fifteen US number-one singles, as well as the UK number-one hits "Without You" and "Against All Odds." The album was developed as a double album with a broader selection of her work, following criticism of her first compilation, #1's (1998).

Quick Facts

Artist: Mariah Carey
Released: December 4, 2001
Recorded: 1988–2000
Genre: R&B; pop
Length: 122:23
Label: Columbia

Lore & Background

Following criticism from reviewers and Carey herself of her first compilation album, #1's (1998), which focused on her US number-one singles, Greatest Hits was developed as a double album with a broader selection of her work, including two number-one songs released after #1's. Unlike #1's, Carey had little involvement in developing Greatest Hits. The album contains no personal messages in its liner notes, and Columbia conducted no significant promotional campaign for it. When asked about the album on its release day by Entertainment Tonight, Carey remarked: "Does it come out today? Oh, ha ha." The album includes every track from #1's, except "Whenever You Call" and the international bonus track "Do You Know Where You're Going To (Theme from Mahogany)." It additionally includes seven more songs released before #1's, and four songs released after #1's, including the US number-one hits "Heartbreaker" and "Thank God I Found You." Greatest Hits is the only Carey compilation to include the original version of "Fantasy"; her other compilations feature the Ol' Dirty Bastard remix, Carey's preferred version, which she has described as a "turning point" in her career. "Endless Love," a duet with Luther Vandross, was not previously included in a Carey album.

Reader's Guide

The album peaked at number 52 on the US Billboard 200 and number seven on the UK Albums Chart. It received platinum certifications in several countries, including double-platinum in the US and triple-platinum in the UK and Australia. As of November 2018, Greatest Hits had sold 1.23 million copies in the US and had received a double-platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), representing 1 million double-disc units sold. It also received triple-platinum certifications by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), signifying over 900,000 copies sold in the UK and 210,000 copies sold in Australia, respectively. Greatest Hits had also sold 177,945 copies in South Korea as of 2002. The album was reissued internationally as The Essential Mariah Carey on January 10, 2011, as part of Legacy Recordings' Essential series, with the same track listing. The US edition, released on April 24, 2012, included extended mixes and additional non-single tracks personally selected by Carey. Carey contributed creative input to the track selection for the US edition, resulting in an altered track listing. In a press release, she stated: "I wanted to create a collection of some of my favorite songs, several of them are very big hits and some are more obscure favorites of mine as well as fan faves." The US edition includes four additional non-single tracks: "Vanishing" from Mariah Carey (1990), "Close My Eyes" and "The Roof" from Butterfly (1997), and "Bliss" from Rainbow. It also includes extended club remixes of "Emotions" and "Anytime You Need a Friend."

Track listing

Disc 1

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	Vision of Love	Mariah Carey, Ben Margulies	3:31
2	Love Takes Time	Carey, Margulies	3:48
3	Someday	Carey, Margulies	4:07
4	I Don't Wanna Cry	Carey, Narada Michael Walden	4:49
5	Emotions	Carey, David Cole, Robert Clivillés	4:09
6	Can't Let Go	Carey, Walter Afanasieff	4:27
7	Make It Happen	Carey, Cole, Clivillés	5:08
8	I'll Be There (featuring Trey Lorenz)	Berry Gordy, Bob West, Hal Davis, Willie Hutch	4:24
9	Dreamlover	Carey, Dave Hall, David Porter	3:54
10	Hero	Carey, Afanasieff	4:18
11	Without You	Pete Ham, Tom Evans	3:34
12	Anytime You Need a Friend	Carey, Afanasieff	4:26
13	Endless Love (with Luther Vandross)	Lionel Richie	4:20
14	Fantasy	Carey, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, Hall, Adrian Belew, Steven Stanley	4:04
Total length			58:55

Disc 2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	One Sweet Day (with Boyz II Men)	Carey, Afanasieff, Michael McCary, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman	4:42
2	Always Be My Baby	Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal	4:20
3	Forever	Carey, Afanasieff	4:01
4	Underneath the Stars	Carey, Afanasieff	3:35
5	Honey	Carey, Sean Combs, Kamaal Fareed, Steven Jordan, Stephen Hague, Ronald Larkins, Bobby Robinson, Larry Price, Malcolm McLaren	5:02
6	Butterfly	Carey, Afanasieff	4:36
7	My All	Carey, Afanasieff	3:50
8	Sweetheart (with JD)	Rainy Davis, Pete Warner	4:24
9	When You Believe (with Whitney Houston)	Stephen Schwartz, Babyface	4:35
10	I Still Believe	Antonina Armato, Giuseppe Cantarelli	3:56
11	Heartbreaker (featuring Jay-Z)	Carey, Shawn Carter, Walden, Shirley Ellison, Lincoln Chase, Jeffrey Cohen	4:48
12	Thank God I Found You (featuring Joe and 98 Degrees)	Carey, James Harris III, Terry Lewis	4:18
13	Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)	Carey, Diane Warren	4:32
14	Against All Odds (featuring Westlife; international bonus track)	Phil Collins	3:21
15	All I Want for Christmas Is You (So So Def Remix; featuring Jermaine Dupri and Lil' Bow Wow; bonus track)	Carey, Afanasieff, Arthur Baker, John Robie, Kevin Donovan, Ellis Williams, Robert Darrell Allen, John Miller, John Byas, Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider	3:43
Total length			63:38

Did You Know?

The album was part of a four-album deal that completed Carey's contract with Columbia Records and allowed her to move to Virgin Records in 2001.
The Japanese edition of the album includes the 'Never Too Far/Hero Medley,' which was released as a charity single for the victims of the September 11 attacks.
The album initially peaked at number 46 on the UK Albums Chart in 2001, but later reached a new peak of number seven in 2005 following the success of The Emancipation of Mimi.