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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 RB 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 Love and Life album. The Breakthrough
followed two years later.
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Mary J. Blige Tour Dates
• Atlanta
• Baltimore
• Birmingham
• Boston
• Charleston
• Charlotte
• Chicago
• Cincinnati
• Cleveland
• Dallas
• Denver
• Detroit
• Green Bay
• Houston
• Indianapolis
• Kansas City
• Las Vegas
• London (UK)
• Los Angeles
• Miami
• Milwaukee
• Minneapolis
• New Jersey
• New Orleans
• New York
• Oakland
• Philadelphia
• Phoenix
• Pittsburgh
• Portland
• Richmond
• Sacramento
• San Antonio
• San Diego
• San Francisco
• San Jose
• Seattle
• St Louis
• Tampa
• Tennessee
• Toronto
• Washington DC
• More... |
