Wednesday, November 28, 2012

What Happened? The O'Jays

The O'Jays
The O'Jays were formed in 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert (born June 16, 1942), Walter Williams (born August 25, 1943), William Powell (January 20, 1942 – May 26, 1977), Bobby Massey and Bill Isles. They formed the group in Canton, Ohio in 1958 while attending Canton formed the group in McKinley High School. Originally known as The Triumphs, and then The Mascots, the friends began recording with "Miracles" in 1961, which was a moderate hit in the Cleveland area. In 1963, they took the name "The O'Jays", in tribute to Cleveland radio disc jockey Eddie O'Jay who was part of the powerful management team of Frankie Crocker, Herb Hamlett & Eddie O'Jay, (Toop, 1991).
In 1963, The O'Jays released "Lonely Drifter," their very first national chart hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #93. Their debut album, released shortly thereafter was Comin' Through.

Throughout the 1960s, they continued to chart with minor hits such as "Lipstick Traces" (which they performed nationally on the ABC Television program, Shivaree), "Stand In For Love," "Stand Tall," "Let It All Out," "I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow," "Look Over Your Shoulder," "Deeper In Love With You," and "One Night Affair". However, while they issued dozens of singles throughout the decade, they never once hit the US top 40 (although "Lipstick Traces" made it to #19 in Canada.) On the R&B charts, The O'Jays were somewhat more prominent, but their only top 10 R&B single prior to 1972 was 1968's "I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow".
In spite of their success as a touring group and on the R&B charts, the group had been considering quitting the music industry in 1972; around that same time original members Bill Isles and Bobby Massey departed, leaving the group a trio. The remaining three members soldiered on and Gamble & Huff, a team of producers and songwriters with whom the O'Jays had been working for several years, signed them to their Philadelphia International label. Suddenly, The O'Jays fortunes changed and they finally scored with their first million-seller, "Back Stabbers", from the album of the same name. By this time, This album produced several more hit singles, including "992 Arguments," "Sunshine," "Time To Get Down," and the #1 pop smash, "Love Train".
Back Stabbers was a breakthrough album for the group, reaching the top 10 of the Billboard Pop Albums chart and selling over 500,000 copies within a year of release. It also featured two of their most successful singles, "Back Stabbers" and "Love Train", which hit number one on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. On September 1, 1972, the title track was certified as a gold single by the Recording Industry Association of America.

The O'Jays next album continued their success with lead single was "Put Your Hands Together," a song urging cooperation and optimistic prayer for "a better day to come." "For the Love of Money," is a protest against materialism with a groove that Rolling Stone described as "downright orgiastic". 
The album's title song, "Ship Ahoy," was built around the theme of African captives being transported in a slave ship as part of the Middle Passage of the Atlantic slave trade. It had originally been penned by Gamble and Huff for inclusion in the soundtrack to Shaft in Africa, but the producers decided instead to give it to the O'Jays as part of a concept album centered around slavery.

Survival is a 1975 album by American R&B group The O'Jays, released on the Philadelphia International Records label.

Family Reunion released late 1975 on the Philadelphia International Records label. Recorded at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, Family Reunion includes the enduring classic "I Love Music" and "Livin' for the Weekend", both of which topped the R&B singles chart, and placed at #5 and #20 respectively on the pop chart. The ballad "Stairway to Heaven", originally issued as the B-side to "Livin' for the Weekend", has also gone on to become a staple of quiet storm programming. Family Reunion became the group's third consecutive R&B chart-topping album, and its #7 peak on the pop chart was their highest placing on this chart at the time (1978's So Full of Love would peak one place higher). Family Reunion was awarded a Platinum Album for RIAA Certification of over one million copies sold.

Released in 1976 on the Philadelphia International Records label. Recorded at the Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, with six of the eight tracks written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, Message in the Music spawned two R&B chart-topping singles in "Message in Our Music" and "Darlin' Darlin' Baby (Sweet, Tender, Love)", with the latter also giving the group their fourth UK top 30 single. Message in the Music peaked at #3 on the R&B chart (ending a run of three consecutive #1 R&B albums for the group) and reached #20 on the pop chart.

