Vision of Love

"Vision of Love" is the debut single by the American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released on May 15, 1990, for her first album Mariah Carey. It was written by Carey and Ben Margulies, and produced by Rhett Lawrence and Narada Michael Walden through Columbia Records. The slow dance song introduces her whistle register vocal embellishments. The lyrics of the song represent her past life filled with "alienation", and how she had dreamed of achieving her triumph over adversity up to the moment when it finally came to fruition as the "vision of love" that she had always believed in.

"Vision of Love" received universal acclaim from music critics, being praised for Carey's showy vocals and her wide singing range. It has been credited with popularizing the use of melisma in contemporary popular music and for inspiring several artists to pursue a music career. The New Yorker named "Vision of Love" the "Magna Carta of melisma" for its and Carey's influence on pop and R&B singers and American Idol contestants. Additionally, Rolling Stone said that "the fluttering strings of notes that decorate songs like "Vision of Love," inspired the entire American Idol vocal school, for better or worse, and virtually every other female R&B singer since the nineties." The song topped the singles charts in Canada, New Zealand, and the United States, where it spent four weeks atop the chart.

The accompanying music video for "Vision of Love" was filmed in April 1990. It features Carey in a large cathedral, where she meditates and sings by a large picture window. "Vision of Love" was performed on several television and award show ceremonies, such as The Arsenio Hall Show, Good Morning America, Saturday Night Live, and the 33rd AnnualGrammy Awards. It has been performed at almost every one of Carey's concerts and tours, and is featured on Carey's live album MTV Unplugged (1992) and on many of her compilation albums including #1's (1998), Greatest Hits (2001) and The Ballads (2008).