»In which we honor Mariah Carey; Or, lies, damn lies, and number-one singles

A few nights ago, the Empire State Building was lit in honor of the singer (and, lest we forget, actress!) Mariah Carey.

With her new album (E=MC2) and its first single, she now stands second only to The Beatles for number-one singles on the Billboard Chart. (Does her new album count as "math rock"?)
I like Mariah Carey: her voice, her songs, and how criticism about her enriches my vocabulary. I wonder how she ends up driving the music industry and having the lights on the Empire State Building honor her; why not Thurston Moore?