Message in the Music is the last O'Jays album to feature vocals from original group member William Powell, who would die prematurely from cancer, aged 35, in May 1977.

During the remainder of the 1970s the O'Jays continued releasing hit singles, including "Put Your Hands Together" (Pop #10), "For the Love of Money" (Pop #9), "Give the People What They Want", "Let Me Make Love To You", "I Love Music" (Pop #5), "Livin' for the Weekend", "Message in Our Music" and "Darlin' Darlin' Baby (Sweet Tender Love)". Original member William Powell died of cancer in 1977 at age 35.


Travelin' at the Speed of Thought is a 1977 album by American R&B group The O'Jays, released on the Philadelphia International Records label. The album was recorded at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, with six of the eight tracks written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Unusually for the time, there had been no advance single release from the album; the only single subsequently issued, "Work on Me", became a #7 R&B hit but failed to reach the pop listings, making this the first O'Jays PIR album without a top 100 pop single. Travelin' at the Speed of Thought peaked at #6 on the R&B chart and reached #27 on the pop chart.

Travelin' at the Speed of Thought is the first O'Jays album to feature vocals from Sammy Strain, who in 1976 had been brought into the group as the replacement for the then-terminally ill William Powell. Powell's death from cancer in May 1977 coincided with the release of the album.

After adding Sammy Strain (born December 9, 1941) (of Little Anthony and the Imperials), the O'Jays continued recording, though with limited success.

So Full Of Love is an 1978 album by the The O'Jays. The album contains the #1 R&B hit "Use ta Be My Girl".This album was awarded RIAA Platinum Certification for sales of 1,000,000 copies sold. [1]
1978's "Use ta Be My Girl" was their final Top Five hit, though they continued placing songs on the R&B charts throughout the 1980s.

Identify Yourself is a 1979 album by American R&B group The O'Jays, released on the Philadelphia International Records label. It was recorded at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, with four tracks produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, three by group members Eddie Levert and Walter Williams and one by the esteemed Philadelphia producer and composer Thom Bell.
Identify Yourself produced two top ten R&B singles: "Sing a Happy Song" (#7) and "Forever Mine" (#4); the latter also peaked at #28 on the pop chart, the group's last single to reach the pop top 50. The album sold well, making #3 R&B and #16 pop, and was certified platinum for sales of over one million copies sold.

From 1980 to 2004  The O’Jays continued to record albums
1980 The Year 2000
1982 My Favorite Person
1983 When Will I See You Again
1984 Love and More
1985 Love Fever

Their 1987 album, Let Me Touch You, was a breakthrough of sorts, and included the #1 R&B hit "Lovin' You". Though they continued charting on the R&B charts in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the O'Jays never again achieved pop success.

The O'Jays continued to record albums most going intoniced.
1991 Emotionally Yours 
Home for Christmas
1993 Heartbreaker
1997 Love You to Tears
2001 For the Love
2004 Together We Are One
Imagination

In 1992, Sammy Strain left the group, and returned to the Imperials, to be replaced by Nathaniel Best, and later, by Eric Grant. Later in the 1990s, the group did little recording, though they remained a popular live draw.
In 2003, the album Backstabbers was ranked number 318 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

In 2003, they co-starred in the movie The Fighting Temptations, which starred Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyoncé Knowles. In the film, they played three barbers who joined the local church choir to help out the film's protagonist Darrin (Gooding) who was the choir director.
Levert is the father of R&B singers Gerald Levert, who died on November 10, 2006, Sean Levert, who died on March 30, 2008 and Eddie Levert Jr., CEO of Levert Entertainment Group, a Music label headquartered in Los Angeles, CA. The relationships between Eddie Sr. and Gerald became a subject of a book, I Got Your Back: A Father and Son Keep It Real about Love, Fatherhood, Family, and Friendship issued in 2007.


In 2005, the O'Jays were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Original members Eddie Levert, Walter Williams, Bobby Massey and, posthumously, William Powell, were inducted. In a note of controversy, Sammy Strain was also inducted with the group, while original member Bill Isles was not. (Strain is one of the few artists in popular music history who is a double RRHOF inductee: with The O'Jays in 2005, and The Imperials in 2009). In 2006, the O'Jays performed at the ESPY awards, hosted by Lance Armstrong. "For the Love of Money" is the theme song to the hit reality TV show The Apprentice, starring Donald Trump.


