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Greatest Hits is the eleventh album by American singer Mariah Carey, released in the United States on December 4, 2001 by Columbia Records. It is a greatest hits double album: CD 1 is primarily a collection of Carey's hits from 1990 to 1995, while CD 2 is primarily a collection of hits from 1996 to 2000. The album was re-released again in 2011 as The Essential Mariah Carey using the exact same track listing.

Background
During mid-1998, after the release of her seventh studio album, Butterfly (1997), the previous September, Carey was in the midst of developing a film and soundtrack project titled Glitter. Midway through the project, Glitter fell into developmental hell, causing Carey to pause the entire production. During this period, Carey considered embarking on a US tour to support Butterfly, which was continuing to sell strongly. However, executives at Sony Music, the parent company of Carey's label Columbia, wanted her to prepare a greatest hits collection in time for the commercially favorable holiday season. Carey, not having time to record a studio album, agreed. However, they disagreed as to what content and singles should constitute the album. Sony wanted to release an album that featured her US number one singles, void of any new material. Carey on the other hand, felt that a greatest hits album should reflect on her most personal and favorite songs, not her most commercial. To accompany her thirteen number ones, Carey recorded four new songs. She felt that not including any new material would result in cheating her fans, therefore including some new material as well. While compromised, Carey often expressed distaste towards the album's song selection, expressing her disappointment in the omission of her "favorite songs."

For this reason, Sony titled the album #1's, as Carey felt the need to express the album's true content, a collection of her number one hits. Carey has frequently cited "Underneath the Stars" (1996) and "Breakdown" (1998) as examples of songs she was unsuccessful in releasing. In the album's liner notes, Carey wrote that she was releasing a collection of her number one singles as a "thank you" and a tribute to her fans, and explained that someday she would release a true greatest hits album containing songs that were not released as singles, as well as singles that did not reach number one. In December 2001, Columbia released the album Greatest Hits, which featured Carey's number one singles alongside songs she said "needed to be really heard", such as "Underneath the Stars" and "Forever." Following the release and poor reception to Glitter (2001), Carey's previous album and first under Virgin Records, her old label Columbia decided to release a package of Carey's hits, since under contract, they still had the rights to release one more album. In an interview with MTV, Carey made the following statement regarding the album. "There's a lot of songs that I'm happy are gonna see the light of day. I think people are going to like this Greatest Hits because there are songs on it that were not necessarily singles."

Content
Carey had previously released the compilation album #1's (1998), but the release of her Greatest Hits album was a contractual agreement beyond her control, since she had left Columbia Records and had moved on to Virgin Records. The album had little creative input from Carey and there are no personal messages within its liner notes, unlike #1's. All tracks from the previous album, with the exception of "Whenever You Call" with Brian McKnight, and the #1's non-U.S. bonus track "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" are included on Greatest Hits. The first of Carey's number ones to be featured on the album was "Vision of Love". It was Carey's first single and was the song that propelled her into the music scene. The song received acclaim, and was credited with influencing and popularizing the use of melisma throughout the 1990s. Three other songs were included from her self-titled debut album, of them were "Love Takes Time", "Someday" and "I Don't Wanna Cry". The fifth single featured on the album was "Emotions", the lead single from the album of the same name. Because of the album's strict array of chart topping singles, none of the other singles on Emotions made the track listing. Another song that was featured on #1's was Carey's version of the Jackson 5 classic, "I'll Be There", which was the lead single off her live album, MTV Unplugged. The singles from Carey's 1993 release Music Box, made an appearance on the album as well. "Dreamlover" and "Hero", Carey's seventh and eight US cart toppers were also included on the album's track-listing. The album's third single, Carey's cover of Harry Nielsen's "Without You" was also added to the album, doe to its popularity throughout Europe.

