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 80^th 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.”

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Singer-songwriter, dancer, actor, model, record producer, reality show star.

Nicole Scherzinger was born on June 29 1978. She is an American recording artist, actress and television personality.  She was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Alfonso Valiente (who is of Fillipino descent) and Rosemary Elikolani (who is of Hawaiian and Russian descent). Her parents separated when she was young, but her mother acted as a guiding light in her life, encouraging her as an artist, pushing her to strive for her best. She was 6 when her family relocated and moved to Louisville, Kentucky along with her sister Keala and her German-American stepfather Gary Scherzinger- whose last name she eventually took up

She began her performing career in Louisville, attending the Youth Performing Arts School at DuPont Manual High School, performing with the Actors Theatre of Louisville. In 1996, she went on to be the first runner-up at the 1996 Kentucky State Fair’s Coca-Cola Talent Classic contest.

When it was time for her to go to college, she chose to major in musical theatre at the Wright State University where she had roles in musicals such as Chicago and in Show Boat.

She however, pressed the pause button on her college education to sing backing vocals for a band called Days of the New. At the time, the band leader Travis Meeks claimed that “She was an amazing entertainer, but she didn’t seem to understand music very well.”

Her first tryst with television was when she made an appearance in and participated in the television series Popstars- an international TV series that was the precursor to the famous singing reality show American Idol. She won Popstars as a member of Eden’s Crush. She later went on to join The Pussycat Dolls as the lead singer. The pussycat dolls were an American pop girl group and dance ensemble that was founded in Los Angeles, California. They were choreographed by the famous Robin Antin. In 1995. In 2003, Interscope Records turned the group into a music franchise comprising of Nicole Scherzinger, Carmit Bachar, Ashley Roberts, Jessica Sutta, Melody Thornton, and Kimberly Wyatt. They released their first album PCD in 2005.

Nicole Scherzinger (third from right on the cover of PCD

The album was hugely successful and saw guest contributions from the likes of Timbaland, CeeLo Green, Rich Harrison, among others. The album contained various number-one singles such as “Don’t Cha” “Buttons” and “Stickwitu”

Their next album Doll Domination followed shortly in 2008. Her work as their lead singer helped establish the pussycat dolls as the one of the best selling girl groups of all time. The combination of the song’s lyrics, catchy tunes and fun videos made them hugely popular. PCD went on to sell more than 3 million copies worldwide and more than 10 million copies worldwide.

She simultaneously began working on her solo career, going on to make collaborations with big names in the industry such as P. Diddy, Timbaland and 50 cent. However, there was trouble in paradise. The band was amidst constant conflict as Nicole was overshadowing the rest of the dolls and the rest were treated as mere subordinates. They eventually broke up and Nicole went on to establish a successful solo career for herself.

She won the tenth season of Dancing with the stars in 2010.

Scherzinger on an episode of Dancing with the stars

Soon, she went on to replace famous singer Cheryl Cole as one of the judges on famous reality TV show The X Factor.She became hugely popular as one of its judges. However, her stint with X factor was brief, before she announced recently that she had forgone the opportunity of judging yet another season of X Factor as she wanted to focus on her career.

Scherzinger has an emotional moment as a judge on the X Factor

HOME

Scherzinger used to reside in a luxurious mansion on Hollywood hills in Hollywood. She purchased the house from real estate agent Daisy Fuentes for $2,165,000. The magnificent Mediterranean style home consisted of 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms spread out over 4,014 sq feet, nestled in 1.5 acres of land with no immediate neighbours. However, Scherzinger made a shocking decision to sell the house- at a whopping sum of $2,349,000.

In 2012, she made a decision to buy a house in London for over $5 million, in order to be closer with ex-beau F1 star Lewis Hamilton.

Scherzinger’s salary is as below.

• Annual: USD 1,500,000.00
• Monthly: USD 125,000.00
• Weekly: USD 30,000.00
• Daily: USD 6,000.00

BRAND ENDORSEMENTS

Nicole Scherzinger’s popularity resulted in various brand endorsement offers. She signed on a brand endorsement agreement with popular brand Herbal Essences. She soon became the face of a particular type of Herbal essences shampoos and conditioners called ‘Hello Hydration’ and ‘Moroccon Mu shine’

Scherzinger endorsing Herbal Essences’ “Hello Hydration” shampoo

Scherzinger endorsing Herbal Essences’ “Moroccan Mu Shine”

In 2012, she was also eventually signed on as the brand ambassador for the famous brand ‘London Fog’             replacing Christina Hendricks, one of their most successful brand ambassadors till then. London Fog’s foundations were in 1923, when they began making waterproof clothing for the U.S Navy during the world war II.

