Mary J. Blige (Mary Jane Blige) was born on January 11, 1971, is an American R&B, soul, and hip hop soul singer, rapper, songwriter, producer, and actress.

In 1988, Blige recorded an impromptu cover of Anita Baker's "Caught Up in the Rapture" at a recording booth in a local shopping mall. Her mother's boyfriend at the time later played the cassette for Jeff Redd, a recording artist and A&R runner for Uptown Records.

Redd then sent it to the president and CEO of the label, Andre Harrell. Harrell met with Blige and, in 1989, she was signed to the label; becoming the company's youngest and first female artist.

In 1990, she was introduced as a background singer for Redd, during a performance at the Apollo Theatre. The same year she also sang the hook on "I'll Do 4 U" by rapper and label mate Father MC; Blige also appeared in the concert-themed music video, in the role of a back-up singer.

She has sold over forty million records worldwide since her career began in 1991. In that span, she has thirty-one charting hits on the U.S. Pop Charts, forty hits on the R&B Charts, seventeen of which were in the top ten and six which reached number one.

She also has nine singles to reach number one on the dance charts, and nine gold and platinum singles worldwide in addition to her seven multi platinum selling albums. She is one of the most accomplished artist of the hip hop generation. She is also widely known as the Queen of hip-hop soul and R&B. Her works have earned her six Grammy Awards.
http://www.mjblige.com/