On June 28, 2009, at the 2009 BET Award Show in the Shrine Auditorium the O'Jays were honored with BET's 2009 Life Time Achievement Award. Tevin Campbell, Trey Songz, Tyrese Gibson, and Johnny Gill performed a medley of the group's songs, followed by the presentation of the award by Don Cornelius. The group reminisced, joked with the audience and accepted their award before performing a rendition of their hit songs.
2010 the O’Jays released Christmas with the O'Jays
On October 30, 2010, the group performed at Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, D.C.

2012 TV One hit series “Unsung” aired The O’Jays unsung story.

November 2012 Eddie Levert pay homage to the group Levert by performing “Casanova” with Cerdic “the Entertainment” at the Soul Train Awards 2012
The O’Jays continue to perform live


Monday, November 19, 2012

What Happened? Chic

Chic

Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards met during 1970, as fellow session musicians working in the New York City area. They formed a rock band named 'The Boys' and later 'The Big Apple Band,' playing numerous gigs around New York City. Despite interest in their demos, they never got a record contract. The original demo tapes were made by DJ/studio engineer Robert Drake, who first played lacquer records while DJing at a New York after hours club, Night Owl. The title of the first song recorded as Chic was "Everybody Dance" which was on their first album.



During 1977, Edwards and Rodgers had former LaBelle and Ecstasy, Passion, & Pain drummer Tony Thompson join the band, performing as a trio doing cover versions at various gigs. Thompson recommended keyboardist Raymond Jones, 19, to join the band, they had worked together with the hit group Ecstasy, Passion & Pain previously. Needing a singer to become a full band, they engaged Norma Jean Wright by an agreement permitting her to have a solo career in addition to her work for the band. Using a young recording engineer Bob Clearmountain, they created the tracks "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)". As a result, Chic became a support act.
                                                   
Now contracted with Atlantic Records company, during 1977 they released the self-titled debut album Chic which was an extension of the demonstration tape. But Edwards and Rogers were now convinced that to replicate the bands recording studio sound live with sound and visuals, they needed to add another female singer to front the band. Wright suggested her friend Luci Martin, who became a member during late winter/early spring of 1978.

Soon after the sessions ended for its debut album, the band members began to work on Wright's self-titled debut solo album Norma Jean, released during 1978. This album contained the successful nightclub song "Saturday." To facilitate Wright's solo career, the band had agreed to contract her with a separate record company. Unfortunately the legalities of this contract eventually forced Wright to end her relationship with the band during mid-1978, but not before she participated with the sessions for Chic-produced Sister Sledge album We Are Family. She was replaced by Alfa Anderson, who had done back-up vocals on the band’s debut album.

For the Sister Sledge project, Edwards and Rogers wrote and produced "He's the Greatest Dancer" (originally intended to be a Chic song) in exchange for "I Want Your Love" (intended originally to be performed by Sister Sledge).

During late 1978, the band released the album C'est Chic, containing one of its best-known tracks, "Le Freak." Created from a jam session in Edwards's apartment, after they had failed on New Years Eve of 1977 to meet with Grace Jones at New York's exclusive nightclub Studio 54. The original refrain "Aaa, fuck off", intended for the doormen of Studio 54, was replaced that night with "Aaa, freak out" after trying a version with "Aaa, freak off." The resultant single was a great success, scoring No. 1 on the US charts and selling more than 6 million copies. It was the best selling single album ever of Atlantic's parent company, Warner Music, until replaced by Madonna's Vogue during 1990.

The next year, the group released the Risqué album and the lead track "Good Times", one of the most influential songs of the era. The track was the basis of Grandmaster Flash's "Adventures on the Wheels of Steel" and the Sugarhill Gang's breakthrough hip-hop music single, "Rapper's Delight", and it has been sampled since by many dance and hip-hop acts, as well as being the inspiration for Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust", Blondie's "Rapture", and the bass line for Daft Punk "Around the World".