Scherzinger endorsing London Fog

Nicole has also agreed to be the brand ambassador of The imPRESS Press-On Manicure range of products by Broadway nails. It’s a collection of six patterns and 3 colours- inspired by Nicole’s birthplace- Hawaii, reflecting her love and passion for music, life and fashion.

Scherzinger’s Broadway Nails range

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CAREER / PROFESSION: SONGWRITER, SINGER

A terrific and talented singer and songwriter, Keri Hilson was born on born December 5, 1982. She has worked with various renowned personalities like P.Diddy, Chingy and Nicole Scherzinger. Rising from rags she slowly and steadily led her path of success overcoming the shadows of big and already established personalities. She has risen to such a stature with her hard work and dedication. She takes various tours and trips and live shows performing in each corner of the world. She has appeared in various music videos, both working foreground and background.

CHILDHOOD DAYS

Most of her childhood days were spent writing songs and preparing different genres of music. She also worked with Anthony Dent (vocalist and songwriter). After graduating from high school she joined the Emory University in Atlanta where she also worked in theatres. She got her first break when she worked with The Clutch which was the initiative of four naïve. The group soon touched the heights of success. They also worked with artists like Mary Blige, J Lo, and Ciara. Her work was also noticed by Timberland. Later, Timberland signed her for Mosley Music Group.

MARITAL STATUS: SINGLE

Keri Hilson is still a spinster and waiting for her perfect match and true love to find its way to her.

BRAND SHE FOLLOWS

•  Christian Louboutin Pigalle 120 Crystal Encrusted Stilleto

Keri Hilson was found flaunting her royal Louboutin pumps in an event held in Los Angeles. The shoes have a glittering leather where in each glitter is further decorated with golden lining. They are also highly comfortable due to the leather padding with red sole. The heels offered a height of 4.5 inch to Keri.

• Diesel Tintsie BPX Jogg Jean

Keri is a huge fan of Diesel Jeans. She looked stunning and very fashionable when a photo of her was clicked while she was shopping on a rainy day. The denims were a mid-way between jogging pants and denims and had elastic waist and cropped cuffs.

• Judith Leiber Leopard and Golden Clutch

Keri likes accessorizing herself. She is sometimes found carrying a clutch which has leopard design and is golden in color. Rectangular in shape, it is polished on sides with the print in center which gives a classic sophisticated look.

• Jeffrey Campbell Ivory Python Print ‘Marvel’ Cut-out Boots

Keri donned these stylish boots when she attended some high class event. These round and pointed pep toes with python printing and ivory color added more to the looks of Hilson. Carved out in synthetic leather and strappy insets, the 179 dollars shoes have a synthetic sole and offer a heel of 3.34 heels which add further to the comfort.

AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS

•  She was nominated in MTV Video Music Award for Monster Single of the Year, American Music Award for Favorite Female R&B/Soul Artist, American Music Award for Breakthrough Artist, Urban Music Award for Best Female Act, BET Award for Viewer’s Choice,  BET Award for Best Collaboration, Soul Train Music Award for Record of the Year, Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
• She won the BET Award for Best New Artist, MOBO Award for Best R&B/Soul Act, Soul Train Music Award for Best New Artist, Soul Train Music Award for Best Collaboration, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding New Artist, Get Schooled Award.

PHILANTHROPY

Keeping aside her career in music, Keri is also an active member when it comes to stand for social causes. She is involved with various charitable organizations to help the needy. In 2010, she worked with the famous Akon. The money collected from it was given to the non-privileged youngsters of Africa. Later in the year, she also produced the single track, “We Are the World 25 for Haiti” and the sum of money so collected was given to the victims of Earthquake in Haiti in 2010. She also performed in Virginia Stand Up! A Call to Action benefit concert to help in the relief work going on to help the people who lost their livelihood in Haiti Earthquake. She also worked with H&M in a fight against AIDS and posed in collection termed as Fashion against AIDS. The money collected was donated to AIDS charity. She also worked to curb suicides in LGBT youth with a project named as It Gets Better Project. She was made the ambassador of MTV Staying Alive to spread awareness against deadly diseases like HIV and AIDS. She has also worked in coalition with Michelle Obama to raise awareness in kids suffering from obesity. In 2012, she co-worked with DoSomething.org to encourage teenagers to participate in Epic Book Drive (donate books to the needy.

