Addie Carey (born: Addie Cole; 1906 - 1994) was Mariah Carey's paternal grandmother.
Addie was born in Winston Salem, North Carolina to an Alabama-born mother Emma McQueen and a North Carolina-born father Will Cole. She was a dark skinned woman of African-American descent. According to a Facebook post by Mariah's older brother Morgan, Addie worked as a Sharecropper when she was a young girl in the deep south alongside her parents. He further goes on to mention that her grandparents were born into slavery. According to an interview with Mariah, Addie had a sister called Sarah Cole Reese ("Nana Reese") who was a Pentecostal Minister. She was called over to the family home when Mariah was 4 years old after an incident occurred involving Mariah's family.
On 16 August 1928, Addie married Robert Carey (formerly Roberto Nunez) in Manhattan, New York City. A year later she gave birth to a son, Alfred Roy Carey, Mariah's father. In 1930 she is listed on the census as living on St Nicholas Avenue, Manhattan N.Y.C with Alfred and Robert.
When Alfred was a young boy, Addie and Robert got a divorce. Alfred was subsequently raised by his mother Addie in both Harlem and the Bronx.
It is unknown if Addie remarried or had any more children. However, Robert Carey ended up remarrying a woman referred to by Mariah as her step-grandmother 'Nana Ruby'. They had two or more daughters together. Alfred therefore has two or more half sisters through his father. Mariah only got to meet her paternal grandfather Robert when she was roughly around the age of 6 as her father was raised almost exclusively by his mother Addie. As of the mid - late 2000s, Mariah's step grandmother was still alive.
It was mentioned from an interview in the early 90's that on the odd occasion, Mariah would accompany her grandmother Addie to a Pentecostal Church when she was a young girl.
She was described by Mariah as 'statuesque' and 'beautiful', but also 'blunt' as she had a tendency to be 'really rough at times'.
According to various interviews with Mariah throughout the 2000's, Addie made a small fortune working in Real Estate. She was known to be a very spiritual person. According to Mariah's second cousin Lavinia, Addie had a charm bracelet which included a mustard seed charm.