Results for Mary J. Blige
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Who2 Biography:

Mary J. Blige

, Singer / Songwriter
Mary J. Blige
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  • Born: 11 January 1971
  • Birthplace: New York, New York
  • Best Known As: The "Queen of Hip-Hop and Soul"

A native of Yonkers in New York City, Mary J. Blige caught the attention of record promoters in 1992 and became one of the top hip-hop and soul performers by the end of the decade, known to her fans as "Queen Mary." Her career was helped by Sean "Puffy" Combs and her first record, What's the 411? (1992) was a commercial and critical success. Her next records were equally well-received, My Life (1994), Share My World (1997), The Tour (1998) and Mary (1999). One of the biggest R&B stars of the 1990s, she has worked with other recording artists Busta Rhymes, Lil Kim, DMX, Lauryn Hill and Elton John. Blige released her sixth album No More Drama in 2001.

 
 
Artist: Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige

Born:
Jan 11, 1971 in New York, NY [The Bronx]

Representative Songs:

"Real Love," "Family Affair," "Everything"

Representative Albums:

What's the 411?, The Breakthrough, Ballads

Is Also Known As:

Brook Lynn

Similar Artists:

Naja Shiri, Shae Jones, Tyrese, Lauryn Hill, Kelly Price, Missy Elliott, Donell Jones, Dru Hill, Faith Evans, Brandy, Adina Howard, Monica, D'Angelo, Mariah Carey, R. Kelly, Changing Faces, Usher, Aaliyah, Toni Braxton, TLC, SWV, Brian McKnight, Jodeci, Vanessa Williams, Whitney Houston, En Vogue, Boyz II Men, Salt-N-Pepa

Influences:

Chaka Khan, Teena Marie, Janet Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker

Followers:

Deemi, Eva Avila, Aaradhna, Shareefa, Miss Prissy, Megan Rochell, Mpho Skeef, Teairra Marí, LeToya, Keyshia Cole, Fantasia, Javine, Angel, Jamelia, Amy Winehouse, Naja Shiri, Ms. Dynamite, Canela, Christina Milian, Ashanti, Svala, Willa Ford, Alicia Keys, Jill Scott, Andrea Henry, Beyoncé, Lil' Mo, Destiny's Child, Solange, Aaliyah

Performed Songs By:

C. Smith, Arlene DelValle, LaTonya Blige-DaCosta, Eric Milteer, Chucky Thompson, Milk Dee, James Harris, Kenny Greene, Rodney Jerkins, Mark Rooney, L.A. Reid, Mark Morales, Terry Lewis, Dave Hall, Kenny "G-Love" Greene, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Nickolas Ashford, Big Bub, Gerry Goffin, Carole King, Rick James, Babyface

Worked With:

Lauryn Hill, Lil' Kim, Tony Maserati
  • Genre: Rhythm & Blues
  • Active: '90s, 2000s
  • Instrument: Vocals

Biography

When her debut album, What's the 411?, hit the street in 1992, critics and fans alike were floored by its powerful combination of modern R&B with an edgy rap sound that glanced off of the pain and grit of Mary J. Blige's Yonkers, NY, childhood. Called alternately the new Chaka Khan or new Aretha Franklin, Blige had little in common stylistically with either of those artists, but like them, she helped adorn soul music with new textures and flavors that inspired a whole generation of musicians. With her blonde hair, self-preserving slouch, and combat boots, Blige was street-tough and beautiful all at once, and the record company execs who profited off of her early releases did little to dispel the bad-girl image that she earned as she stumbled through the dizzying first days of her career. As she exorcised her personal demons and softened her style to include sleek designer clothes, she remained a hero to thousands of girls growing up in the same kinds of rough places she came from. Blige reinvented her career again and again by shedding the bad habits and bad influences that kept her down; by the time her fourth album, Mary, was released in 1999, she had matured into an expressive singer able to put the full power of her voice behind her music, while still reflecting a strong urban style. With her fifth album, No More Drama, it wasn't just Blige's style that shone through the structures set up for her by songwriters and producers, it was her own vision -- spiritual, emotional, personal, and full of wisdom, it reflected an artist who was comfortable with who she was and how far she had come.

Born in the Bronx on January 11, 1971, Blige spent the first few years of her life in Savannah, GA, before moving with her mother and older sister to the Schlobam housing projects in Yonkers, NY. Her rough life there produced more than a few scars, physical and otherwise, and Blige dropped out of high school her junior year, instead spending time doing her friends' hair in her mother's apartment and hanging out. When she was at a local mall in White Plains, NY, she recorded herself singing Anita Baker's "Caught Up in the Rapture" into a karaoke machine. The resulting tape was passed by Blige's stepfather to Uptown Records CEO Andre Harrell. Harrell was impressed with Blige's voice and signed her to sing backup for local acts like Father MC. In 1991, however, Sean "Puffy" Combs took Blige under his wing and began working with her on What's the 411?, her debut album. Combs had a heavy hand in What's the 411?, along with producers Dave Hall, Mark Morales, and Mark Rooney, and the stylish touches that they added to Blige's unique vocal style created a stunning album that bridged the gap between R&B and rap in a way that no female singer had before. Uptown tried to capitalize on the success of What's the 411? by issuing a remixed version of it a year later, but it was only a modest success creatively and commercially.

