Mary J Blige Net Worth, Money and More
Profession: Singer
Net Worth: $ 45 million
Who Is Mary J Blige?
Introduction
Mary J Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. She starteding her career as a background singer in 1989 and released her first album “What’s the 411?” in 1992. She has since released 11 studio albums and made over 150 guest appearances on other albums and soundtracks, collaborating with other artists.
Early Life
Mary J Blige was born Mary Jane Blige on January 11, 1971 in The Bronx, New York to Thomas and Cora Blige. Her mother was a fan of R&B and Soul Music, a genre that Blige later came to be known for. As a child, she had ample exposure to this kind of music and it influenced her to a great extent. She was taught to sing by her father, who was a jazz musician. When Blige was 9, he divorced Blige’s mother and abandoned Blige and her sister. When she was five, Blige was molested by a family friend.
Blige spent most of her childhood in Georgia, where she sang in a choir. She then moved to New York, where she lived with her mother, older sister, five cousins, and two aunts. In the eleventh standard, she dropped out of high school.
Blige was first signed on to the label Uptown Records in 1989 after an impromptu cover of a song she had recorded found its way to the CEO, Andre Harrell.
Career
Blige began working on her first album in 1991, alongside Sean Combs AKA P. Diddy, who worked for the label and was her biggest supporter. She soon came to be known as the “Queen of R & B Soul”. To create her own identity in the R&B music world, Combs deliberately shaped Blige into a figure exactly opposite to the reigning R&B female singers of the time, such as Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.
These singers were refined and glamorous, and hence Blige was molded into a figure who had Baseball caps, combat boots and baggy clothes as her signature style. Even in her music, Blige was completely different from the female singers at the time, that is, in the 1990s.
On July 28, 1992, Blige released her first album, What’s the 411? This debut album ushered in a new generation of R&B music.
Success
Since her first album to the present year, Blige has gone on to sell more than 50 million albums and 15 million singles worldwide. She has also been named the “most successful female R&B artist of the past 25 years” by Billboard Magazine. Also, her 2006 song “Be Without You” – which spent a record 15 weeks on top of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart – has been ranked the top R&B song of the 2000s. In 2011, she was ranked the 80th greatest artist of all time, and in 2012, was ranked number 9 in “The 100 Greatest Woman in Music”, by the channel VH1. The Rolling Stones Magazine places her at number 100 on their list of the “100 greatest singers of all time”.
Blige has received a grand total of nine Grammy Awards and eight of her albums have reached multi-platinum status in the US. According to Rolling Stones, Time and Vibe, Blige’s album My Life is considered among the greatest albums ever recorded. Blige received the Legends Award at theWorld Music Awards (WMA) for her contribution in combining hip-hop and soul music. She was also listed in Time magazine’s “Time 100″ list of influential individuals around the world in 2007.
Money Matters
House
Worth: $17 million
Mary J Blige owns a 4.2-acre mansion in Saddle River, New Jersey. It was on the market for $17 million, but the hip-hop artist got it for a bargain when she bought it in 2008 for $12.3 million. In cash!
The house is an 18,250 square-foot stone and stucco country French manor and has 8 bedrooms and 8 baths, billiard room, a hardwood indoor basketball court, wine tasting room, an in-ground pool, a gourmet kitchen, a fitness center, a six-car garage, an elevator, spiral staircase and a 14-seat movie theater.
She is a neighbor to hip-hop artists Wyclef Jean and Ja Rule.
Ventures
In 2004, Blige launched her own record label, Matriarch Records, and in 2012, discovered the girl group “Just’Us”. Blige says “These are my little Mary’s; they each remind me of myself at different points in my life.” She is now working with Just’Us on their debut album.
In 2010, Blige also released a line of sunglasses called “Melodies by MJB”. The first Melodies collection featured four styles with a total of 20 color option and each style represented a specific aspect of Blige’s personal life.
Blige also has a production company, in collaboration with William Morris Endeavor, which is also working on several TV and film projects.
Blige endorse the brands Reebok, Coca-Cola, Burger King, Air Jordan, Pepsi, Gap, Target, American Express, AT&T Inc., M.A.C, Apple Inc. and Chevrolet. She has also been a spokesperson with Carol’s Daughter beauty products and Citibank.
Perfumes
In July 2010, Blige, inpartnership with the Home Shopping Network (HSN) and Carol’s Daughter, launched her first perfume named after her 1994 album “My Life”. It went on to break HSN records by selling 65,000 bottles during its premiere.
The fragrance’s unprecedented success broke sales records in hours and it has been awarded two prestigious FIFI awards from the Fragrance Foundation, including the “Fragrance Sales Breakthrough” award.
In 2011, she launched her new perfume, My Life Blossom which was launched in August, exclusively to HSN.
Money Woes
Over the past few years, Blige has faced some severe financial issues. As of May 2013, she owes the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) $3.4 million. They have claimed that she failed to pay all her income taxes for the years 2009 ($574,907.30), 2010 ($2,203,743.53) and 2011 ($647,604.60).
She also owes the state of New Jersey $900,000 and is the target of a lawsuit that claims she owes $2.2 million for defaulting on a bank loan for her charity.
Relationships
After a series of tumultuous and abusive relationships with singers Case Woodard, K-Ci Hailey and R Kelly, Blige finally found love in Kendu Isaacs, who is now her manager. They began dating in 2000 and got married on 7 December, 2003. Bilge is now the stepmother to Kendu’s children – daughter Jordan, son Nas,7 and daughter Brianna, 20.
Blige, who was struggling with drug and alcohol addiction, credits her husband, Kendu, for helping her clean up her act and overcome her problems.
Memorable Quotes
“I don’t know. Only God knows where the story ends for me, but I know where the story begins. It’s up to us to choose, whether we win or lose and I choose to win.”