At the same time, Edwards and Rodgers composed, arranged, performed, and produced many influential disco and Rhythm & Blues records for various artists, including Sister Sledge's albums We Are Family (1979) and Love Somebody Today (1980); Sheila and B. Devotion's "Spacer"; Diana Ross's 1980 album Diana, which included the successful singles "Upside Down", "I'm Coming Out" and "My Old Piano"; Carly Simon's "Why" (from 1982 soundtrack Soup For One); and Debbie Harry's debut solo album KooKoo.

Rodgers co-produced David Bowie's 1983 album Let's Dance.

Rodgers was largely involved in the early success of Madonna during 1984 with her Like a Virgin album, which again reunited Rodgers, Thompson, and Edwards, with keyboardist Rob Sabino and collaborators Jeff Bova and Jimmy Bralower.
                                            
Thompson and Edwards worked with the group Power Station on its successful 1985 album, as well as Power Station main singer Robert Palmer's solo success Riptide that same year, both of which Edwards produced.

During 1986, Rodgers produced the fourth album from Duran Duran, Notorious. Bernard Edwards later gave Duran Duran's bassist John Taylor the bass guitar he'd played during on many of Chic's songs. Taylor had long been a Chic fan, his style influenced greatly by Edwards' playing.

After a 1989 birthday party where Rodgers, Edwards, Paul Shaffer, and Anton Fig played old Chic songs, Rodgers and Edwards organized a reunion of the old band. They recorded new material—- a single, "Chic Mystique" (remixed by Masters at Work) and subsequent album Chic-Ism, both of which charted—- and played live all over the world, to great audience and critical acclaim.

During 1996, Rodgers was honored as the Top Producer in the World in Billboard Magazine, and was named a JT Super Producer. That year, he performed with Bernard Edwards, Sister Sledge, Steve Winwood, Simon Le Bon, and Slash in a series of commemorative concerts in Japan.




His longtime musical partner Edwards died of pneumonia at age 43 during the trip on April 18, 1996. His final performance was recorded and released as Live at the Budokan. Chic continued to tour with new musicians.

                                         
Thompson died of kidney cancer on November 12, 2003 at age 48.
Jerry Barnes onstage at Guilfest 2012Chic released four new albums during the 2000s (3 compilations, 1 live album): The Very Best of Chic, Good Times: The Very Best of the Hits & the Remixes, A Night in Amsterdam, and The Definitive Groove Collection. A box set, Nile Rodgers Presents The Chic Organisation, Vol.1: Savoir Faire was released in 2010, covering Rodgers and Edwards' productions both for Chic and for other artists up to the original break-up of the partnership in 1983.

Chic has been nominated for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame seven times: 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 and again for 2013.


In October 2011, Rodgers released his autobiography entitled Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco, and Destiny.
As of December 2011, Rodgers has been fighting a form of prostate cancer. The French duo Modjo used the guitar sample from Chic's "Soup for one" as the basic theme for its most famous single Lady (Hear Me Tonight).
On September 19, 2005, the group was honored at the Dance Music Hall of Fame ceremony in New York when they were inducted in three categories: 1) Artist Inductees, 2) Record Inductees for "Good Times," and 3) Producers Inductees, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards.

The song "Funny Bone" can be heard quite often as the bumper music on the Rush Limbaugh show daily. Bumper music is snippets of songs to segue commercial slots.
Rodgers and Chic continue to perform to major audiences worldwide.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

What Happened? Mary J. Blige

Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige, known as Mary J. Blige, was born in The Bronx, New York. She is the second of four children born to parents Cora, a nurse, and Thomas Blige, a jazz musician. Blige was taught to sing by her father, who later abandoned Blige and sister LaTonya following his divorce from Cora Blige in 1980.
Blige spent her early years in Richmond Hill, Georgia, where she sang in a Pentecostal church. She later moved to Yonkers, New York, where she lived with her mother, older sister, five cousins, and two aunts. She dropped out of Roosevelt High School in the eleventh grade.
Blige recorded an impromptu cover of Anita Baker's "Caught Up In the Rapture" at a recording booth in the Galleria Mall in White Plains, New York. Her mother's boyfriend at the time later played the cassette for Jeff Redd, a recording artist and A&R runner for Uptown Records. Redd sent it to the president and CEO of the label, Andre Harrell. Harrell met with Blige and in 1989 she was signed to the label, becoming the company's youngest and first female artist.
Blige's early years consisted of session work for the likes of Jeff Redd, who introduced her during a live performance at the Apollo Theater. A year later, she sang the hook on Father MC's hit "I'll Do 4 U" and was prominently featured, singing, at the end of the video.


