Mary J Blige
Mary Jane Blige was born on Jan. 11, 1971 in the Bronx, New York. Blige was exposed to music at an early age since her father; Thomas was a jazz musician. At four years old, Thomas left the family leaving Blige’s mother, Cora to raise Mary and her older sister, Latonya alone.
A few years later, Blige’s family moved to Yonkers in one of the cities most dangerous housing projects. To escape, Blige found solace in music by singing lead in her church’s choir. At seven years old, she won a talent contest by singing Aretha Franklin’s song, “Respect.”
During her teen years, Blige experimental with drugs and dropped out of high school. In 1988, a 17-year-old Blige recorded a cover of Anita Baker’s “Caught Up In The Rapture,” at a recording booth at a local shopping mall. Blige’s mother’s boyfriend at the time played the cassette for Jeff Redd, a recording artist and A&R runner for Uptown Records. He sent it the president and CEO of the label, Andre Harrell. At the time, the label had R&B acts like Heavy D & the Boyz. In 1989, Blige was signed to the label, becoming the company’s youngest and first female artist.
In 1991, she sang on rapper Father MC’s song “I’ll Do 4 U,” and appeared in the video for the song. By 1992, production on Blige’s debut album began. Sean “P. Diddy” Combs was assigned to oversee the project. Blige would later meet Cedric “K-Ci” Hailey and they would begin a long and turbulent relationship.
On July 18, 1992, Blige’s debut, “What’s The 411?” was released. The debit single, “You Remind Me” was released and hit No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. The other single, “Real Love,” did well and both singles were certified gold. The success of the album spawned a remix album that was released in December.
On Nov. 29, 1994, Blige’s second album, “My Life,” was released. Combs produced this album after leaving Uptown Records and starting his own label, Bad Boy Records. Combs also became Blige’s manager. Blige co-wrote a great deal of the album. Its first single, “Be Happy,” peaked at number six on the R&B singles chart. During this time, Blige was dealing with drug addiction, alcoholism and depression. On top of her rocky relationship with Hailey, Blige had earned a reputation in the industry as a bitch.
In 1995, Blige recorded a cover of Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” for the soundtrack for the FOX series “New York Undercover.” She also recorded “Not Gon’ Cry,” a song written by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds for the 1995 film “Waiting To Exhale,” starring Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett. Blige won her first Grammy in 1996 for “I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need To Get By,” a collaboration with rapper Method Man.
In 1997, Blige’s “Share My World” was released. Combs and Blige’s professional relationship had deteriorated and this album was Blige’s first hat didn’t involve Combs. Despite this, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It produced four hit singles, “Love Is All You Need,” which featured rapper Nas, “I Can Love You,” featuring Lil’ Kim, “Everything,” and “Seven Days.” “Share My World,” went triple-platinum, and it won an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B album. Blige then went on the “Share My world” tour that resulted in a live album titled “The Tour,” that was certified gold.
On Aug 17, 1999, her fourth album, “Mary,” was released. The album had many guest singers such as Aretha Franklin, Elton John and Eric Clapton. In December of 1999 the album was re-released as a double disc set. It went double platinum. In 2000, Blige released an overseas-only compilation entitled, “Ballads.”
In August 2001, Blige’s fifth album, “No More Drama,” was released. The first single, “Family Affair,” was produced by Dr. Dre and was Blige’s first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The title track sampled the famous piano theme of the soap opera “The Young & The Restless.” The album’s sales weren’t as high as expected so on Jan 29, 2002, the album was re-released with a brand new album cover, three songs were deleted from the original track listing, two brand new songs were added plus two remixes, one of the title track. The album went double platinum and Blige won her second Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for the song, “He Think I Don’t Know.”
Blige’s sixth album, “Love & Life,” was released on Geffen Records Aug. 26, 2002. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It was certified platinum but was her lowest-selling album.
Blige’s most recent album, “The Breakthrough,” was released on Dec. 20, 2005. The lead single, “Be Without You,” raced up the R&B and pop charts. The album debuted at No. 1 on both the R&B album and Billboard 200 charts. Since its release, “The Breakthrough,” has sold over 2.4 million copies in the U.s. and over four million worldwide.
Blige has also branched out into acting. Her debut was in 1998 on “The Jamie Foxx Show.” In 2001, she appeared in the independent feature film, “Prison Song.” That same year, she made a cameo appearance on the Lifetime series, “Strong Medicine.” In 2004, Blige starred in the off-Broadway play, “The Exonerated.”
Blige is rumored to be on tap to star in the upcoming MTV Films biopic about Nina Simone.
As for Blige’s personal life, it has been filled with turmoil but has since calmed down. She had a six-year relationship with Cedric “K-Ci” Hailey, which ended in 1997. In 2006, it was revealed that Blige had a relationship in 1997-1998 with rapper Nas. In 2000, Blige began a relationship with record industry executive Martin Kendu Isaacs. They were married on Dec. 7, 2003. Blige is now stepmother to Isaac’s three children from a previous marriage.