#1's collects the thirteen songs that had taken Mariah Carey to the top of the American Billboard Hot 100 by 1998, from Vision of Love and Love Takes Time to Fantasy, Always Be My Baby, and Honey. Four new recordings were added, among them When You Believe, the duet with Whitney Houston from the film The Prince of Egypt, and Sweetheart with Jermaine Dupri. It was her first compilation, and the running order works back from her most recent work to the beginning.

This edition is a 2-LP on silver vinyl with a black swirl.