And the undisputed ESSENCE Festival favorite will also hit New Orleans to commemorate the festival’s 25th anniversary while also celebrating 25 years of her iconic 1994 album, My Life. This Sunday (June 23), she will add to her repertoire when she’s honored at the 19th annual BET Awards ceremony with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her exceptional body of work across genres and industries. After countless nominations over the years for categories like Best R&B Artist and Best song, an unprecedented number of Billboard and Grammy Awards, over 75 million records sold worldwide and so much more, she shows no signs of stopping. Who knew the little girl from Yonkers would go on to be not just music but entertainment royalty? She has secured numerous endorsement deals with M.A.C., Pepsi, Target and more while also conquering both the small and big screen, even being nominated for two Academy Awards for her role in the critically-acclaimed film, Mudbound. Although she’s faced her fair share of heartaches, heartbreaks, and hardships, Mary never let her personal life or the pressures of the music industry keep her from becoming a master of her craft. Blige has kept her foot on our necks and provided the soundtrack for most of our lives. Mary is a fan of classic rock group, Led Zeppelin and performed their hit, “Stairway To Heaven,” on an episode of Oprah.Since bursting onto the scene in 1992 asking us What’s the 411?, Mary J. She filed for divorce from Kendu 12 years later in July 2016. Mary married Kendu Isaacs in 2003, and credited him for helping her clean up her act and overcome her addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Blige is best known as a singer, with hit songs like “Real Love,” “Not Gon’ Cry,” “Family Affair,” and “All I Need.” In 2015, she was cast as Evillene in NBC’s The Wiz Live!
She has also acted in movies like Prison Song, on shows like Empire and in plays like The Exonerated. She made her acting debut in 1998, appearing on The Jamie Foxx Show. She is one of few entertainers to have eight or more albums reach multi-platinum status. She also topped the charts with her collaboration with Method Man on the song, “All I Need.” Since her debut, Mary has been nominated for a record-setting 30 Grammy awards, and she has won nine. In the doc, which was released on June 25, the musician opens up about her struggles with depression and substance abuse, even. Her second album, My Life, is considered one of the Greatest Albums of all time. Blige sizzled in a blue bikini while vacationing in Miami. Her single, “You Remind Me,” was a number one hit.
Mary’s debut, 1992’s What’s The 411?, signaled a new era in R&B. Her mother’s boyfriend played the tape to an A&R rep, which led to her getting signed to Uptown Records in 1989. In 1988, Mary recorded a version of Anita Baker’s “Caught Up in the Rapture” at a kiosk in a mall. She would drop out and work as a stylist. She and her mother moved back to Yonkers, where she attended Roosevelt High School. Mary and her family moved to Richmond Hill, Georgia, when she was five years old, and spent her early years in the rural setting. Blige (born Mary Jane Blige on Januin The Bronx, New York) is an American singer, songwriter, model, and actress.