"All I Want for Christmas Is You", the lead single from Carey's holiday album Merry Christmas also made the international track listing. The song became one of the best-selling singles by a non–Asian female, and the best-selling Japanese single of 1994, selling over 1.1 million copies. Additionally, "All I Want for Christmas Is You", was called "one of the essential musical hallmarks of the holiday season", and is the only holiday song and ringtone to reach multi-platinum status in the US. Occupying three of the thirteen number ones on the album were the singles from Carey's 1995 release, Daydream. The album's lead single "Fantasy", was featured on #1's. However, it was the song's official remix, which featured rap verses from Ol' Dirty Bastard, which made the album cut. This was a personal decision made by Carey, as it was of her preference. The second song from Daydream to be featured on the album was "One Sweet Day", Carey's duet with Boyz II Men. The song topped the Hot 100 for an unprecedented sixteen weeks, and holds the record for longest running number one song in Hot 100 history. The third and final song from the album, "Always Be My Baby", spent two weeks atop the charts in the US, therefore earning a place on the album as well. Carey's most recent studio effort at the time, Butterfly, also yielded two number one songs. The album's lead single, "Honey", was a career-transitional song for Carey, which introduced her as an hip hop soul artist, as well as featured extended rap verses throughout the song. The second song from Butterfly, "My All", spent one week atop the charts. Carey described the song as "[having] a lush sound and intense styling." Solely written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff, "My All" featured guitar arpeggios, which were synthetically created with the clever use of sampling and playing keyboard notes. Since Carey intended Greatest Hits to serve as a sign of gratitude to her fans, the album contained four new songs not previously included on her albums, only on her previous compilation, #1's (1998). The first was a cover of Rainy Davis' "Sweetheart" (1987) performed as a duet with co-producer and rapper Jermaine Dupri. Dupri had worked with Carey in the past, contributing to her album Daydream, and co-produced several hip-hop remixes of her songs. Carey said of the inspiration for its recording, "I was thinking of the old songs I used to listen to when I was in school. It's a really cute record. Young girls'll like it the way I liked it when I was growing up." Another new song featured on the album was "When You Believe", which Carey became involved with after she had been introduced to DreamWorks producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, who asked her if she would record the song "When You Believe" for the soundtrack to the animated film The Prince of Egypt. Carey and Whitey Houston were shown the film separately, and both became very enthusiastic about participating in the project. In an interview with MTV, Carey made the following statement regarding "When You Believe" and working with Houston.  "It's sort of a message song. It's what 'Prince of Egypt' is about, Moses. If we were ever going to come together on any kind of record, this is definitely the right one, and really the coolest thing to me is that after all of the drama and everybody making it like we had a rivalry, she was just really cool and we had a really good time in the studio. We had fun. And so, if nothing else, it was a good experience... and diva-ism, whatever."  The song was co-written by Stephen Schwartz and Babyface, who also produced the song. Carey had previously collaborated with Babyface on her albums, Music Box (1993) and Daydream. Babyface expressed how he went through more than one version of the song and described its production as a beautiful movie ballad, something different than he, Carey or Houston ever recorded. In an interview with Vibe, Carey said that she "liked [the song] the way it was". She had characterised it as "a very big ballad but in an inspirational way" and denied speculation that there had been past rivalry or animosity between her and Houston prior to its recording: "I never even really talked to her until this. We never had any issues between us. The media and everybody made it an issue."

Carey co-wrote and co-produced the song "Whenever You Call" with longtime collaborator Walter Afanasieff for her album, Butterfly. However, in order to change the song's tempo and format, Carey decided to re-do the song as a duet with Brian McKnight, because she felt it was one of the best songs on Butterfly. Carey had also expressed how McKnight's vocals added a great deal to the song, describing the project as "perfecting the song." McKnight shared similar sentiments, saying, "It was amazing to go into the studio with someone who's so successful, and has that kind of track record. Mariah is someone who could ask anyone in the world to sing with her, and they called me. The album contains a duet with Whitney Houston ... it's just been great company to be in."

One of the songs Carey recorded specifically for #1's that was later included on Greatest Hits was a cover of Brenda K. Starr's "I Still Believe" (1988) co-produced by Stevie J and Mike Mason. During the late 1980s Starr helped Carey secure a record contract while she worked as Starr's backup singer. In the album's liner notes, Carey wrote that the purpose of the song was solely paying tribute to her. According to Carey, the song "reminds me of the fact that not long ago I was a teenage girl with nothing to my name but a demo tape, my voice, and my ability to write songs. Brenda K. Starr treated me like a 'star' and gave me a shot." Most non-US versions of Greatest Hits retain the track listing as listed below with the addition of "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (2000), a duet with Westlife. The Japanese version contains "Against All Odds", "Open Arms" (1996), the non-single album track "Music Box" from the album Music Box (1993), and the Merry Christmas album version of "All I Want for Christmas Is You;" it is also the only album to include the "Never Too Far/Hero Medley" (2001) single. Unlike most non-U.S. versions of the Greatest Hits album, the So So Def Remix of "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was not included on the original UK edition but on the album's 2005 re-release.