Her 1995 follow-up, My Life, again featured Combs' handiwork, and if it stepped back stylistically from its urban roots by featuring less of a rap sound, it made up for it with its subject matter. My Life was full of ghetto pathos and Blige's own personal pain shone through like a beacon. Her rocky relationship with fellow Uptown artist K-Ci Hailey likely contributed to the raw emotions on the album. The period following the recording of My Life was also a difficult time professionally for Blige, as she severed her ties with Combs and Uptown, hired Suge Knight as a financial advisor, and signed with MCA.

Released in 1997, Share My World marked the beginning of Blige's creative partnerships with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The album was another hit for Blige and debuted at number one on the Billboard charts. Critics soured somewhat on its more conventional soul sound, but Blige's fans seemed undaunted. By the time her next studio album, Mary, came out in 1999, the fullness and elegance of her new sound seemed more developed, as Blige exuded a classic soul style aided by material from Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Stevie Wonder, and Lauryn Hill. Mary made it obvious that the ghetto fabulous style and more confrontational aspects of her music were gone, while the emotive power still remained.

That power also helped carry the more modern-sounding 2001 release No More Drama, a deeply personal album that remained a collective effort musically yet reflected more of Blige's songwriting than any of her previous efforts. The Mary J. Blige on No More Drama seemed miles away from the flashy kid on What's the 411?, yet it was still possible to see the path through her music that produced an older, wiser, but still expressive artist. In 2003 she was reunited with P. Diddy, who produced the majority of that year's patchy Love and Life album. The Breakthrough followed two years later and was a tremendous success, spawning a handful of major singles. By the December 2006 release of Reflections (A Retrospective), The Breakthrough's lead single, "Be Without You," had spent nearly a year on the R&B chart, while the album's fifth single, "Take Me as I Am," had been on the same chart for over four months. ~ Stacia Proefrock, All Music Guide
 
Black Biography: Mary J. Blige

singer; songwriter

Personal Information

Born Mary Jane Blige, January 11, 1971, in Yonkers, NY; daughter of Cora (a nurse) and a jazz musician; married Kendu Isaacs (a music producer), 2003.

Career

Worked various part-time jobs in late teens. Released albums, starting with 1992's What's the 411?. Appeared on The Jamie Foxx Show, 1998; film, Prison Song, 2000; performed in VH1's Divas Live concerts, 1999, 2001, 2002.

Life's Work

"Mary J. Blige has been called the inventor of New Jill Swing," Ron Givens wrote in Stereo Review in 1993. When the vocalist came to the public's attention the previous year, she became a magnet for the kind of superlatives music critics love to create. In an interview for the Source, Adario Strange described his subject as a "delicate ghetto-princess songstress," "the flower of the ghetto," and "the real momma of hip-hop R&B." In his Washington Post review of Blige's second album, Geoffrey Himes called her "the premier soul diva of the hip-hop generation." But more than anything else, the music media has crowned her the Queen of Hip Hop Soul.

Early Life Shaped Her

Part of the fuel for Blige's rocket to hip-hop stardom was her "street cred." She was born on November 11, 1971 in Yonkers, and grew up in the Schlobohm Housing Projects--or "Slow Bomb" projects as its residents called it. Blige's coming of age on the mean streets of the Bronx provided her with the "credentials" demanded by audiences who also grew up on city streets. Blige described the setting for Essence's Deborah Gregory, recalling that there "was always some sh** going on. Every day I would be getting into fights over whatever. You always had to prove yourself to keep from getting robbed or jumped. Growing up in the projects is like living in a barrel of crabs. If you try to get out, one of the other crabs tries to pull you down." The family, including Blige's older sister and two younger brothers, subsisted on her mother Cora's earnings as a nurse after her father left the family in the mid-1970s. "My mother made me strong," Blige told Strange. "Watching my mother struggle to raise us and feed us made me want to be a stronger woman," she continued.

Blige's environment also provided the sound and encouragement that first shaped her musical identity. A professional jazz musician, her father left his mark on Blige's ability to harmonize during the brief time he was present. Block parties in the Bronx taught her the rhythms and sampling styles created by the early hip-hop deejays. At home, her mother played a steady stream of R&B, soul, and funk, including Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, and Gladys Knight. Blige sang regularly with her mother and sister in the choir at the House of Prayer Pentecostal Church, honing vocal skills and imbibing gospel. "We used to go to church all night. Everybody would be real good to us," Blige told Emil Wilbekin in a Vibe interview. She expanded on the experience for Essence's Gregory, remembering that she "felt so much better going to church every Sunday, just being there, testifying and just being kids. It was a lot of fun." By the time Blige was a teenager, she had solo spots in the choir and she made the rounds of local talent shows. Though she attended Lincoln High School--a school that specialized in the performing arts--studied music and participated in school sponsored talent shows, she dropped out of high school in the eleventh grade.