RICH QUOTES

•  Even if you’re walking through the airport or going to pick up your mail, if you meet a fan and they have a camera, they will take a picture of you and millions could potentially see that picture – if it’s picked up by a blog or whatever.
•  I prefer men to boys. To clear it up, it’s not about an older or younger thing. It’s a mindset, not age. There are 18-year-old men out there and there are 40-year-old boys.
•  I’ll be honest; I’m a student of fashion. I say that because I just wear what I feel. I’m not led by name brands and things like that.

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Net Worth: $8 million

Omari Ishmael Grandberry was born on November 12, 1984 in Inglewood, California. He is more popularly known by his stage name Omarion. The American origin artist began his career as a singer in a R&B group B2K. Omarion began performing at the age of 5 and went on to pursue his passion, the performing arts, after he dropped out of school. His first stint in the entertainment industry was as a part of commercials for Kellogs Corn Pops and McDonald’s. He also made cameo appearances in music videos of a R&B girl group called Before Dark.

MUSICAL CAREER

In 1995, he was approached with a proposal from notable music manager Chris Stokes about creating a new band called B2K(Which was short for boys of a new millennium.) Omarion agreed to the formation of this band as he would be positioned as the lead singer. The group’s debut album was released on March 12 2002 and it was titled B2K. The album immediately debuted at #2 on the Billboard top 200. What made this album famous is the presence of hit singles such as “Gots to be” and “Why I love you.” “Gots to be” made it to the list of top 40 singles by breaking at #34 and “Why I love you” was released in Spring that year.

B2K band members

This album helped Omarion and his band garner a huge amount of popularity when the album was certified gold that summer. B2K was also called upon by the famous channel for children and young adults- Nickelodeon. They were also featured in popular magazines Word up and Right on along with other RnB artists. Not long after, December 2002 saw the release of the boy bans album Pandemonium! which debuted at #10 on the Billboards 200 and at #3 on the top RnB/Hip hop albums. This album featured collaborations with the likes of P. Diddy, Makeba Riddick, Romeo of IMx and Jhene.

However, Omarion had different plans; of going solo. On February 22 2005, Omarion released his first solo album ‘O.’ The album debuted at #1 on the Billboards and was part of the top R&B/Hip-Hop albums. It featured a single Touch which made it to the Billboards Hot 100 at #94. O went on to sell nearly 7,58,000 copies till date.

On December 26 2006, He released his second album ‘21.’ The album was also hugely successful when it debuted at #1 on the Billboard top 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums charts. This album had a single titled ‘Ice box’ which was produced by Timbaland. The track ran hot at #12 on the Billboard’s top 100 and is Omarion’s most successful single till date.

In late 2007, Omarion collaborated with rap artist Bow Wow to release his third album titled ‘Face Off.’ The album sold over 1,00,000 copies within the first week of its release. The album had famous singles from his career such as “Hey Baby” and “Girlfriend”

On March 2009, Lil Wayne officially confirmed that the upcoming artist was indeed signed on to Young Money entertainment. However, four short months later, he chose to part ways with the label, claiming that he needed his own space to breathe as an artist, and not be overshadowed by other famous rap influences. Rumours allege that he felt overshadowed and threatened by Lil Wayne.

(Left) Omarion and Lil Wayne (Right)

Shortly after this stormy conflict, in 2010, Omarion began his own record label Starrworld entertainment under which he released his next album, ‘Ollusion’ which sold 19,400 copies in the first week of its release. However, Omarion’s single “I Get It In” which was originally done in collaboration with Lil Wayne, showed up on the album only difference being, Lil Wayne’s parts were replaced by prominent RnB artist Gucci Mane.

Acting Career

In addition to being a successful musician, Omarion is also a talented actor. His most notable performance was in the 2004 movie ‘You Got Served’ in which he starred alongside Marques Houston and his other band mates (B2K.) In the same year, he played the role of a bully in ‘Fat Albert.’ His next break in the world of acting and movies was when in 2007, he acted in a thriller movie called “Somebody help me.” The movie was released on DVD and aired exclusively by BET on the occasion of Halloween. He played the role of Fifteen cent in The proud family movie. He portrayed a rapper who gets into the deep with thugs in his next movie Feel the noise which was critically acclaimed.

He has also appeared in a series of cameos on the small screens. His guest appearances include the popular TV show One on one.

PERSONAL LIFE

On February 16 2014, the rapper posted to his Instagram account that his long term girlfriend Apryl, was pregnant with his baby. He posted a photo of the ultrasound scan to Instagram. Apryl who is also a singer/songwriter also posted the good news to her Instagram account. Both of them hinted that it might be a baby boy.

RIDES

Omarion owns a Mercedes-Benz CL500

He also owns a Hummer H2 which he as used for off the road, intense travelling

He also owns a Range Rover sport.

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