Mary J. Blige

Over the course of 15 years, with a voice that is rough and ready, sweet and pure, Mary J. Blige is capable of conveying heartache and happiness in a single musical phrase. A confessional singer, her emotional honesty reflects the great traditions of blues and soul with a ripped-from-the-pages-of-your-diary immediacy that has won her countless honors and a devoted, ever-growing audience around the world.

Nobody tells it like Mary. She delivers fan-pleasing, trademark, straight-up messages to players, cheaters and fools with serenity, conviction and compassion.

Mary J was kind enough to give some straight-up responses to her fans' questions in ARTISTdirect's "Ask the Artist" feature:

Wilson Louis from Miami, FL asked:
Compared to all your other albums, what's different about Breakthrough?

Mary J: "The Breakthrough is different because I am no longer going around the pain of self-healing and slowly healing. I'm quick to looking at what's wrong and i try to fix it."

Hope Woodson from New Haven, CT asked:
What was your inspiration for "Be Without You"? Are you going through what you are singing?

Mary J: "Yes, I always go through this because our personalities are different and sometimes will clash and misunderstand each other, which causes arguments, but I'd rather be with him as long as he respects me."

Felisa Wallace from Detroit, MI asked:
What is your favorite song from your new album?

Mary J: "I have 4: "Good Woman Down", "Enough Crying", "Take Me As I Am", and "Baggage".

Matthew Bavotto from St. Paul, MN asked:
Who is your favorite artist? Favorite album?

Mary J: "Don't have one. Have way too many to name."

Niema Darod from Northolt, England asked:
My mum loves you and wants to know how you keep so fit and young?!

Mary J: "Praying for the strength to have the willpower to train daily and diet. Resting and lots of water."

Levar Lewis from Virginia asked:
What is your diet like?

Mary J: "Not starving myself. Six small lite meals a day and they all include brown rice or wheat bread."

DeMetria Moaning from Boley, Oklahoma asked:
How do you keep it hot after so many years on the scene? How do you keep up the style evolution?

Mary J: "Be myself and nobody else. And wear what works for me and not for someone else."

Antonette from Los Angeles asked:
Who inspired you to start singing? How did you start your career and what advice do you have for an aspiring singer?

Mary J: "People in my neighborhood inspired me to sing. Believe in your ability no matter what, but be realistic with yourself and your ability."

Geneva from Bronx, N.Y. asked:
Some women, such as myself, listen to music when they have a bad day. What do you do to relax?

Mary J: "I lay down and pray and ask God for forgiveness if I've done anything to anyone, then I forgive everyone else for hurting me."

D. Rose from Dallas, TX asked:
Through all your struggles, what or who kept you motivated to face another day?

Mary J: "My fans and God!!"

Thabo from East London asked:
What motivates your to write and sing such beautiful deep soulful songs?

Mary J: "Life and trials."

Rasheeda from Bridgetown, Barbados asked:
Do you regret anything you've done in your career?

Mary J: "No, I've learned so much from all my mistakes. I just wish I had gotten my education."

Angel Mcclurken from Greensboro, NC asked:
What is the one thing that you think about everyday that keeps you going and gives you that extra push?

Mary J: "God loves me and sent his son to die for me so I have to live to please him because he saved me when everyone abandoned me."

Get Mary J's new album, Breakthrough, right now in the ARTISTdirect Store!

When her debut album, What's the 411?, hit the street in 1992, critics and fans alike were floored by its powerful combination of modern R&B with an edgy rap sound that glanced off of the pain and grit of Mary J. Blige's Yonkers, NY, childhood. Called alternately the new Chaka Khan or new Aretha Franklin, Blige had little in common stylistically with either of those artists, but like them, she helped adorn soul music with new textures and flavors that inspired a whole generation of musicians. With her blonde hair, self-preserving slouch, and combat boots, Blige was street-tough and beautiful all at once, and the record company execs who profited off of her early releases did little to dispel the bad-girl image that she earned as she stumbled through the dizzying first days of her career. As she exorcised her personal demons and softened her style to include sleek designer clothes, she remained a hero to thousands of girls growing up in the same kinds of rough places she came from. Blige reinvented her career again and again by shedding the bad habits and bad influences that kept her down; by the time her fourth album, Mary, was released in 1999, she had matured into an expressive singer able to put the full power of her voice behind her music, while still reflecting a strong urban style. With her fifth album, No More Drama, it wasn't just Blige's style that shone through the structures set up for her by songwriters and producers, it was her own vision -- spiritual, emotional, personal, and full of wisdom, it reflected an artist who was comfortable with who she was and how far she had come.

Born in the Bronx on January 11, 1971, Blige spent the first few years of her life in Savannah, GA, before moving with her mother and older sister to the Schlobam housing projects in Yonkers, NY. Her rough life there produced more than a few scars, physical and otherwise, and Blige dropped out of high school her junior year, instead spending time doing her friends' hair in her mother's apartment and hanging out. When she was at a local mall in White Plains, NY, she recorded herself singing Anita Baker's "Caught Up in the Rapture" into a karaoke machine. The resulting tape was passed by Blige's stepfather to Uptown Records CEO Andre Harrell. Harrell was impressed with Blige's voice and signed her to sing backup for local acts like Father MC. In 1991, however, Sean "Puffy" Combs took Blige under his wing and began working with her on What's the 411?, her debut album. Combs had a heavy hand in What's the 411?, along with producers Dave Hall, Mark Morales, and Mark Rooney, and the stylish touches that they added to Blige's unique vocal style created a stunning album that bridged the gap between R&B and rap in a way that no female singer had before. Uptown tried to capitalize on the success of What's the 411? by issuing a remixed version of it a year later, but it was only a modest success creatively and commercially.

Her 1995 follow-up, My Life, again featured Combs' handiwork, and if it stepped back stylistically from its urban roots by featuring less of a rap sound, it made up for it with its subject matter. My Life was full of ghetto pathos and Blige's own personal pain shone through like a beacon. Her rocky relationship with fellow Uptown artist K-Ci Hailey likely contributed to the raw emotions on the album. The period following the recording of My Life was also a difficult time professionally for Blige, as she severed her ties with Combs and Uptown, hired Suge Knight as a financial advisor, and signed with MCA.

Released in 1997, Share My World marked the beginning of Blige's creative partnerships with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The album was another hit for Blige and debuted at number one on the Billboard charts. Critics soured somewhat on its more conventional soul sound, but Blige's fans seemed undaunted. By the time her next studio album, Mary, came out in 1999, the fullness and elegance of her new sound seemed more developed, as Blige exuded a classic soul style aided by material from Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Stevie Wonder, and Lauryn Hill. Mary made it obvious that the ghetto fabulous style and more confrontational aspects of her music were gone, while the emotive power still remained.

That power also helped carry the more modern-sounding 2001 release No More Drama, a deeply personal album that remained a collective effort musically yet reflected more of Blige's songwriting than any of her previous efforts. The Mary J. Blige on No More Drama seemed miles away from the flashy kid on What's the 411?, yet it was still possible to see the path through her music that produced an older, wiser, but still expressive artist. In 2003 she was reunited with P. Diddy, who produced the majority of that year's patchy Love and Life album. The Breakthrough followed two years later and was a tremendous success, spawning a handful of major singles. By the December 2006 release of Reflections (A Retrospective), The Breakthrough's lead single, "Be Without You," had spent nearly a year on the R&B chart, while the album's fifth single, "Take Me as I Am," had been on the same chart for over four months. A year later Blige came out with her eight studio album, Growing Pains, whose single "Work That" was featured on an iTunes commercial. ~ Stacia Proefrock, All Music Guide