Can 50 Million Mariah Fans Be Wrong? (Yes...)

I remember reading a few years ago that Star Wars was (at that time) the all-time box office champ...

...until, that is, you adjusted for inflation...

...in which case numero uno was still Gone With The Wind, by the proverbial country mile.

I thought of that recently when I read the following:

As Madonna's "Hung Up" jumps seven places to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, the pop icon matches Elvis Presley's tally for top-10 hits -- 36, the most for any artist in the rock era.

And...

Mariah Carey's "Don't Forget About Us" rose to the top of Billboard's Hot 100 chart, putting her in a tie with Elvis Presley for second place among artists with the most No. 1 singles in the rock era.

OK, Madonna overtaking Elvis - that I can deal with. No doubt Madonna has proved herself, in terms of both lasting popularity and cultural impact.

But Mariah Carey?

Doesn't that have a kind of apples-and-oranges quality to it? I mean how do you compare today with 1956?

The market's different, the music scene's different, the whole damn world is different.

For crying out loud, you're comparing the King of Rock 'n' Roll with...

...Mariah Carey...

An overhyped car alarm with a boob job...

Don't innovation and the aforementioned "cultural impact" count for anything here?

(OK, Elvis did some crap movies, but at least he never did, well, you know.)

Surely there must be some way to adjust for "inflation."

Maybe slap an asterisk on her butt. If Ford Frick could do it to poor Roger Maris...

Better yet, giver her the Citizen Kane treatment: Mariah Carey, "singer"...