Singles
Following the weak commercial success of Glitter (2001), her debut release under Virgin Records, Carey suffered an emotional and physical breakdown, followed by an extended hospitalization. During this period, Carey's older label, Columbia records, planned to release a compilation album of her biggest hits, titled Greatest Hits (2001). As they had one more album to release from Carey under her old contract, they began assembling content for its release. Though still signed to Virgin, Carey composed a charity single in which all proceeds would go towards helping rebuild America, following the terrorist attacks. Consequently, she re-recorded her 1993 song "Hero", and made a medley of it with a single from Glitter, "Never Too Far". The song features a different instrumental introduction, and begins with the first verse and chorus of "Never Too Far", and blends into the bridge of "Hero". Several writers for the medley are credited, with Carey having written "Never Too Far" with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and the latter with Walter Afanasieff. Aside from Jam and Lewis, Randy Jackson assisted Carey in the song's production. In an interview with MTV, Carey described the single and its conception:  "I started doing different charity events where I did a combination of 'Never Too Far' and 'Hero'. We made it into a medley and put them in the same key and made it work. People responded really well to it. It's been interesting for me, since the events of September 11, the way people have been playing 'Hero' and really even talking to me about 'Never Too Far', 'cause that song is also about loss. I figured that it would be a nice thing to do, to put them both out for Christmas. There's also an unreleased track on the B-side, which is called 'There for Me' which kind of has the same sentiment. The proceeds from 'Never Too Far' and 'Hero' and 'There for Me' are going to go to the Heroes Fund, and it's going to benefit police officers' families, relief workers' families." 

"There For Me"
The song's B-side, titled "There For Me", was a leftover track from Carey's Rainbow (1999), which she wrote alongside David Foster and Diane Warren. After Carey abandoned work with longtime collaborator Walter Afanasieff, she began working with Foster throughout Rainbow. During their many creative meetings, Foster introduced Carey to Warren, a song-writer in which he had collaborated several times in the past. Throughout the process of writing and producing the song, the female pair did not work well with each other, as Carey accused Warren of repeating lyrical phrases too often, while Warren didn't agree with some of Carey's production choices. After they completed the song, Carey wrote one other song with Warren for Rainbow, a ballad titled "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)".

Promotion
Though having not promoted Glitter during the time of its release, due to her breakdown and subsequent hospitalization, Carey embarked on a short promotional campaign for the single, as well as charity benefits for the September 11 attacks victims. At the 2001 Radio Music Awards, Carey made her second public appearance following her breakdown, the first being a performance of "Hero" at the America: A Tribute to Heroes telethon on September 21, 2001. Entering the stage in a long black evening gown, Carey performed the medley live, followed by a standing ovation from the audience. On October 21, 2001, a benefit titled United We Stand: What More Can I Give was held at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C., accompanied by the charity single "What More Can I Give", in which Carey participated. Carey donned a black open-back dress with a plunging neckline, and performed "Never Too Far/Hero", followed by a live rendition of "What More Can I Give".

On November 16, 2001, Carey taped a special titled A Home For The Holidays With Mariah Carey, which aired on December 21 of that same year. The special featured additional performances by Destiny's Child, Josh Groban, Enrique Iglesias and Mandy Moore. Carey opened the special, with a performance of "Never Too Far/Hero" while wearing a form-fitting red evening gown. Aside from the single, Carey performed "I'll Be There" and "Reflections (Care Enough)", a failed single from Glitter. Following stateside promotion of the charity single, Carey performed it alongside Westlife on the British music chart program, Top of the Pops.

Track listing

 * CD 1
 * 1) "Vision of Love" – 3:31
 * 2) "Love Takes Time" – 3:51
 * 3) "Someday" – 4:08
 * 4) "I Don't Wanna Cry" – 4:51
 * 5) "Emotions" – 4:10
 * 6) "Can't Let Go" – 4:29
 * 7) "Make It Happen" – 5:09
 * 8) "I'll Be There" (featuring Trey Lorenz) – 4:26
 * 9) "Dreamlover" – 3:55
 * 10) "Hero" – 4:20
 * 11) "Without You" – 3:37
 * 12) "Anytime You Need a Friend" – 4:27
 * 13) "Endless Love" (with Luther Vandross) – 4:21
 * 14) "Fantasy" – 4:04
 * 15) "Open Arms" – 3:30 Japanese bonus track
 * 16) "Music Box" – 4:57 Japanese bonus track
 * 17) "All I Want for Christmas Is You" – 4:02 Japanese bonus track


 * CD 2
 * 1) "One Sweet Day" (with Boyz II Men) – 4:43
 * 2) "Always Be My Baby" – 4:20
 * 3) "Forever" – 4:01
 * 4) "Underneath the Stars" – 3:35
 * 5) "Honey" – 5:02
 * 6) "Butterfly" – 4:36
 * 7) "My All" – 3:53
 * 8) "Sweetheart" (with Jermaine Dupri) – 4:24
 * 9) "When You Believe" (with Whitney Houston) – 4:36
 * 10) "I Still Believe" – 3:57
 * 11) "Heartbreaker" (featuring Jay-Z) – 4:48
 * 12) "Thank God I Found You" (featuring Joe and 98 Degrees) – 4:20
 * 13) "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" – 4:34
 * 14) "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (with Westlife) – 3:21 Non-U.S. bonus track
 * 15) "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (So So Def Remix featuring Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri) – 3:43 bonus track
 * 16) "Never Too Far/Hero Medley" – 4:48 Japanese bonus track

Chart performance

 * 1 Multi-disc albums are counted once for each disc within the album.