Throughout her career, Carey has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. With a total of 19 songs topping the Billboard Hot 100, Carey holds the record for the most number-one singles by a solo artist, a female songwriter, and a female producer.[5] According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she is the second-best-selling female artist in the United States, with 66.5 million certified albums.[6] In 2012, she was ranked second on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music. Aside from her commercial accomplishments, Carey has won five Grammy Awards, nineteen World Music Awards, ten American Music Awards,[7] and fifteen Billboard Music Awards.[8] She has consistently been credited with inspiring a generation of singers, and is hailed as being one of the pioneers of pop and contemporary R&B music
