The Evolution of Mary J. Blige
Take at look at Mary's life, and see what she's seen.
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1992 - Remember What's The 411? How could you not? Her debut album was the soundtrack for the whole summer of '92. And the beginning of a long career for Mary J. Blige.
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1994 - In 1994 Mary J. would release My Life. Her second album was moodier than the first but it also gave listeners a peek into some real issues the young singer was going through.
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1995 - By this time Blige was coming into her own as "The Queen Of Hip-Hop Soul." Her collaboration with Method Man on "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" punctuated the statement—and earned Blige her first Grammy.
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1996 - Mary J. released her biggest commercial hit to date. "Not Gon' Cry" off of the Waiting To Exhale soundtrack propelled her career even further.
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1998 - This was the year Mary released Share My World, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts and spawned 5 hit singles, going on to sell more than 3 million copies.
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1999 - Mary's fourth album was a departure from the hip-hop oriented sound of her earlier work. Titled simply Mary, the album oozed adult-contemporary flavor and featured high-profile guests like Elton John and Aretha Franklin.
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2000 - Although Mary didn't perform as well commercially as her previous releases, it still spawned a #1 hit on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play for the remix of "Your Child."
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2001 - To pave the way for her fifth studio album, Mary released the Dr. Dre produced single "Family Affair." The song became her first #1 on Billboard's Hot 100, where it remained for six consecutive weeks.
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2001 - In August of 2001, Mary J. released the album No More Drama which went double platinum.
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2002 - Blige won a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for the song "He Think I Don't Know."
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2003 - A year after No More Drama, Mary J. released Love & Life which surprisingly ended up becoming Blige's lowest-selling and biggest commercial disappointment to date.
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2005 - After marrying Kendu Issacs in 2003, Blige prepared to hit the scene harder than ever and reclaim her title as "The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul."
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2006 - Blige's aptly titled The Breakthrough found Mary back to her old form. The album sold 270,000 copies in its first week, setting a new record for first-week sales by a solo female R&B artist in SoundScan history. She took home three Grammys off the strength of that album.
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2007 - Mary J. released Growing Pains in December of 2007. The album would be certified Platinum in just two weeks. The single "Just Fine" found the singer in rare form, becoming yet another a testament for women everywhere.
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2008 - Still going strong, Mary looks and sounds better than ever. 2008 is a big year for her as she's named one of People magazine's Most Beautiful People and toured with Jay-Z.
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2009 - Mary J. Blige is honored by BET at the BET Honors award ceremony.
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2009 - The year started with a historic performance at President Obama's inauguration. Later on Mary J. Blige established her nonprofit organziation F.F.A.W.N. (Foundation For the Advancement of Women Now) and then released the powerful album Stronger With Each Tear.
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2010 - Mary hits Bergdorf Goodman in New York City for Fashion's Night Out.
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2010 - Mary shows love at the launch of Lorraine Schwartz's "2BHAPPY" jewelry collection at Lavo NYC.