Mary J. Blige
American Singer-Songwriter And Rapper
| Date of Birth | : | 11 Jan, 1971 |
| Place of Birth | : | New York, United States |
| Profession | : | Rapper, Singer |
| Nationality | : | American |
| Social Profiles | : |
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Mary Jane Blige is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Queen of R&B", her accolades include 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.
Her career began in 1988 when she was signed to Uptown Records by its founder Andre Harrell. During this time, Blige performed background vocals for other artists on the label.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. Both What's the 411? and her 1994 album My Life ranked among Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. Throughout her career, Blige went on to release 15 studio albums, four of which topped the Billboard 200 chart. Her biggest hits include "Real Love", "You Remind Me", "I'm Goin' Down", "Not Gon' Cry", "Everything", "No More Drama", "Be Without You", "One" (with U2), "Just Fine" and the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Family Affair.
Early life and music career
Mary Jane Blige at Fordham Hospital in the Bronx, New York City, to nurse Cora and jazz musician Thomas Blige. She has an older sister, LaTonya Blige-DaCosta, a younger half-brother, Bruce Miller, and a younger half-sister, Jonquell, both from a relationship Blige's mother had with another man after divorcing her first husband.
Blige spent her early childhood in Richmond Hill, Georgia where she sang in a Pentecostal church. She and her family later moved back to New York and resided in the Schlobohm Housing Projects, located in Yonkers.The family subsisted on her mother's earnings as a nurse after her father left the family in the mid-1970s. Her father was a Vietnam War veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism.
At age five, she was molested by a family friend; as a teenager she endured years of sexual harassment from her peers. She would eventually turn to alcohol, drugs and promiscuous sex to try to numb the pain. Blige dropped out of high school in her junior year.
Influenced by the music of Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and Gladys Knight, she began pursuing a musical career. Blige spent a short time in a Yonkers band named Pride with band drummer Eddie D'Aprile. In early 1988, she recorded an impromptu cover of Anita Baker's "Caught Up in the Rapture" at a recording booth in the Galleria Mall in White Plains, New York. 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 sent it to the president and CEO of the label, Andre Harrell. Harrell met with Blige, and in 1989 at the age of 18, she was signed to the label as a backup vocalist for artists such as Father MC, becoming the company's youngest and first female artist
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