Mary J Blige

Mary J Blige is an American born (Jan 11) singer, songwriter and rapper. She is best known in the States for US Top 10 hits, "Real Love" and "Not gonna cry". In the UK, she probably better known for the UK Top 10 hits, "Everything" and the collaboration with George Michael of Stevie Wonder's "As". Her debut album "What's the 411?" was successful in the States, with leading singles "You remind me" and "Real Love" reaching #1 on US R&B chart. The third single "Reminisce" broke into the UK Top 40 and consequently "Real Love" was remixed/re-released as a follow-up. "You don't have to worry" containing a sample of James Brown's 1974 track "Papa Don't Take No Mess" was featured on the soundtrack to the 1993 film "Who's the man?" Her second album "My Life" featured "Be Happy", which sampled "Curtis Mayfield's You're Too Good To Me" and Rose Royce's "I'm going down". A couple soundtrack hits followed with the old Carole King song "(You make me feel like a) Natural Woman" from the movie "New York Undercover" and "Not gon' cry" from the movie "Waiting to Exhale". In 1995, she collaborated with Method Man on "You're All I Need", which is the only 90s song that reached the Top 10 in both the States and the UK. Her third album, "Share my world" featured "Love is all we need" that contains a sample of Rick James' "Moonchild" and UK #6 hit, "Everything", which was based on Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye's 1974 hit "You Are Everything".

90 Hits (Discography):

Date	   UK	Song
Feb 1993   31	Reminisce
Aug 1993   26	Real Love
Dec 1993   36	You Don't Have To Worry
May 1994   29	My Love
Dec 1994   30	Be Happy
Apr 1995   12	I'm Goin' Down
Jul 1995   10	I'll Be There For You / You're All I Need To Get By (Method Man featuring Mary J Blige)
Sep 1995   17	Mary Jane (All Night Long)
Dec 1995   23	(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman
Mar 1996   39	Not Gon' Cry
Mar 1997   30	Can't Knock The Hustle (Jay-Z featuring Mary J Blige)
May 1997   15	Love Is All We Need
Aug 1997    6	Everything
Nov 1997   19	Missing You
Jul 1998   22	Seven Days (featuring George Benson)
Mar 1999    4	As	George Michael & Mary J Blige
Aug 1999   29	All That I Can Say

What happened next?
Mary J Blige has come through a lot from a troubled upbrining and has matured to the well respected "Queen of Hip Hop Soul" that she is now. Her biggest UK hit was when she reached UK#2 enhancing U2's original "One" in 2005. Although, she had some acting credits mostly related to singing cross-over projects. She shot into the acting world when she starred in the period drama "Mudblood", where she received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress and best original song.