While she enjoyed singing, Blige did not expect to make her living at it and, like most teenagers in her position, helped bring in money with several part-time jobs. She told Allison Samuels of Newsweek, "People in church would say 'You should do something with your voice.' And I'd be like 'What? I am living in the projects in Yonkers. What am I going to do with my voice?'" Her first "demo" tape was, in fact, just a karaoke style recording made one night at a mall to entertain friends when she was 17. Before too long, however, the cover of Anita Baker's "Caught Up In The Rapture" found its way to Andre Harrell, an executive with Uptown Records: Blige's mother gave it to her boyfriend, who gave it to a friend, who gave it to R&B vocalist Jeff Redd. Redd passed it on, enthusiastically, to Harrell. On Harrell's initiative, Blige was brought onto Uptown's growing roster of young R&B talents. Sean "Puffy" Combs (later known as P. Diddy) became the young singer's mentor when the company began preparing her album.

Ushered in New Jill Swing

In 1992 What's the 411? introduced Blige's voice to audiences with a growing interest in the New Jack Swing take on R&B. The album not only fit neatly into that R&B revival, but also began to define it. Driven primarily by the single "Real Love," 411 reached double-platinum status after it sold more than two million copies in a short time. Its appeal crossed over from the R&B charts and entered the Top Ten on Billboard's pop chart. When Havelock Nelson gave the album an "A" in his Entertainment Weekly review in August of 1992, he began with the news everyone would soon know--that Blige was "the first diva to deliver frisky, fly-girl funk" and that she "conquers everything she tackles." He concluded that the album was "one of the most accomplished fusions of soul values and hip-hop to date."

Nelson described, in particular, how Blige took the then male-defined domain of New Jack Swing and remade it in her own image, kicking off the rage for New Jill Swing. She became known as the initiator of a new female incarnation of hip-hop. "Mary has become an icon of today's young Black nation," wrote the Source's Strange, "representing the feminine yet strong-willed woman that many young girls hope to be, and the sexy yet not too cute for a ruffneck girlfriend that many brothers from the hood long for." In April of 1993, Rolling Stone reviewer Steve Hochman noted that Blige had "become the role model for the new breed of strong hip-hop women." Strange dubbed her the "first true feminine hero of R&B lovin' ghetto residents." The singer commented on the phenomenon herself, telling Hochman, "I think I'm creating a style for women--a more feminine version of the way a lot of hip-hop guys dress now." As Strange noted, the impact of 411 showed up soon on other performers, as "baseball caps and boots suddenly became in vogue for female singers" and "divas everywhere demanded hip-hop tracks to back up their cubic zirconian efforts."

Attitude Turned Off Fans

The accolades was marred, however, by some bad publicity. It seemed to begin at the 1993 Soul Train Music Awards, where Blige accepted her award not in the expected glittering evening gown, but in standard street gear: jeans and a shirt. The public expressed its disapproval instantly: as the Source's Strange reported, "radio stations everywhere were flooded with phone calls from disgruntled fans." That incident occurred in the midst of other, less public, reports of bad behavior. Wilbekin recounted the history for Vibe, recalling that the "stories of tardiness, cancellations, and general lack of professionalism are endless. Mary was eight hours late to one magazine photo shoot, and threw a fit and walked out of at least one more. She conducted interviews where she did as much drinking as talking and acted like a zombie on national television. Then there was the concert in London where she was so out of it the crowd booed her off the stage."

It was only after the release of her second album that Blige was able to reflect on what might have fed her behavior at the time. She speculated that the attention had disconcerted her--that she had not been prepared, socially or professionally, for the kind of intense spotlight music celebrity creates. Harrell suggested to Wilbekin in Vibe that "the whole experience was overwhelming for her. She wasn't ready to be put under the microscope in that fashion." Friend and manager Steve Lucas told Gregory that "Mary got an undeserved bad rap because of what was going on around her-- the confusion, the lack of organization. When you communicate honestly with Mary, there aren't any problems. She's willing to cooperate and do whatever it takes to be successful. She's basically a very sweet, humble person." The difficulty of the situation was magnified, Blige admitted to Rolling Stone's Hochman, by her basic shyness. "I'm just not a very open person," she told him. "The most open I am is when I sing. I've always been kind of shy." On a more concrete note, she also felt there were problems with her management, which she changed before recording the second album. Combs was fired at Uptown and in 1993 started his own company, Bad Boy Entertainment, where Blige took her management business while still recording with Uptown.

