Mary J. Blige Biography, Photos and Posters

Mary J. Blige

Biography

Born: January 11, 1971
City and Country of Origin: The Bronx, New York
Music Training: church choir
Awards: Grammys 2006 Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, "Be Without You;" Best R&B Song, "Be Without You;" Best R&B Album, The Breakthrough; 2003 Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals, "Whenever I Say Your Name;" 2002 Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, "He Think I Don't Know;" 1995 Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group, "I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By"
Top Recordings: "Real Love," "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By," "Not Gon' Cry," "Family Affair," "Dance for Me," "No More Drama," "Be Without You," "Runaway Love"
Mary J. Blige Biography: Mary Jane Blige is a six-time Grammy Award-winning American R&B, soul, and hip-hop soul singer, rapper, songwriter, producer, and actress who has sold more than 34 million albums worldwide since her career began in 1992. Blige has been one of the most consistently entertaining voices in R&B history. Constantly compared to soul greats like Aretha Franklin, Blige has a rich, distinct voice that will keep her at the top of the charts for decades to come. Blige changed and birthed a new era of women's music and, in the process, has influenced a new generation of female singers. She is widely known as the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul."

Blige was born in The Bronx, New York 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 moved to neighboring Yonkers where they resided in one of the city's most dangerous housing projects. It was here that she first started experimenting with drugs. 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, Mary revealed that she was sexually assaulted at age five by a family friend.

She signed a contract in her early years with Uptown, but did no more than sing backup for quite some time. Her first solo recording at the label was overseen by young and upcoming record executive Sean "Puff" Combs. In July of 1992 Uptown released What's the 411?, "You Remind Me," the album's lead single peaked at 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and climbed to number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It was followed by "Real Love," which fared even better – becoming Blige's second number-one on the R&B chart and first top ten Hot 100 single, where it peaked 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 1975 "Sweet Thing", and "Love No Limit." By the end of 1993, What's the 411? had sold two million copies, and would ultimately sell three million, and Blige had been crowned "The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul."

Her second album, also overseen by Combs, My Life was darker and moodier than her prior recording. This album was mostly written by Blige. The album's first single, "Be Happy", peaked at number twenty-nine on the Hot 100, and rose to number six on the R&B chart. In early 1995, it was followed up with a cover of Rose Royce's 1976 "I'm Going Down". Other My Life singles included: "You Bring Me Joy", "I Love You", as well as the heavily played (but never officially released as singles) album tracks, "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" and "My Life". The album proved to be yet another multi-Platinum success for Blige, going triple Platinum. In 1995 Blige worked on a cover of Aretha Franklin's classic "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" for the soundtrack to the hit FOX's series New York Undercover and Everyday It Rains.

Her third album, Share My World, released by MCA on April 22, 1997 was her first recording without the influence of Combs. The album debuted at number 1 on Billboard 200 and spawned four hit singles: "Love Is All We Need" (featuring Nas), "I Can Love You" (featuring Lil' Kim), "Everything," and "Seven Days." It sold over 4 million copies worldwide.

Mary was Blige's fourth album and it was a departure from the more hip-hop sound of her earlier recordings. It was oriented toward the adult contemporary market. It featured duets with other high profile singers like Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Eric Clapton and Lauryn Hill. In 1999 the album was rereleased as a double disc set. The album received much critical acclaim, but was not as successful as some of her earlier efforts.

Blige's fifth studio album, No More Drama featured the 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.

After the death of Aaliyah and the insistence of her boyfriend Kendu Isaacs led Mary to finally quit her drug use. She also cited the bible as motivation.

In 2002 MCA decided to repackage and re-release the album No More Drama, by replacing 3 of the singles and designing a new album cover. This led to an additonal sale of over 1 million copies in the U.S. and over 5 million worldwide.

Her sixth album Love & Life was released by Geffen Records, which had absorbed her previous label, MCA. 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 rap 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.

Blige's next release The Breakthrough also on the Geffen label debuted at number one on both the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Billboard 200 charts, selling 727,000 copies in its first week. The lead-off single "Be Without You" quickly raced up both the Hot 100 and R&B charts; it topped the R&B chart for a record-setting fifteen consecutive weeks and peaked at number three on the Hot 100. The album, so far, has sold over 3 million copies in the U.S. and 6 million worldwide. The album also garnered her 8 Grammy nominations at the 2007 awards, winning in 3 categories.

In November of 2006 she released an album of duets with Sting, Santana, Elton John, Robin Thicke, and Patti LaBelle and the following month she released Reflections - A Retrospective featuring some of her top songs.

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