Production for Blige's debut album began in 1992, with Sean "Puffy" Combs, who was at the time a 19-year-old A&R executive at Uptown, selected as the executive producer of the project. When first introducing Mary J. Blige to Uptown Executives at a convention, Sean Combs originally nicknamed Blige the "Queen of Ghetto Love". However, Andre Harrell, Combs's supervisor, found the name unsatisfactory and subsequently dubbed her the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul".

Establishing Blige's niche in R&B became the paramount goal for Sean Combs. Given the fact that most female R&B acts during that time were very glamorous and refined, Combs purposely molded Blige into the exact opposite so as to underscore her uniqueness and maintain her connection to her urban roots. From her fashion style to her sound, Blige was completely different from most female artists in the early 1990s. Baseball caps, combat boots, and baggy clothes constituted her signature style. In regards to her music, on July 28, 1992, Uptown Records released What's the 411?. Blige's inaugural album ushered in a new era and genre of R&B music. Blige's raw and gritty sound was utterly antithetical to that of pop icons Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Janet Jackson.

"You Remind Me", the album's first single, peaked at number one on the R&B singles chart that summer. The second single, "Real Love", was released in the fall. It too topped the R&B singles chart, and became Blige's first top ten Hot 100 single, peaking at number seven. Both singles were certified gold for their sales volume. More What's the 411? singles followed into 1993, including "Sweet Thing", a cover of Rufus's "Sweet Thing", and "Love No Limit". By the end of the year, What's the 411? had sold three million copies. Blige, meanwhile, released a hip hop single "You Don't Have to Worry".
                                     
 After the success of What's the 411, Sean "Puffy" Combs hailed the singer as "the queen of hip-hop soul". The album's success spun off What's the 411? Remix, a remix album released in December that was used to extend the life of the What's the 411? singles on the radio into 1994, as Blige recorded her follow-up album. With combined sales of over 5 million albums and singles from her debut album, Blige was the best selling female artist on the Uptown label.


On November 29, 1994, Uptown Records released Blige's second album, My Life which was again overseen by Combs who also produced more than half of the album along with Washington DC native Carl "Chucky" Thompson (despite his having recently left the label), who, with Combs, co-produced all but one of the album's tracks, and took over as Blige's manager. Unlike What's the 411?, Blige co-wrote a large body of the material, basing it on her personal life. In its first week, My Life debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200, and debuting at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, for an unprecedented eight consecutive weeks. The album received critical praise for Combs' production, Blige's songwriting and vocals, and today, is still regarded as one of the best albums in Blige's discography.  In late 1995, Blige topped the Billboard Year-End chart toppers as Top R&B Album, Top R&B Album Artist, Top R&B Album Artist — Female, and Top-Hot Dance Maxi-Single Sales (for her collaboration with Method Man on "All I Need").

"Be Happy", the album's lead single, peaked at number 29 and number six on the Hot 100 and R&B singles chart, respectively. In early 1995, it was followed up with a cover of Rose Royce's 1976 hit "I'm Goin' Down", which became her first top 20 hit in the UK, peaking at number 12, it also reached number 22 and number 13 on the Hot 100 and R&B singles chart. Other My Life singles include "You Bring Me Joy" and "I Love You". "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" and "My Life" received heavy radio play, despite never being officially released as singles apart from the UK, where "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" became Blige's second top 20 hit from the album there. My Life was eventually certified triple platinum. In spite of its success and her growing fame, Blige later admitted that she was simultaneously dealing with long time bouts of drug addiction, alcoholism, and depression, as well as an abusive relationship with then-boyfriend K-Ci Hailey of Jodeci.
 
