Mariah Carey gets 2,556th star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

(FOX 11 / CNS) Mariah Carey, who has sold more than 200 million albums to become the best-selling female artist of all time, received the 2,556th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today.

Joining Carey in speaking in the ceremony in front of the W Hollywood Hotel was L.A. Reid, chairman and CEO of Epic Records; Oscar-nominated director Lee Daniels, who directed Carey in "Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' by Sapphire;" and "Lee Daniels' The Butler"; filmmaker Brett Ratner; and Stephen Hill, president of programming for BET.

Carey was selected in 2007 to receive a star and "just recently set the date," Ana Martinez, producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, said on Friday. The ceremony was set for today "because her team wanted a date after (she) finished her sold-out Las Vegas residency," Martinez told City News Service. The residency concluded on July 26.

Carey has won five Grammys, 21 American Music Awards and was selected as Billboard's Artist of the Decade for the 1990s. She has had 18 Billboard Hot
100 No. 1 singles, including 17 she wrote.

Carey released her first album, "Mariah Carey" on June 12, 1990. Its first song, "Vision of Love," brought Carey a Grammy for best female pop vocal performance of 1990. She also won the Grammy as 1990's best new artist. Carey's other three Grammys came from her 2005 album "The Emancipation
of Mimi." "We Belong Together" won for best rhythm and blues female vocal performance and best r&b song. The album was honored as best contemporary R&B album.

Carey released her most recent album, ".1 to Infinity" on May 18. It consists of her 18 No. 1 songs and the new song "Infinity."