Blige also pursued practical measures to prepare herself for the fresh onslaught of publicity that would accompany the second album: she enrolled with a public relations firm, Double XXposure, that trained artists to deal with the demands of public reputation. She worked extensively with the company's president, Angelo Ellerbee, whom she later credited with not just polishing her interview style, but changing her life more broadly. She told Wilbekin in Vibe that Ellerbee "gave me a totally new kind of life. There was a time when I wouldn't read nothin'," but Ellerbee sparked her interest in books her for the first time, introducing her, for example, to a novel by Zora Neale Hurston called Their Eyes Were Watching God.

When Uptown released My Life in 1994, it marked many changes for Blige, including the personal refining that turned around her public image. The vocalist also contributed lyrics for most of the songs; she had been writing before the debut album, but had little confidence in her skill as a lyricist. The sound of the music shifted also, due in part to the use of live horns and strings in place of the standard sampling, moving Blige deeper into the fusion of hip-hop and soul. Ultimately, all of the changes added up successfully for Blige and her producers: My Life debuted in December in the top position on Billboard's R&B album chart.

Shared Her World

In 1996, Blige released another album, Share My World. Along with the album, she sported a new attitude: self-love. She parted company from people who she felt were negative influences, including her producer and mentor, Combs, Deathrow Records president Suge Knight, and K-Ci of Jodeci fame, her on-again, off-again boyfriend. Her new attitude can also be traced to her renewed commitment to God. Blige spoke to Christopher John Farley of Time, "God comes first. If I don't love him, I can't love anybody. And if I can't love me, I can't love nobody."

Share My World also broadened Blige's horizons. She worked with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, TrackMasters, and R Kelly. Though known for songs with strong hip hop beats, Share My World's songs were more mellow and showed Blige headed for mainstream R&B and pop. Amy Linden of People exclaimed, "Some might gripe that the overall sound is more polished than on her two previous multi-platinum CDs--and it is." The album also included the Babyface-produced and written song, "Not Gon' Cry," from the Waiting To Exhale soundtrack. The song became the jilted black woman's anthem.

Blige also continued to work on her image. In the beginning she did not care about her career or herself. During her interviews, Blige opened up and spoke about her lifestyle, which included using hard drugs. She told Kevin Chappell of Ebony, "I did a lot of stuff, things that a lot of girls wouldn't do, because of a lack of self-love. I did drugs, I did a lot. I did things, not just weed, but beyond...." Her finances also were not in order. She made both management and personal changes. "I'm a young lady now; with growing up comes a lot of responsibilities. So there are a lot of things that I have to do, and there are a lot of things that I can't do anymore.... I want to challenge myself more to see what comes out of it. Patience is a virtue to me," she was quoted as saying in Ebony.

In 1998 Blige headlined her own tour, and that summer she released a live album, called The Tour. "It was a great energy. And it's really at the concert; there are no studio tricks. I'm not afraid for the audience to hear my voice crack," she told Anita Samuels of Billboard. The album featured a medley of previous hits and two new covers. Blige also started her own label, Mary Jane Entertainment. She toured again as a headliner in The Mary Show in 2000 and appeared with Aretha Franklin on the annual VH1 Divas Live broadcast in 2001. With seemingly bottomless energy, Blige made her television acting debut on The Jamie Foxx Show in 1998.

More Mature Mary

Blige's next album, simply entitled Mary found Blige teaming up with legends such as Elton John, Stevie Wonder, and Aretha Franklin. Critics described the album as more mature, toning down the raunchier elements of her persona that had been evident since her debut and repositioning herself as a true soul singer. Mary was Blige's first attempt to truly shape her new image and the results were spectacular. The single "All That I Can Say" with Lauryn Hill hit the Billboard top ten charts and the album was nominated for both a Grammy and a Billboard Music Award.

Starting in 1999 and continuing on into 2000 and 2001, Blige has been very open and vocal about the path that her career and personal life took throughout the nineties and how hard she has worked to turn those around into something that she can be proud of. Blige talked of an abusive relationship that she finally realized she had to get out of before something serious happened to her. In an interview with Essence she says of the relationship, "When I looked back I knew I did the right thing, because if I didn't break out I was going to die. Somebody wanted me dead and subliminally it must have been me, because I drew someone to me who wanted to kill me." Blige has spoken at length about her new found faith in religion. Blige has openly said that it is God that has allowed her to make the changes that she has made in her life. In a Jet interview with Calerence Waldron, Blige said, "I'm trying to build my foundation on the wisdom, the Word, so that I will be able to pass on the right information to the universe. Because you get exactly what you put out there. I'm just happy with that."

One of the main regrets that Mary J. Blige has made public was the fact that she dropped out of high school before getting her diploma. Blige has repeatedly told interviewers that part of the reason that she was so careless with her money and her fame during her early career was due to the fact that she didn't have the proper education and didn't know how to properly invest her money or who she should trust. Blige studied with tutors and gained her Graduate Equivalence Degree (GED). Starting in 2000, Blige began touring schools, trying to convey the message that education was the most important thing and that students needed to stay in school. She told Jet, she emphasized to teens to " ... stay in school. Just be patient and pray. Finish school, finish high school. Don't drop out."

