The No. 1 Song On August 14, 1990 Sounds Even More Adoring Today

On August 14, 1990, the No. 1 song in the U.S. was the dreamy, shimmering, and shuffling "Vision of Love," the breakthrough hit by Mariah Carey. The prodigiously talented singer-songwriter topped the chart with her first-ever single, and those four weeks in August 1990 would mark the first of 19 times that a Carey song occupied the No. 1 spot. One of a few love songs from 1990 that sound even sweeter today, "Vision of Love" elegantly blended elements of gospel, soul, and soft rock to showcase Carey's remarkably emotional writing and seven-octave range.

After high school ended in 1987, Carey found employment as a support vocalist for R&B singer Brenda K. Starr, a popular '80s musician we also completely forgot about. Thanks to Starr, Carey was able to push her demo tape into the hands of CBS head Tommy Mottola, who signed Carey to his Columbia Records in late 1988. A week after the ink dried, Carey and her first songwriting partner from high school, Ben Margulies, wrote "Vision of Love," a rare song about the power of self-belief and self-love.

Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love" feels like a velvety, slow-and-steady love ballad, but it's really a meditation on some of the tragedy that Carey had endured, and about choosing to move forward with kindness. "Just because you are young doesn't mean that you haven't had a hard life," Carey told Ebony. "It's been difficult for me, moving around so much, having to grow up by myself, basically on my own." 

And so, "Vision of Love" touches on themes like desperation and alienation, but it's ultimately concerned with the act of loving one's self. In the song, Carey pictures the affection and devotion she wants and deserves, and expresses gratitude for it all. "You really have to look inside yourself and find your own inner strength, and say, 'I'm proud of what I am and who I am, and I'm just going to be myself,'" she explained.

The final version of "Vision of Love," which leads Carey's debut album, differs from her demo in that it's at a different speed and has a more contemporary sound; producer Rhett Lawrence took Carey's vocal tracks from that tape and added them to the background. More than just a hit, "Vision of Love" permanently established Carey. The song earned her Grammy Award nominations for record of the year and song of the year, and helped secure her win for best new artist.