Mary J. Blige

Mary J. Blige has often stated that she has had a troublesome personal life, as a child and even after earning fame. She resorted to drugs and alcohol during the early phases of her career, which she considers to be the darkest phase of her life.

She met Kendu Issacs in the early 2000s and stated that he made her fall in love with herself again. They married in 2003, but the association ended in 2016 when Mary filed for a divorce.

Mary J. Blige was born on January 11, 1971, in the Bronx, New York, to Cora and Thomas Blige. She grew up with her elder sister. However, all was not well in the family, as her parents spent most of their time fighting on petty issues and divorced when Mary was just 4 years of age.

Her mother took both the sisters along with her to Georgia. However, the lifestyle there did not suit them well, and she returned to New York and settled in a shady area, infested with rapists, murderers, and thieves. Mary spent most of her early days in constant fear for her life, amidst a “not so ideal” place for little girls.

Soon, she grew extremely fond of hip-hop music, owing to the collection owned by her mother. Mary would practice singing every now and then. Her sister and mother supported her to take her passion forward, which made her win a local singing competition when she was 8 years old.

Her occasional visits to her father also helped her in developing a keen taste in music, which continued with her performances at church choirs and family gatherings. As music consumed most of her time, she decided to quit high school while still in junior high. Following this, she concentrated only on her music projects.

Soon, she got acquainted with someone at ‘Uptown Records,’ a label that was known to cater to budding artists, and joined the studio as a background singer. Her talent was not recognized till she got in touch with Puff Daddy, who became a mentor to young Blige.

In July 1992, Mary’s first album, ‘What’s the 411?,’ was released. Surprisingly enough, it was accepted by both the critics and the public. It was a unique blend of two distinct genres of music, soul and hip-hop, but resonated well with the listeners. The album topped the ‘Billboard 200’ chart.

Two singles from the album, ‘Real Love’ and ‘You Remind Me,’ became particularly famous, and the American music industry ushered in a new era named “Mary J. Blige.” She was young, talented, and highly creative.

Her second album, ‘My Life,’ released in 1995. It expressed the pains she had gone through in her personal life and mellowed down the hip-hop part. It seemed to aim to connect with the listeners on an inner level and succeeded in doing so. The album topped the music charts and sold millions of records, establishing the fact that Mary was not a “one hit wonder.”

In 1996, ‘My Life’ received a ‘Grammy’ nomination for the ‘Best R&B Album.’ Although she lost the award, she managed to win the ‘Best Rap Performance’ honor for her performance with Method Man. ‘My Life’ also marked the end of her run with several of her close associates and with the label ‘Uptown.’ This was partly due to the internal struggle she faced with drug and alcohol abuse, which also resulted in people using her to make money.

She signed with ‘MCA.’ In 1997, she released her next album, ‘Share My World.’ Experts felt that working with an entirely new team had changed something about her music, which now sounded more like traditional soul music.