Blige continued to further her career and image with her 2001 release of her album No More Drama. This much-developed album with songs such as "Love," "Family Affair," and "No More Drama" earned her another Grammy nomination and secured Blige's place in the soul diva category. Blige attributed the popularity of the album to the fact that she herself is continuing on her in journey of self discovery and that her fans have turned the corner with her. In a Jet magazine interview, Blige says of No More Drama, "This album is a continuation of a turnaround. The Mary album was a cleanup. It was about cleaning up me. And this album? It's about solidifying and moving even further with the things I've learned and the strides I've made."

The positive reviews on Blige are endless. Geoffrey Himes, among others, paid particular tribute to Blige: "Blige may be a gospel-trained siren like older soul divas," he remarked in the Washington Times, "but these arrangements sound like no record ever made by Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross or Patti LaBelle. All the gooey orchestrations that have sugarcoated romantic crooners from Dinah Washington to Anita Baker are gone, leaving a skeletal rhythm track and a spectacular voice freed from all superfluous sentiment and ornamentation." J.D. Considine, of Baltimore's Evening Sun, noted that "Blige has more than surpassed expectations" and argued that as "good as the grooves are, it's her vocal work that ultimately drives these songs." Similarly, Himes declared her a "major voice of her generation."

She reunited with P. Diddy for Love and Life, in 2003. Also that year, she married music producer Kendu Isaacs. Blige won a Grammy award in 2004, with Sting, for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for their work, "Whenever I Say Your Name." In addition to making hit after hit, Blige continued to act. She has appeared in Prison Song, but it may be her last film as she explained in People, "I didn't like being on the set all day and doing scenes over and over.... I like performing more than getting up in the morning." Blige has lent her name and celebrity to support causes she believed in. She has appeared in ads for cosmetic company MAC's Viva Glam, lipstick, which raised money for the MAC AIDS fund. Blige has performed at three VH1's Divas Live concerts that helped raise money for the cable channel's Save the Music Foundation. Blige was also featured on Carson hair company's Dark & Lovely's permanent hair color box, named Red Hot Mary, after the singer.

As Sean Combs explained to Strange in the Source, Blige "represents all the honeys in the urban communities in Detroit, Harlem, Chicago, and Los Angeles that's growing up and going through regular every day things that are a part of hip-hop culture." Blige sums up herself the best. Though gifted with a beautiful voice, she lacked confidence in herself. Mary J. Blige has come through her growing pains into a mature young lady who cares about herself. She stated in Time, "You better believe that I give a damn now."

Awards

Soul Train Music Award, 1993; New York Music Award; NAACP Image Award; double-platinum album award for What's the 411?; Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album, 1995, 1999, 2002; Grammy award, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, with Method Man, 1996; American Music Award, 1998; Soul Train Lady of Soul awards, 1997, 1998; celebrity spokesperson, MAC AIDS Fund, 2001, 2002; Grammy award, Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals (with Sting), 2004.

Works

Selected discography

  • What's the 411?, Uptown/MCA, 1992.
  • My Life, Uptown/MCA, 1994.
  • Share My World, MCA, 1996.
  • The Tour, MCA, 1998.
  • Mary, MCA, 1999.
  • No More Drama, MCA, 2001.
  • Dance for Me, MCA, 2002.
  • Love & Life, Geffen, 2003.

Further Reading

Periodicals

  • Atlanta Journal, November 29, 1994.
  • Billboard, January 16, 1993; July 25, 1998.
  • Boston Globe, December 15, 1994.
  • Dallas Morning News, April 4, 2002.
  • Ebony, January 1998; January 1999; June 2000.
  • Entertainment Weekly, August 7, 1992; November 20, 1992; December 3, 1993; November 25, 1994.
  • Essence, March 1995; November 2001.
  • Evening Sun, (Baltimore, MD), December 2, 1994.
  • Jet, November 29, 1999; August 28, 2000; September 18, 2000; October 1, 2001.
  • Newsweek, May 5, 1997.
  • People, December 5, 1994; May 19, 1997; July 17, 2000.
  • Rolling Stone, April 15, 1993.
  • Source, January 1995.
  • Stereo Review, April 1993.
  • Time, April 28, 1997.
  • Vibe, February 1995.
  • Washington Post, November 27, 1994.
Online
  • All Music Guide, http://www.allmusic.com (January 5, 2005).
  • "Mary J. Blige," MTV.com, http://www.mtv.com/bands/az/blige_mary_j/bio.jhtml (January 7, 2005).
  • Mary J. Blige Online, http://www.mjblige.com (January 5, 2005).
  • Rock On The Net, http://www.rockonthenet.com (January 5, 2005).
Other
  • Additional information for this sketch was obtained from Uptown Records.

