Mary J. Blige

Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige performing at the Neighborhood Ball in Washington, D.C.; 2009
Background information
Birth name	Mary Jane Blige
Born	January 11, 1971 (1971-01-11) The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Origin	Yonkers, New York, U.S.
Genres	R&B soul hip hop hip hop soul neo soul
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, model, record producer, actress
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Matriarch/Capitol (current) Uptown/MCA/Geffen/Interscope Verve Records (former)
Associated acts	Diddy, The Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Method Man, Missy Elliott, Lil' Kim, R. Kelly, Monica, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Whitney Houston, 2face Idibia, Busta Rhymes, Dr. Dre, Ludacris
Website	Official website

Mary Jane Blige (or simply Mary J Blige, born January 11, 1971) is an American R&B, hip hop and soul singer. She released 11 studio albums, 82 singles, and 8 other albums.

Music career

In 1988, just for fun, Blige recorded an cover of Anita Baker's "Caught Up in the Rapture" at a recording booth in a local 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 joined the label, becoming the company's youngest and first female artist.

Production for Blige's first album, Whats the 411?, began in 1991. Sean "Puffy" Combs (at the time a beginning A&R executive at Uptown) organised the project. Also enlisted were some of the top R&B and hip hop producers of the time, among them Tony Dofat, Mark Morales and Cory Rooney, Dave "Jam" Hall, and DeVante Swing.

In 2014 Blige will tour with R. Kelly called "The King and Queen Tour".

Personal life

Blige is a Democrat.

Filmography

• Prison Song (2000)
• Nina Simone (2009)