January 18, 2018 

City News Service 

 

A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame honoring the nine-time Grammy-winning singer Mary J. Blige was unveiled Thursday January 11, on her 47th birthday.

 

Rap mogul Sean Combs and music producer Andre Harrell joined Blige in speaking in the 11:30 a.m. ceremony in front of the Eastown apartment complex on Hollywood Boulevard.

 

The star is the 2,626th since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the first 1,558 stars. The ceremony was livestreamed on walkoffame.com.

 

Blige has recorded eight multi-platinum albums, sold more than 50 million albums and received 31 Grammy nominations in a career that began with her multi-platinum 1992 debut album “What’s the 411?” and included the Top 10 hit with “Real Love.”

 

Blige was born on Jan. 11, 1971 in the Bronx, a borough of New York City, and was raised in Richmond Hill, Georgia, and Yonkers, New York.

 

Blige was discovered when an amateur recording of Anita Baker’s “Caught Up In The Rapture” that Blige made in a mall recording booth made its way to Harrell, then the president and CEO of the hip-hop and rhythm and blues label Uptown Records, who promptly signed her to a contract.

 

Blige’s second album, “My Life,” released in 1994, featured the hits “I’m Going Down,” “Mary Jane,” “I Love You,” and the title track, which became a signature song for her.

 

Blige won her first Grammy in 1996 for best rap performance by a duo or group for “I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need To Get By,” a collaboration with Method Man. She won her first solo Grammy in 2003 for best female rhythm and blues vocal performance for “He Think I Don’t Know” from her album, “Dance For Me.”

 

Blige’s other hit singles include “Not Gon’ Cry,” “Love Is All We Need,” “Seven Days,” “All That I Can Say,” “Family Affair” and “Just Fine.”

 

Blige began her acting career in 1998 with an appearance on The WB comedy, “The Jamie Foxx Show.” Her first film was the 2001 independent film, “Prison Song.” She received best supporting actress Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations for her portrayal of the wife of a 1940s Mississippi tenant farmer (Rob Morgan) in the period drama “Mudbound.”

Category: Arts & Culture