Over the years and through the tears, Mary J. Blige has been more than just the finest and fullest practitioner of modern R&B. She is the woman who voices what we can only feel. Through her music, Mary acts as both sister confessor and conduit to real emotions and hard fought hurts. Few would have imagined back in 1992, with the explosive debut of “What’s the 411?,” that this young girl from the projects of Yonkers, NY, would become both a multi-faceted talent and a template for contemporary R&B. With a career now in its third decade, Blige has won nine Grammys, five American Music Awards and a 2012 Golden Globe nomination (for The Help‘s original song “The Living Proof”), and sold more than 50 million albums worldwide. In 2013, she released A Mary Christmas. Today, she reigns as the undisputed Queen of Hip Hop Soul. She was crowned that back in 1992 and throughout the course of her career, from the brilliant “My Life” through the powerful “Share My World,” to the triumphant “Mary” to “No More Drama”‘s blend of prayer and partying, Mary has reclaimed her rights to that crown again and again. She continues to dazzle audiences around the world.
