Since that time Patricia started teaching Mariah to sing. Once she sang an opera part and noticed that her little daughter was trying to imitate her. Mariah's mother had to work at several jobs to support the children. Mariah got Irish, African and Venezuelan roots from her parents, who divorced when she was only three. Mariah Carey became the third child in the family of Patricia Hickey, former opera singer, and Alfred Roy Carey, aeronautical engineer.