Blige involved herself in several outside projects, recording a cover of Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" for the soundtrack to the FOX series New York Undercover, and "Everyday It Rains" (co-written by R&B singer Faith Evans) for the soundtrack to the hip hop documentary, The Show. That summer she collaborated with rapper Method Man on his song, "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By". Later in the year, she recorded the Babyface-penned and produced "Not Gon' Cry", for the soundtrack to the motion picture Waiting to Exhale. The platinum-selling single rose to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in early 1996, and became her biggest commercial hit at the time.

Blige gained her first two Grammy nominations, and won the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for her collaboration with Method Man. My Life was also nominated for Best R&B Album. In addition, My Life received a nomination for the 1996 American Music Awards for "Favorite Soul/R&B Album".

Throughout 1996, Blige appeared in collaborations with Ghostface Killah, on their co-written single, "All That I Got Is You", though in the video, Blige was replaced by Wu-Tang affiliate, Tekitha, due to scheduling conflicts. She also collaborated with then up-and-coming musicians, singer Case, on his breakthrough single, "Touch Me, Tease Me", featuring Foxy Brown and also appeared on rapper Jay-Z's single, "Can't Knock the Hustle", released off the rapper's debut album, Reasonable Doubt.

On April 22, 1997, MCA Records (parent company to Uptown Records, which was in the process of being dismantled) released Blige's third album, Share My World. By then, she and Combs had dissolved their working relationship. In his place were the Trackmasters, who executive-produced the project along with Steve Stoute. Sharing production duties were producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, R. Kelly, Babyface and Rodney Jerkins.

The album was made at a time when Blige was trying to "get her life together", by trying to overcome drugs and alcohol, as well as the ending of her relationship with Hailey. After an encounter with a person who threatened her life the previous year, she tried to quit the unhealthy lifestyle and make more upbeat, happier music. As a result, songs such as "Love Is All We Need" and "Share My World" were made.

Share My World debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and spawned five hit singles: "Love Is All We Need" (featuring Nas), "I Can Love You" (featuring Lil' Kim), "Everything", "Missing You" (UK only) and "Seven Days" (featuring George Benson). The album became Blige's most commercially successful, selling three million copies in the U.S. In February 1997, Blige performed her hit at the time, "Not Gon' Cry", at the 1997 Grammy Awards, which gained her a third Grammy Award nomination, her first for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, as Blige was recording the follow-up to My Life.

 In early 1998, Blige won an American Music Award for "Favorite Soul/R&B Album". That summer, she embarked on the Share My World Tour, which resulted in a Gold-certified live album released later that year, simply titled The Tour. The album spawned one single, "Misty Blue".
In 1998, Blige made her acting debut on the sitcom The Jamie Foxx Show playing a character, the apparently southern Ola Mae; a preacher's daughter who wanted to sing more than gospel music. Her father was portrayed by Ronald Isley of The Isley Brothers.


On August 17, 1999, Blige's fourth album, titled Mary was released. It marked a departure from her more familiar hip hop-oriented sound; this set featured a more earthy, whimsical, and adult contemporary-tinged collection of songs, reminiscent of 1970s to early 1980s soul. On December 14, 1999, the album was re-released as a double-disc set. The second disc was enhanced with the music videos for the singles "All That I Can Say" and "Deep Inside" and included two bonus tracks: "Sincerity" (featuring Nas, Andy Hogan and DMX) and "Confrontation" (a collaboration with hip hop duo Funkmaster Flex & Big Kap originally from their 1999 album The Tunnel). The Mary album was critically praised, becoming her most nominated release to date, and was certified double platinum (selling over two million in sales.) It was not as commercially successful as Blige's prior releases, though all of the singles: "All That I Can Say", "Deep Inside", "Your Child", and "Give Me You" performed considerably on radio. In the meantime, MCA used the album to expand Blige's demographic into the nightclub market, as club-friendly dance remixes of the Mary singles were released. The club remix of "Your Child" peaked at number-one on the Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart in October 2000.

In 2000, Blige met record industry executive Martin Kendu Isaacs (known as "Kendu") who became her manager.