— Ondine E. LeBlanc, Ashyia N. Henderson, and Ralph Zerbonia

 
Wikipedia: Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige performing live during her The Breakthrough Experience Tour in Charlotte, North Carolina on July 16, 2006
Mary J. Blige performing live during her The Breakthrough Experience Tour in Charlotte, North Carolina on July 16, 2006
Background information
Birth name Mary Jane Blige
Also known as Brook Lynn, Queen of Hip Hop Soul, MJB
Born January 11 1971 (1971--) (age 36)
The Bronx, New York City, New York, United States
Genre(s) R&B, soul, hip hop soul
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, actress
Instrument(s) Singing, rapping
Years active 1989–present
Label(s) Matriarch, Geffen, MCA, Uptown
Website www.mjblige.com

Mary Jane Blige (born January 11, 1971) is an American R&B, soul, and hip hop soul singer, songwriter, occasional rapper, record producer, and actress who has sold over forty million records around the world since her career began in 1991. In that span she has thirty-one charting hits on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as forty hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, seventeen of which were in the top ten and six which reached number one. She also has nine singles to reach number one on the Hot Dance Club Play, and a total of nine gold- and platinum-selling singles worldwide in addition to her seven multi-platinum selling albums and her six Grammy Awards. She is also widely known as the "Queen of Hip Hop Soul".

Background

Blige was born in The Bronx, New York City, to a jazz musician father. When she was four, her father, Thomas, left the family, leaving her mother Cora to raise two children by herself. They then moved to neighboring Yonkers where they resided in Schlobaum Housing Projects, one of the city's most dangerous housing projects. She sang lead in her church's choir, and at seven she won a talent contest singing Aretha Franklin's "Respect." On the February 1, 2006 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, she revealed that she was sexually assaulted at age five by a family friend.

Music career

In 1988, Blige recorded an impromptu cover of Anita Baker's "Rapture" at a recording booth in a local shopping mall. Her mother's boyfriend at the time later played the cassette for Jeff Redd, a recording artist and A&R runner for Uptown Records. Redd then sent it to the president and CEO of the label, Andre Harrell. Harrell met with Blige and, in 1989, she was signed to the label; becoming the company's youngest and first female artist.

Upon signing to Uptown, Blige's early years there were dormant, as the label continued to focus most of its attention on its more established acts. During this time, Blige occasionally did session work as a background singer for her label mates. In 1990, she was introduced as a background singer for Redd, during a performance at the Apollo Theatre. The same year she also sang the hook on "I'll Do 4 U" by rapper and label mate Father MC; Blige also appeared in the concert-themed music video, in the role of a back-up singer.

1992-1994: What's the 411?

Production for Blige's debut album began in 1991, with Sean "Puffy" Combs (then, a fledgling A&R executive at Uptown) largely overseeing the project. Also enlisted were some of the top R&B and hip-hop producers of the time, among them were Tony Dofat, Mark Morales and Mark C. Rooney, Dave "Jam" Hall, and DeVante Swing.

On July 28, 1992, Uptown Records released What's the 411?. "You Remind Me", the album's lead-off single, peaked at number twenty-nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number one on the R&B singles chart that summer. The second single, "Real Love", was released in the fall. It too topped the R&B singles chart, and became Blige's first top ten Hot 100 single—peaking at number seven. Both singles were also certified Gold.

More What's the 411? singles followed into 1993, including: "Reminisce", a cover of Rufus's "Sweet Thing", and "Love No Limit." By the end of the year, What's the 411? had sold two million copies. Blige, meanwhile, was being christened as 'The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul.' (She later confessed that, at the time, she believed the title to be nothing more than a marketing tool.) The album's success spun off What's the 411? Remix, a remix album released in December that was used to extend the life of the What's the 411? singles on the radio into 1994, as Blige recorded her followup album.

1994-1995: My Life

On November 29, 1994, Uptown Records released Blige's second album, My Life. Darker, moodier, and slightly less uptempo than its predecessor—the set was again overseen by Combs (despite his having recently left the label), who co-produced all but one of the albums tracks, and took over as Blige's manager. Unlike What's the 411?, Blige co-write a large body of the material, basing it on her personal life…hence the title. Although overwhelmingly praised by both critics and fans, Blige also received some criticism for the album being so sample-heavy.

"Be Happy", the album's first single, peaked at number twenty-nine and number six on the Hot 100 and R&B singles chart respectively. In early 1995, it was followed up with a cover of Rose Royce's 1976 hit "I'm Going Down." Other My Life singles included: "You Bring Me Joy" and "I Love You." Album tracks "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" and "My Life" also received heavy radio play, despite their never being officially released as single. My Life was eventually certified triple platinum. In spite of its success and her growing fame, Blige later admitted that she was simultaneously dealing with long time bouts of drug addiction, alcoholism, and depression, as well as an abusive relationship with then-boyfriend K-Ci Hailey of Jodeci. It was around this time that Death Row Records CEO, Suge Knight approached Blige and signed her to Suge Management as a part time manager and consultant.[1]

Also in 1995, Blige involved herself in several outside projects; recording a cover of Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" for the soundtrack to the FOX series New York Undercover, and "Everyday It Rains" (co-written by R&B singer Faith Evans) for the soundtrack to the hip-hop biopic, The Show. That summer she dueted with rapper Method Man on his song, "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" (which sampled Marvin Gaye's "You're All I Need to Get By.") Later in the year, she also recorded the Babyface-penned and produced "Not Gon' Cry", for the soundtrack to motion picture Waiting to Exhale. The platinum-selling single rose to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in early 1996, and became her biggest commercial hit at the time. Blige won her first Grammy Award – 'Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group' for her collaboration with Method Man.

