Mary Jane Blige ( BLYZHE; born January 11, 1971) is an American R&B and hip-hop soul singer, songwriter, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to by the honorifics "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Queen of R&B", her accolades include nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Awards, twelve NAACP Image Awards, and twelve Billboard Music Awards, including the Billboard Icon Award.
Her career began in 1988 when she was signed to Uptown Records by its founder Andre Harrell. In 1992, Blige released her debut album, What's the 411?, which is credited for introducing the mix of R&B and hip hop into mainstream pop culture. Its 1993 remix album became the first album by a singer to have a rapper on every song, popularizing rap as a featuring act. Both What's the 411? and her 1994 album My Life ranked among Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. So far through her career, Blige has released 15 studio albums, four of which have topped the Billboard 200 chart.