In 2001, a Japan-only compilation, Ballads, was released. The album featured covers of Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed", and previous recordings of Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and Dorothy Moore's "Misty Blue".
In 2001, Blige starred opposite rapper Q-Tip in the independent film Prison Song. That same year, Blige made a cameo on the Lifetime network series, Strong Medicine; playing the role of Simone Fellows. Blige's character was the lead sing er of a band who was sick, but would not seek treatment.

On August 28, 2001, MCA released Blige's fifth studio album, No More Drama. The album's first single, "Family Affair" (produced by Dr. Dre) became her first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for six consecutive weeks. It was followed by two further hit singles, the European only single "Dance for Me" featuring Common and the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-produced title track (originally recorded for the Mary album), which sampled "Nadia's Theme", the piano-driven theme song to the daytime drama The Young and the Restless.

Though the album sold nearly two million copies in the U.S., MCA was underwhelmed by its sales, and subsequently repackaged and re-released the album on January 29, 2002. The No More Drama re-release featured a new album cover, deleted three of the songs from the original track listing, while adding two brand-new songs—one of which was the fourth single and top twenty Hot 100 hit "Rainy Dayz", (featuring Ja Rule), plus two remixes; one of the title track, serviced by Puff Daddy and the single version of "Dance for Me" featuring Common. The album sold another million-plus units (3.2 million in total) in the U.S. and seven million worldwide.
In April 2002, Blige performed with Shakira with the song "Love Is a Battlefield" on VH1 Divas show live in Las Vegas, she also performed "No More Drama" and "Rainy Dayz" as a duet with the returning Whitney Houston.

Febuary 2003 Blige won a Grammy for 'Best Female R&B Vocal Performance' for the song "He Think I Don't Know."
 In 2003, the album My Life was ranked at #279 on the The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by magazine Rolling Stone. 

On August 26, 2003, Blige's sixth album Love & Life was released on Geffen Records (which had absorbed MCA Records.) Blige heavily collaborated with her one-time producer Sean Combs for this set. Due to the history between them on What's the 411? and My Life, which is generally regarded as their best work, and Blige having just come off of a successful fifth album, expectations were high for the reunion effort.


Mary J. Blige married Martin Isaacs on December 7, 2003, in a small private ceremony at Blige's home attended by 50 guests.
Despite the album debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 and becoming Blige's fourth consecutive UK top ten album, Love & Life's lead-off single, the Diddy-produced "Love @ 1st Sight", which featured Method Man, barely cracked the top ten on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, while altogether missing the top twenty on the Hot 100 (although peaking inside the UK top twenty). The following singles, "Ooh!", "Not Today" featuring Eve, "Whenever I Say Your Name"featuring Sting on the international re-release, and "It's a Wrap" fared worse. Although the album was certified platinum, it became Blige's lowest-selling to date. The album became Blige's first album in six years to debut at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 285,298 copies in first week.
In 2004 Blige launched her own record label, Matriarch Records, distributed through Interscope.
Love & Life received mixed reviews from music critics. The album was nominated for the Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 46th Grammy Awards.

In 2005 Mary J. Blige became upset with Vibe magazine with the picture they choose as the cover. Vibe responded that they very supportive of the artist career claiming she had grace the cover more than a half dozen times. Mary jibbed that the magazine cut her hair and piled a ton of make-up.
In late 2005, it was reported that Blige landed the starring role in the upcoming MTV Films biopic on American singer/pianist and civil rights activist, Nina Simone.

                                                
Geffen Records released Blige's seventh studio album, The Breakthrough on December 20, 2005. For the album, Blige collaborated with J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Rodney Jerkins, will.i.am, Bryan Michael Cox, 9th Wonder, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Raphael Saadiq, Cool and Dre, and Dre & Vidal. The cover art was photographed by Markus Klinko & Indrani. It debuted at number one on both the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Selling 727,000 copies in its first week, it became the biggest first-week sales for an R&B solo female artist in SoundScan history, the fifth largest first-week sales for a female artist, and the fourth largest debut of 2005. Since its release, The Breakthrough has sold over three million copies in the U.S and over seven million copies worldwide, becoming one of the five best-selling albums of 2006.