1997-1998: Share My World

On April 22, 1997, MCA Records (parent company to Uptown Records, which was in the process of being dismantled) released Blige's third album, Share My World. By now, she and Combs had dissolved their working relationship. In his place were a group of big name producers, including: Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Chucky Thompson, R. Kelly, Babyface, and most significantly Rodney Jerkins, who helmed a significant portion of the album.

Share My World debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart and spawned four hit singles: "Love Is All We Need" (featuring Nas), "I Can Love You" (featuring Lil' Kim), "Everything", and "Seven Days." The album became Blige's most commercially successfully; certified quadruple platinum in the United States and selling over five million worldwide. In early 1998, Blige won an American Music Award for "Favorite Soul/R&B Album." That summer she embarked on the Share My World Tour, which resulted in a Gold-certified live album released later that year, simply titled The Tour. The album spawned one single, "Misty Blue."

1999-2000: Mary

On August 17, 1999, Blige's fourth album, titled Mary was released. A departure from her more familiar hip-hop-oriented sound; this set featured a more earthy, whimsical, and adult contemporary-tinged collection of songs, reminiscent to 1970s and early 1980s soul. Also featured on the album were high-profile guests, including: Aretha Franklin (who duetted with her on "Don't Waste Your Time"), Elton John (who played keys on "Deep Inside" (which featured a sample of his '70s-era hit "Bennie and the Jets"), Eric Clapton (who played guitar on "Give Me You"), and Lauryn Hill (who wrote, produced, and sang background on "All That I Can Say.") Blige also recorded a cover of Stevie Wonder's 1976 hit "As" with George Michael, which is featured on the UK release of Mary, and also on the Australian release of his greatest hits album Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael.

On December 14, 1999, the album was re-released as a double-disc set. The second disc was enhanced with the music videos for the singles "All That I Can Say" and "Deep Inside", and also included two bonus tracks: "Sincerity" (featuring Nas and DMX) and "Confrontation" (a collaboration with hip-hop duo Funkmaster Flex & Big Kap originally from their 1999 album The Tunnel). The Mary album was critically praised, becoming her most nominated release to date, and was certified double platinum (moving almost two million in sales.) It, however, wasn't as commercially successful as Blige's prior releases, as all of the singles: "All That I Can Say", "Deep Inside", "Your Child", and "Give Me You" performed modestly on radio and on the charts. In the meantime, MCA used the album to expand Blige's demographic into nightclub market, as club-friendly dance remixes of the Mary singles were released. In lieu of this, the club remix of "Your Child" peaked at number-one hit on the Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart in October 2000.

In 2001, a Japan-only compilation, Ballads, was released—featuring what was considered the best of Blige's ballad material, including a cover of Stevie Wonder's Overjoyed, her previous recordings of Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and Dorothy Moore's "Misty Blue." [citation needed]

2001-2002: No More Drama

On August 28, 2001, MCA released Blige's fifth studio album, No More Drama. The album's first single, "Family Affair" (produced by Dr. Dre) became her first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for six consecutive weeks. It was followed by the top twenty Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-produced title track (originally recorded for the Mary album), which sampled "Nadia's Theme", the piano-driven theme song to the daytime drama The Young and the Restless.

Though the album sold nearly two million copies in the U.S., MCA was underwhelmed by its sales, and subsequently repackaged and re-released the album on January 29, 2002. The No More Drama re-release featured a new album cover, deleted three of the songs from the original track listing, while adding two brand-new songs—one of which was the third single and top twenty Hot 100 hit "Rainy Dayz", (featuring Ja Rule), plus two remixes; one of the title track, serviced by Puff Daddy. The album sold another million-plus units in the U.S. and five million worldwide. Blige won a Grammy for 'Best Female R&B Vocal Performance' for the song "He Think I Don't Know."

On July 22, 2002, MCA released Dance for Me, a collection of club remixes of some of her past top hits including the Junior Vasquez remix of "Your Child", and the Thunderpuss mix of "No More Drama." This album was also released in a limited edition double pack 12" vinyl for DJ-friendly play in nightclubs.

2003-2004: Love & Life

On August 26, 2003, Blige's sixth album Love & Life was released on Geffen Records (which had absorbed MCA Records.) Blige heavily collaborated with her one-time producer Sean Combs (now calling himself "Diddy") for this set. Due to the history between them on What's the 411? and My Life, which is generally regarded as their best work, and Blige having just come off of a successful fifth album, expectations were high for the reunion effort.

