Mary J. Blige is a Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter who was crowned the “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul” as her early ‘90s hits “Real Love” and “You Remind Me” merged her soulful vocals with boom bap hip-hop beats. In her decades-long career, she has influenced generations of singers who followed her such as Beyoncé, Keyshia Cole, Alicia Keys, Janelle Monáe and Ashanti among others.

Born Mary Jane Blige on January 11, 1971, she grew up in Yonkers, New York, which is on the outskirts of New York City. Influenced by the likes of Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan, Mary began singing as a teenager. A random decision to record a cover of “Caught Up in the Rapture” by Anita Baker in a pop-up recording booth at a mall led to MJB getting signed to Uptown Records in 1989 after her tape ended up in the hands of artist Jeff Redd, who passed it to Uptown’s founder, Andre Harrell. After providing background vocals on Father MC’s hit single “I’ll Do 4 U” in 1990, a young intern at Uptown named Sean “Puffy” Combs ended up executive producing Mary’s 1992 debut album What’s The 411?.

She followed up her debut with a string of critically acclaimed albums, including 1994’s My Life and 1997’s Share My World, as well as hit singles such as “Not Gon' Cry,” “Family Affair,” “Be Without You,” and “Just Fine.”

She also collaborated with rappers on a number of tracks, including JAY-Z’s “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” Ghostface Killah’s “All That I Got is You,” Wyclef Jean’s “911,” Common’s “Come Close,” and Method Man’s “I’ll Be There for You/All I Need to Get By,” which was a platinum hit and won the two of them a Grammy Award in 1996 for Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group.

MJB has become one of this generation’s most successful R&B artists, selling millions of albums worldwide and winning numerous awards. She has amassed an impressive 9 Grammy Awards, including Best R&B Album for The Breakthrough and Best R&B Song for “Be Without You” in 2007. She also branched out into acting, an avenue where she has also won awards for her performance in the 2017 film Mudbound.

On February 13, 2022, Mary performed during Dr. Dre’s historic Super Bowl LVI halftime show in Inglewood, California, along with Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent and Eminem—two days after the release of her album Good Morning Gorgeous, which was nominated for an Album of the Year Grammy Award in 2023. The Super Bowl performance would later land all the artists an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Variety Special category. In 2022, TIME magazine named MJB one of their 100 Most Influential People of the year, and in 2024, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.