Several charitable acts have marked Blige’s lengthy and successful career. As of now, she has released a plethora of albums and won a slew of prestigious honors. Blige has been honored with many trophies, including multiple Grammys and Billboard Music Awards. Here you will read about Mary J. Blige net worth, career, early life and more information.
She has been in numerous films and TV shows and is a well-known television personality in her own right. Her outstanding performance in Mudbound has won multiple accolades, including an Academy Award (2017). Blige is the most famous musician of all time, and she is widely considered the most successful female R&B/hip-hop artist of the last quarter century.
Mary J. Blige Early Life
Mary Jane Blige entered this world on January 11, 1971, in The Bronx, New York. She resided in the Schlobohm Housing Projects in Yonkers, New York, with her family after moving back to New York from Savannah when she was seven. The daughter of a nurse and a jazz musician, she went into the medical field herself. She’s the youngest of three; her two older brothers and one older sister. Her father, a Vietnam War vet with PTSD, abandoned the family in the mid-1970s.
Mary J. Blige’s Career
Blige decided to pursue a career in music when she left high school in her junior year. While in Yonkers, she briefly joined a Pride band, with whom she recorded a cover of Anita Baker’s “Caught Up in the Rapture.” Her mother’s current boyfriend listened to the cassette of her body and gave it to Uptown Records’ A&R runner and recording artist Jeff Redd, who forwarded it to the label’s CEO, Andre Harrell. Blige was the youngest and first female musician signed to the label when she joined as a backing singer in 1989.
Mary J. Blige’s Musician’s Profession
Blige’s first album, “What’s the 411?,” was partly produced by Sean Combs (aka P Diddy or Puff Daddy), whom she began working with during her time at Uptown. (July 1992). The album, which featured gospel and blues-inspired vocals among more standard R&B instruments, was well praised and peaked at number six on the Billboard 200. The RIAA also triple-platinum-certified it. In 1993, she won two Soul Train Music Awards for “What’s the 411?” and was crowned “Queen of Hip Hop Soul” and “Best New R&B Artist.”
With the release of her second studio album, “My Life,” she became an undisputed pop sensation. The album debuted at #2 on the US Billboard 200 and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Many people believe it to be Blige’s finest hour, and it was included on Time magazine’s “100 Greatest Albums of All Time” list in 2006.
“Share My World” (1997) features collaborations with artists like Nas, Lil’ Kim, and George Benson; “Mary” (1999) deviates from her signature hip-hop style with a more earthy and adult contemporary sound; “Ballads” (2000) is a Japanese-only compilation album featuring covers by artists like Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin; and “No More Drama” (2001) and its re-release earned Blige her second Grammy f. A few of her previous albums are as follows: “Love & Life” (2003), “The Breakthrough” (2005), “Growing Pains” (2007), “Stronger with Each Tear” (2009), and “My Life II… The Journey Continues (Act 1)” (2013).
The Profession of Acting
Blige’s accomplishments extend beyond her singing; she has also been a famous star on the silver screen. She first appeared on “The Jamie Foxx Show” in 1998 as a preacher’s daughter and then starred in the indie film “Prison Song” in 2001. In 2004, she had a starring role in the Off-Broadway play “The Exonerated,” which told the stories of death-row inmates. She also had a supporting role in the Tyler Perry film “I Can Do Bad All by Myself” (September 2009) and appeared as a guest on the ABC drama “How to Get Away with Murder” in October 2016. Her acting credits begin with the episode “Mean Ghost” from the show “Ghost Whisperer” in February 2007.
She co-starred with Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough, and Alex Baldwin in the 2012 film “Rock of Ages,” and she also starred in the lifetime movie “Betty and Coretta” (2013). Blige received nominations for the Golden Globe Award, the Critics’ Choice Movie Award, and the Academy Award for her performance as the lead in the historical drama “Mudbound” (2017).
Mary J. Blige’s Ventures
In 2004, Blige founded Matriarch Records, which is distributed by Interscope. In July of 2010, she debuted the perfume “My Life” on the Home Shopping Network, where she promptly sold 65,000 bottles on the first day of sale. She has also been an ambassador for companies like Reebok, Air Jordan, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Gap, Target, AMEX, AT&T, MAC, Apple, Burger King, and Chevrolet.
Mary J. Blige’s Personal Life
Blige’s marriage to ex-manager Martin Isaacs lasted from 2003 till 2018. Blige has a monthly income of approximately $300,000, according to the divorce papers.
Mary J. Blige Net Worth
American singer-songwriter-producer Mary J. Blige is worth an estimated $20 million. She is a cultural and musical icon, holding the number nine spot on VH1’s “100 Greatest Women in Music” list from 2012.
Financial Troubles
Poor financial decisions over the years have plagued Mary J. Blige. She owing the IRS $3.45 million as of May 2013. In addition to a $900,000 debt to New Jersey, she was also being sued for allegedly failing to repay a $2.2 million bank loan. Blige paid down her $900,000 debt to New Jersey on May 25, 2014, although she reportedly still owing the IRS at least $3.4 million as of that date.
Mary J. Blige’s Real Estate
Blige spent $12.3 million on a lavish property in Saddle River, New Jersey in 2008. She apparently bought the 20,000 square foot property outright. Even after putting the property on the market for $13.9 million in 2015, she was unable to sell it. She dropped the price from $9 million to $8.9 million, and then to $6.8 million in August of this year. She paid $2.1 million in 2001 for a home in Cresskill, New Jersey, although one that is slightly smaller than the one she now owns.
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