Despite the album debuting at number one on the Billboard 200, Love & Life's lead-off single, the Diddy-produced "Love @ 1st Sight" (which featured a cameo by Method Man), just barely cracked the top ten on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, while altogether missing the top twenty on the Hot 100. The two following singles, "Ooh!" and "Not Today" (featuring Eve) fared worse. Although the album was certified platinum, it became Blige's lowest-selling and biggest commercial disappointment to date. Critics and fans alike largely panned the disc, citing a lack of consistency and noticeable ploys to recapture the early Blige/Combs glory. Blige and Combs reportedly struggled and clashed during the making of this album, and again parted ways upon the completion of it.

2005-2006: The Breakthrough

On December 20, 2005, Geffen Records released Blige's seventh studio album, The Breakthrough. The album debuted at number one on both the Billboard 200 Albums and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Selling 727,000 copies in its first week, it became the biggest first-week sales for an R&B solo female artist in SoundScan history,[2] the fifth largest first-week sales for a female artist, and the fourth largest debut of 2005.

For the album, Blige collaborated with Rodney Jerkins, will.i.am, Bryan Michael Cox, 9th Wonder, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Raphael Saadiq, Cool and Dre, and Dre & Vidal. The lead-off single "Be Without You" peaked at number three on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart, while peaking at number one on the R&B charts for a record-setting fifteen consecutive weeks. It would remain on Billboard's Hip-Hop/R&B chart for over 16 months. The album's second single Enough Cryin', peaked at number thirty-two on the Billboard Hot 100, and rose to number two on the R&B chart. The album also included a duet with U2 on the cover of their 1992 hit, "One", which was released as a single in the UK, and gave Blige her biggest hit to date in the country, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart. On December 31, 2006, "One" was announced by BBC Radio 1 to be the thirty-fifth highest-selling single of 2006 in the UK.[3] The latest single from The Breakthrough is "Take Me as I Am", which samples Lonnie Liston Smith's "A Garden of Peace." It peaked at number three on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Blige appeared on the remix to Busta Rhymes's "Touch It" in 2006, where she performed under an alter ego, named "Brook Lynn." The character is also featured on "Enough Cryin" and "Gonna Breakthrough" on the The Breakthrough.

Since its release, The Breakthrough has sold over three million copies in the U.S and over seven million copies worldwide, becoming one of the five best-selling albums of 2006. The success of The Breakthrough won Blige nine Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, two BET Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, and a Soul Train Award. She also received eight Grammy Award nominations at the 2007 Grammy Awards, the most of any artist that year. "Be Without You" was nominated for both "Record of the Year" and "Song of the Year." Blige won three: "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance", "Best R&B Song" (both for "Be Without You"), and "Best R&B Album" for The Breakthrough. "One", and "Be Without You" in addition to the other singles released helped Mary sell a combined 11 million singles worldwide in addition to the seven million albums sold worldwide. Bringing her total for The Breakthrough at the current time from singles and album sales to a combined eighteen million records.

On December 12, 2006, a compilation called Reflections - A Retrospective was released, containing many of Blige's greatest hits. The album also featured four new songs were including: "We Ride (I See the Future)" and "Reflections (I Remember)." The album peaked at number nine in the U.S, selling over 170,000 copies in its first week, while reaching number forty in the UK. The album has, thus far, sold more than 675,000 copies.

2007-present: recent activities

Blige was featured with Aretha Franklin on the soundtrack to motion picture Bobby. They duet on the lead track Never Gonna Break My Faith, the song was nominated for a Golden Globe, which was lost to Prince for "Happy Feet."

Blige was featured on Ludacris' inspirational song and music video "Runaway Love" bringing awareness to the phenomenon of girls who run away from home because of some form of abuse by men. The song reached the top five on both the Hot 100 and the Hip-Hop/R&B chart.

On December 7, 2006, Blige became the artist with the most Grammy Award nominations for the year, eight, winning three for "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" and "Best R&B Song" for "Be Without You" and "Best R&B Album" for The Breakthrough. On February 11, 2007, Blige completed a season sweep of the "big three" major music awards, having won the American Music Award in November 2006, the Billboard Music Awards in December 2006, and the Grammy Awards in February 2007.

Blige's new album, tentatively titled Growing Pains, is due for release on November 27, 2007.[4]

Personal life

Blige had a very public and tumultuous six-year affair with Jodeci frontman Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey, which ended in 1997. Following the run of their union, despite having been linked with singer Case and producer/singer Malik Pendleton, she has kept many of her relationships private. Unfortunately, she had a very bad dependency to drugs & alcohol that nearly destroyed her life as well as career.

In 2000, Blige began a relationship with record industry executive Martin Kendu Isaacs (known simply as "Kendu"), who is now her manager. Blige has also credited Isaacs for helping her to kick her drug & alcohol addiction. The two were married on December 7,