1995年Mariah的个人第六张专辑Daydream在全球隆重登场，迅速地在入榜首周即夺下全美专辑排行榜后座，且蝉连宝座６周，并在发行两年内创下直破８百万张的全美销售纪录，使得她成为乐坛史上首位拥有三张录音室专辑销售皆突破８百万张的女性艺人，如今此辑亦已在美国获得10白金的销售认证。其中与Boyz II Men所合作的One Sweet Day打破了Billboard有史以来蝉连最久冠军周数的纪录。单曲Fantasy上榜首周即顺利登上Billboard单曲榜榜首之位，平了Michael Jackson的You're Not Alone一曲甫于两周前才创下的排行纪录，除了在流行榜蝉连榜首８周外，同时亦是R&B节奏蓝调榜上的６周冠军得主，稍后更成为拥有２百万销售纪录的双白金单曲唱片。此外值得一提的是此曲的音乐录像带亦是由Mariah自己所执导演出，专此辑共录有12首全新作品，除邀来Walter afanasieff、Davehall、Babyface、Boyz ll Men等超级制作人、词曲作家及歌者团体，与Mariah共同制作、填词谱曲或合唱，创造出各具流行、灵魂舞曲与Mariah拿手的抒情曲等多元化的风格外，Mariah更重新诠译了Journey的抒情摇滚经典名作Open arms，曲曲精彩，再次掀起一阵的流行热潮
Daydream is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. Released on October 3, 1995 by Columbia Records, the album leaned towards the hip hop and Contemporary R&B genres in comparison to her previous albums, Music Box (1993) and Merry Christmas (1994). Throughout the project, Carey collaborated with Walter Afanasieff, with whom she wrote and produced most of her two previous albums. With Daydream, Carey took more control over the musical direction as well as the album's composition. Carey said she considered Daydream the beginning of her musical and vocal transformation, a change that became more obvious in her 1997 release, Butterfly. During the album's production, Carey endured many creative differences with her label, Columbia Records and husband, Tommy Mottola.
On Daydream, Carey collaborated with Jermaine Dupri for the first time, and co-wrote and produced a song with Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, with whom she had collaborated on Music Box. It was also the first time she had worked with Boyz II Men, an R&B group consisting of four male vocalists. Together, they wrote the concept and lyrics for "One Sweet Day", a song that Carey co-produced with Afanasieff. With his assistance and the addition of a few contemporary producers, she was able to make a subtle transition into the R&B market. Daydream was nominated for six Grammy Awards at the 38th annual ceremony, during which Carey performed live. Due to the album's critical and commercial success, critics believed Carey would be one of the nights big winners. However, to her dismay, she was completely shut out, causing the subject to become very public and controversial.
Six singles were released from the album. "Fantasy", the album's lead single, topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks, and became the second best-selling single of 1995 in the United States. The song topped the charts in Australia, Canada and New Zealand and became a top-five hit in Finland, France and the United Kingdom. "One Sweet Day" was the second single released from Daydream. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for sixteen weeks and became the longest-running number one single in US history, a record it still holds. It also topped the charts in Canada and New Zealand and peaked within the top five in Australia, France, Ireland and The Netherlands. Jointly the singles from Daydream spent a combined six months at the top of the Hot 100. To promote Daydream, Carey embarked on the short but successful, Daydream World Tour, visiting Japan and Europe.
Daydream became Carey's highest reviewed album at the time. Critics universally praised her matured lyrics and songwriting, as well as her musical direction. Alongside very favorable ratings, the album became a large worldwide commercial success. Daydream debuted at number one in over eight different countries, and in the top five in almost every major music market. The album became Carey's second album to be certified ten-times platinum (diamond) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over ten million copies in the United States. Aside from its success in the US, the album became the third best-selling album in Japan by a non-Asian artist, with over 2.1 million copies sold. Daydream remains one of the best-selling albums of all time, with sales of over 25 million copies worldwide.
