Mary J Blige

Mary J Blige - the J stands for Jane - was born in the New York City burrough of the Bronx but she was raised in Georgia and Yonkers, New York. While there were no major problem with the law Mary J Blige was raised in a rough neighbourhood. Her street upbringing came across in her music. Mary J Blige's rough exterior and lyrics gave her a bad girl image which the record executives used to their advantage.

Mary J Blige got her start in music when her step father took a copy of a tape Mary J had made at a local mall with a karaoke machine and gave it to Uptown Records executive Andie Howell. Howell then signed Mary J as a back up singer for the label.

Mary J Blige teamed up with Sean "P Diddy, Puffy" Coombs to create her first album. The album was a collection of R&B rap styled tunes titled "What's the 411?" - Mary J was once a directory assistance operator which is where she got the idea for the album title. While the album was moderately successful with fans the album was dispelled by the critics - an action frequently seen in the world of music.

Even though she had some success with her debut album Mary J Blige was not satisfied with the bad girl image and began working on changing that image. The transformation did not come all at once but can be seen in each of her successive albums as she gradually changed from the bad girl to a mature sophisticated lady.

Although her album sales have yet to reflect the compliments Mary J Blige has often been referred to as the new Chaka Kahn or Aretha Franklin. However, her albums have seen metal level success with several gold and platinum singles; as well as, seven platinum selling albums. Her debut album "What's the 411?" has gone on to sell three million copies as has "The Breakthrough", "My Life", and "Share the World". Her albums "Mary", "Be Without You", and "No More Drama" have sold two million copies; while "Love and Life" has sold one million.

For her album "Share My World" which debuted at number one Mary J Blige teamed up with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis who were also responsible for the massive hit success of Janet Jackson. On "Mary" Mary J used material from Lauryn Hill, Stevie Wonder, and the songwriting team of Sir Elton John and Bernie Taupin. She teamed up with British star George Michael for the hit single "As". Mary J Blige has also seen her music used in an iTunes television ad.