Mary J. Blige

Mary Jane Blige was born in the Bronx, New York (USA), on January 11, 1971. She released her debut album What's the 411? (produced by Sean Combs and peaking at No. 6 in 1992), developing an original musical formula combining R&B and rap. The following year, she released My Life, which reached No. 7 on the Billboard charts and No. 57 in the UK. In 1997, Share My World continued the singer's success, giving her her first number one in the United States. It features "I Can Love You", sung as a duet with Lil' Kim. Mary J. Blige maintained her popularity with No More Drama (#2 in 2001), The Breakthrough (#1 in 2005) and Stronger with Each Tear (#2 in the U.S. in 2009). Despite a dip in sales with the release of Think Like a Man Too (No. 30 in 2014), the American singer bounced back with the following album The London Sessions (No. 9 the same year), featuring young British artists Emeli Sandé, Naughty Boy and Sam Smith. Three years later, Strength of a Woman (No. 3 in 2017) was released, featuring contributions from Kanye West, Missy Elliott and Kaytranada. In early 2022, she took part in the half-time concert at the Superbowl final, along with other American hip-hop figures such as Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. Released at the same time, her fourteenth studio album Good Morning Gorgeous, featuring contributions from Usher, Fivio Foreign, Ne-Yo, DJ Khaled and Anderson .Paak, reached number 14 on the Billboard 200. Back in 2024, the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" signs her 15th album Gratitude, featuring guest appearances by Fabolous, Jadakiss, Fat Joe and A$AP Ferg.