Mary Jane Blige was born in NYC on January 11th, 1971
(that makes her a Capricorn). Mary grew up in Savannah, Georgia til the age of seven, and then moved back up to Yonkers, NYC. Her father was a jazz musician, but he left their family when she was four. Mary's first performances were in the local Church in Georgia, but the musical influence in her life did not end there. Her world was filled with music. Mother, Cora, played all the classic soul from Al Green to Chaka Khan to Sam Cooke, and the effect this has had on Mary's style is obvious, especially on the classic My Life. Mary's love and knowedge of all the old school classics is apparent just by looking at her many covers. There's Chaka Khan's Sweet Thing, Aretha's Natural Woman, Natalie Cole's Our Love and the Norman Whitfield penned I'm Goin' Down... Don't act like you don't know! The girl has soul.

Growing up in Yonkers by Mary's own admissions was real tough. She grew a thick skin and a bad ass attitude in her teen years - you couldn't survive in her neighbourhood without it (she has a scar beneath her left eye she refuses to discuss.) She dropped out of high school in the 11th grade, something she regrets and she is planning on getting her high school diploma in the near future.

The way Mary was discovered could have been a storyline in a b-grade Hollywood flick. Just 17 years old, she cut a demo in suburban New York shopping center, White Plains Mall - the tune was Anita Baker's Caught Up In The Rapture. Somehow this demo ended up in the hands of then Uptown CEO, Andre Harrell. At first Mary's talents were being wasted. In those first few years she definately paid her dues singing back up for now obscure performers like Father MC. But of course in 1991, Sean "Puffy" Combs took Mary under his wing and they began working on What's The 411?. Calling on producers Dave Hall, Rick Morales & Mark Rooney to collaborate with them, they created a modern R&B classic. Sean and Mary had what seemed to be an unfadable professional relationship which continued through with My Life. They had a chemistry when they worked together.

"No one has sounded as perfect for the music I produce as Mary. My tracks were totally made for her, and she was made for my tracks... She's the greatest artist I ever worked with" Sean "P. Diddy"Combs, rapper and CEO of Bad Boy Records, 1997
However, after My Life, Mary discontinued her management contract with
Uptown andSean Combs. Rumours were that she wasn't getting paid right and
Death Row's SugeKnight stepped in as "consultant" regarding hermanagement
and financial issues. Also you'll note that Sean Combs is nowhere to be seen
n the credits of Share My World.
Mary enlisted other producers (Babyface, Bryce Wilson, to name a few) on
her last effort. And you'll notice the executive producer credit on Share My
World reads:Mary J. Blige.

One thing Mary was good at was keepin her private life P-rivate. However, it has
always been common knowledge that she had a long and serious relationship
withK-ci Hailey of Jodeci. Her relationship with him was never really out in the open, but by all accounts it was
a rocky one, but nevertheless it was true heart felt love on both sides. A rare quote Mary made in Vibe Magazine, she said that the problem with K-Ci was that "he wasn't used to people who are true and sincere in their actions towards him. He didn't know how to react towards someone who was 'keepin it real' with him." I really feel for Mary on this because the depth of feeling shared between herself and K-Ci was so apparent in their 1993 performance on MTV's Uptown Unplugged of the duet I Don't Want To Do Anything. And there's no denying that 1995's My Life almost like a diary entry, painfully depicting the pain and heartache Mary went through while with K-Ci. Then there was the whole Case fiasco. Homeboy looks like K-Ci, sings like K-Ci, dresses like K-Ci and  is named "Case". I've heard the whole thing was a publicity stunt to generate hype over his album which both Faith Evans and Mary were the creative forces behind [Case's album]. Today, if you ask Mary, she'll laugh and say there was never anything between them. I dunno. You figure it out .

As Mary's star grew, so did the copycat acts like SWV, Jade, Aaliyah,rest in peace, and later on Faith, Monica, Sweet Sable, Brandy, missjones, Yvette Michele... fuck that. Nearly every female artist in the R&B game today has borrowed elements of Mary's music, style, image and attitude. Not to point fingers though. Don't get me wrong. Mary brought so much to the table, she was truly on some next shit with hers, that it can't be helped that so many artists look up to her and try to be like her. Mary truly is an innovator in her arena, RECOGNIZE FOOLS! Before Mary did you see anyone mixing phat Hip Hop beats with smooth R&B tracks? No. Everything out at the time was that smooth Teddy Riley New Jack Swing (Listen to Today's Why You Gettin' Funky On Me? or Guy's I Wanna Get With You if you don't know what I mean). Before Mary did you ever see a female R&B singer wearing a baseball cap, combat boots and a baseball jersey? Hell no. Who set it off the Blonde hair trend before Mary? Well Yo-Yo had blonde braids, but I didn't see no one rushing out to get em! Anyway, I feel that with every album Mary has released, she's come with something new, yet with every album she's still the same Mary we know and love. That's part of her magic. She changes with each album, but then she hasn't changed at all. Mary truly is the Queen of Hip Hop Soul. And believe me, if Aretha Franklin is the Queen of Soul (which she most def. is!), then Mary is her heiress! She will be the next R&B legend, revered by generations to come. You don't think? You'll see.
Biography