Mary J. Blige

Mary J. Blige
Blige in 2023
Born
Mary Jane Blige

(1971-01-11) January 11, 1971 (age 53)
New York City, U.S.
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • rapper
  • actress
  • entrepreneur
Years active1988–present[1]
Spouse
Kendu Isaacs
​
​
(m. 2003; div. 2018)​
AwardsFull list
Musical career
OriginSavannah, Georgia, U.S.
Yonkers, New York, U.S.
Genres
InstrumentVocals
Labels
Websitemaryjblige.com

Mary Jane Blige (/blaɪʒ/ BLYZHE; born January 11, 1971)[5] is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Awards, twelve NAACP Image Awards, and twelve Billboard Music Awards, including the Billboard Icon Award. She has been nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and two Academy Awards, including one for her supporting role in the film Mudbound (2017) and another for its original song "Mighty River", becoming the first person nominated for acting and songwriting in the same year.

Her career began in 1988 when she was signed to Uptown Records by its founder Andre Harrell. During this time, Blige performed background vocal work for other artists on the label such as Father MC and Jeff Redd.[1] In 1992, Blige released her debut album, What's the 411?, which is credited for introducing the mix of R&B and hip hop into mainstream pop culture. Its 1993 remix album became the first album by a singer to have a rapper on every song, popularizing rap as a featuring act.[6] Both What's the 411? and her 1994 album My Life are featured on the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list,[7] and the latter on Time magazine's All-Time 100 Albums.[8] Throughout her career, Blige went on to release 14 studio albums, including four Billboard 200 number-one albums. Her biggest hits include "Real Love", "You Remind Me", "I'm Goin' Down", "Not Gon' Cry", "Be Without You", "Just Fine" and the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Family Affair".

Blige has also made a successful transition to both the television and movie screen, with supporting roles in films such as Prison Song (2001), Rock of Ages (2012), Betty and Coretta (2013), Black Nativity (2013), her Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated breakthrough performance as Florence Jackson in Mudbound (2017), Trolls World Tour (2020), Body Cam (2020), The Violent Heart (2021) and co-starring as jazz singer Dinah Washington in the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect (2021). In 2019, Blige starred as Cha-Cha on the first season of the Netflix television series The Umbrella Academy. She starred as Monet Tejada in the spin-off of the highly-rated TV show drama Power in Power Book II: Ghost.

She received a Legends Award at the World Music Awards in 2006, and the Voice of Music Award from ASCAP in 2007.[9] Billboard ranked Blige as the most successful female R&B/Hip-Hop artist of the past 25 years.[10] In 2017, Billboard magazine named her 2006 song "Be Without You" as the most successful R&B/Hip-Hop song of all time, as it spent an unparalleled 15 weeks atop the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and over 75 weeks on the chart.[11] VH1 ranked Blige as the 80th greatest artist of all time in 2011[12] and ninth in "The 100 Greatest Women in Music" list in 2012.[13] In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked her as the 25th greatest singer of all-time.[14] In 2024, Blige was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[15][16]

  1. ^ a b Stacia Proefrock. "Mary J. Blige". AllMusic. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  2. ^ Arevalo, Lydia (July 12, 2018). "Mary J. Blige Takes Us to The Disco With "Only Love"". Vibe. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
  3. ^ "Mary J. Blige Biography". Retrieved January 27, 2019.
  4. ^ Chang, Jeff (2005). Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 445–446. ISBN 0-312-30143-X.
  5. ^ "UPI Almanac for Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020". United Press International. January 11, 2020. Archived from the original on February 4, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020. …singer Mary J. Blige in 1971 (age 49)
  6. ^ Proefrock, Stacia. "Mary J. Blige Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  7. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. September 22, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  8. ^ Tyrangiel, Josh (January 22, 2010). "All-TIME 100 Albums". Time.
  9. ^ "Mary J. Blige Wins Voice of Music Award". Washingtonpost.com. May 15, 2007. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  10. ^ "Best of the 2000s — R&B/Hip hop artists". billboard.com.
  11. ^ "Best of the 2000s — R&B/Hip hop songs". billboard.com.
  12. ^ Juzwiak, Rich (August 25, 2010). "Who Will Come Out On Top Of VH1′s 100 Greatest Artists Of All Time?". Blog.vh1.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  13. ^ Graham, Mark (February 13, 2012). "VH1′s 100 Greatest Women In Music [COMPLETE LIST] | VH1 Tuner". Vh1.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
  14. ^ "The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time". Rolling Stone. January 1, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  15. ^ "2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees". Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. April 22, 2024. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  16. ^ Greene, Andy (April 22, 2024). "Cher, Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Matthews Band, Mary J. Blige Lead Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2024 Class". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 22, 2024.