#1 to Infinity is the sixth greatest hits album by American singer-songwriter and producer Mariah Carey. It was released by Sony Music on May 15, 2015. It features Carey's then eighteen US number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. A new recording called "Infinity" was released as the only single on April 27, 2015. In January 2015, the singer announced that she had signed a residency deal to perform at The Colosseum at the Caesars Palace hotel in Las Vegas in May and July 2015, (later extended into 2016 and 2017) and would perform all of her number ones. As a result, she decided to re-release her first compilation, 1998's #1's, with an updated list of subsequent chart toppers. Carey promoted the album with her #1 to Infinity residency and with live performances at the Billboard Music Awards, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Live! with Kelly and Michael.
Background
Following the release of Mariah Carey's fourteenth studio album, Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse, in May 2014, she parted ways with her record label Def Jam Recordings, her publicist Cindi Berger and her manager Jermaine Dupri. She signed a new record contract with L.A. Reid at Epic Records (who co-executively produced Carey's tenth album The Emancipation of Mimi in 2005), sought a new publicist with Chris Chambers of the Chamber Group and hired new managers Stella Bulochnikov and Brian Sher. Writers Shirley Halperin and Andrew Hampp of Billboard attributed Carey's decision to seek a new label and management to the low sales of Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse, which at a total of 117,000 units since its release, is Carey's lowest selling album in the United States. Carey secured a multi-album record deal with Epic in January 2015, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment, meaning that #1 to Infinity would be her first album since her seventh studio album Rainbow in 1999 to be released with Sony.
Following the release of Rainbow, Carey left Sony and signed an $80 million, four-album contract with EMI's Virgin Records, wishing to sever all ties with Sony and its chairman, her former husband Tommy Mottola. Halperin and Hampp believe that following a prolonged period of absence from Sony and re-signing with them is a positive situation for Carey: "Doug Morris, current chairman/CEO of Sony Music, brought Carey to Island Def Jam in 2003 when he was running Universal Music Group. Reid, then head of Island Def Jam, oversaw her Mimi-powered 2005 comeback. Joey Arbagey, a collaborator of Carey's during the making of the six-times platinum The Emancipation of Mimi, is now executive vp A&R at Epic." Furthermore, Carey released seven studio albums, a live EP and four compilation/greatest hits albums with Sony, which have sold a total of 54 million units in the US combined. Although Halperin and Hampp note that "Carey's legacy is undisputed, her recent stumbles have not gone unnoticed," with regard to her divorce from Nick Cannon, the low sales of Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse and its failure to garner a top-ten single on the Billboard Hot 100 and hiring and firing three managers: Dupri, Randy Jackson and Kevin Giles (the last of whom Carey has kept as a consultant). As a result, several record labels were reluctant to offer Carey a contract. According to Billboard, many other critics felt that reuniting with Reid is Carey's best chance of re-establishing herself on the charts.
Content
In January 2015, Carey announced that she would re-release #1's (1998) with an updated version featuring her songs that had in the meantime reached number one: "Heartbreaker" featuring Jay-Z (1999), "Thank God I Found You" featuring Joe and 98 Degrees (2000), "We Belong Together" (2005), "Don't Forget About Us" (2005/06) and "Touch My Body" (2008). The North American track listing of #1 to Infinity features Carey's then eighteen US number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and one new recording called "Infinity". Instead of including the original studio version of her third number one "Someday" (1991), the live recording from her MTV Unplugged EP (1992) features instead. Carey explains in the liner notes of #1 to Infinity that she felt the studio version was overproduced. The Bad Boy Fantasy remix of her ninth number one "Fantasy" featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard was included instead of the original solo version. Carey describes the remix as a "turning point" in her career.