Mariah leaves clinic

Carey plays an aspiring pop singer in Glitter

Singer Mariah Carey has been released from the hospital she checked herself into two weeks ago, suffering from exhaustion.

"MC is feeling better," Carey's spokeswoman, Cyndi Berger, told a New York tabloid.

Carey sang with Luciano Pavarotti in a 1999 charity performance

"She's under a doctor's care at an undisclosed location with her mother."

There were rumours that Carey, 31, had attempted suicide, which were subsequently denied by her publicist.

Berger said that she suffered an "emotional and physical breakdown", as a consequence of working too hard and not getting enough sleep.

The Grammy-award winner cancelled all public appearances, including a performance at the MTV 20th anniversary celebrations in New York.

Carey is due to release a soundtrack album for Glitter

Her movie - Glitter - was also postponed and is now set to open on 21 September.

Glitter marks Carey's first starring role. She plays an aspiring pop singer and is also one of the film's producers.

Carey was raised by her mother, a former opera singer and began singing at the age of four.

She began to write songs while she was at school and soon after graduation had broken into the recording industry, making her debut on Columbia Records in 1990.

She was the biggest-selling artist of the 90s and is best known for hits I'll Be There, Without You, Fantasy and Open Arms.

Her single Heartbreaker made her one of the most successful artists ever in 1999, when it became her 14th American number one single, a feat rivalled only by the Beatles (20) and Elvis Presley (17).