The lead-off single, "Be Without You", peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, while peaking at number one on the R&B chart for a record-setting fifteen consecutive weeks; it remained on the chart for over sixteen months. "Be Without You" found success in the UK (peaking in the lower end of the top forty) it became Blige's longest charting single on the UK Singles Chart. It is her second longest charting single to date. The album produced three more singles including two more top five R&B hits—"Enough Cryin'", which features Blige's alter ego Brook-Lynn (as whom she appeared on the remix to Busta Rhymes's "Touch It" in 2006); and "Take Me as I Am" (which samples Lonnie Liston Smith's "A Garden of Peace"). Blige's duet with U2 on the cover of their 1992 hit, "One" gave Blige her biggest hit to date in the UK, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart eventually being certified one of the forty highest-selling singles of 2006: it was her longest charting UK single. The success of The Breakthrough won Blige nine Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, two BET Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, and a Soul Train Award.

She received eight Grammy Award nominations at the 2007 Grammy Awards, the most of any artist that year. "Be Without You" was nominated for both "Record of the Year" and "Song of the Year". Blige won three: "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance", "Best R&B Song" (both for "Be Without You"), and "Best R&B Album" for The Breakthrough. Blige completed a season sweep of the "big three" major music awards, having won two American Music Awards in November 2006 and nine Billboard Music Awards in December 2006. 

In December 2006, a compilation called Reflections - A Retrospective was released. It contained many of Blige's greatest hits and four new songs, including the worldwide lead single "We Ride (I See the Future)". In the UK, however, "MJB da MVP" (which appeared in a different, shorter form on The Breakthrough) was released as the lead single from the collection. The album peaked at number nine in the U.S, selling over 170,000 copies in its first week, while reaching number forty in the UK. It has sold more than 1.6 million copies.
 In 2006, Blige recorded a duet with rapper Ludacris, "Runaway Love", which is the third single on his fifth album, Release Therapy. It reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 and the R&B chart. Blige was featured with Aretha Franklin and The Harlem Boys Choir on the soundtrack to the 2006 motion picture Bobby, on the lead track "Never Gonna Break My Faith" written by Bryan Adams. The song was nominated for a Golden Globe and won the Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.

Blige's eighth studio album, Growing Pains, was released on December 18, 2007, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 and at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It sold 629,000 copies in its first week, marking the third time since Nielsen SoundScan began collecting data in 1991 that two albums sold more than 600,000 copies in a week in the United States. In its second week, the album climbed to number one, making it Blige's fourth number-one album. The lead single, "Just Fine", peaked at number twenty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number three on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. "Just Fine" was nominated for the Grammy Award for "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance", and Blige won "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals" for the Chaka Khan duet "Disrespectful" (featured on Khan's album Funk This) which Blige wrote.
In February 2007, Blige guest-starred on Ghost Whisperer, in an episode called "Mean Ghost", as the character Jackie Boyd, the school's cheer leader coach grieving for the death of her brother and affected by the ghost of a dead cheerleader. The episode features many of Blige's songs.
In August 2007, Blige was a guest star on Entourage, in the role of herself, as a client of Ari Gold's agency.
 In October 2007, Blige was also a guest star on America's Next Top Model, as a creative director for a photo shoot by Matthew Rolston.
Growing Pains was not released in the UK until February 2008, where it became Blige's fifth top ten and third-highest charting album. The Breakthrough and Reflections (A Retrospective) were released in the Christmas rush and therefore settled for lower peaks, although both selling more than her top five album Mary "Just Fine" returned Blige to the UK singles chart top 20 after her previous two singles failed to chart highly. Subsequent singles from Growing Pains include "Work That", which accompanied Blige in an iTunes commercial, and "Stay Down".

Blige was featured on 50 Cent's 2007 album, Curtis, in the song "All of Me". In March 2008, she toured with Jay-Z in the Heart of the City Tour. They released a song called "You're Welcome". In the same period, cable network BET aired a special on Blige entitled The Evolution of Mary J. Blige, which showcased her career. Celebrities such as Method Man and Ashanti gave their opinions about Blige and her music. Blige is featured on singles by Big Boi, and Musiq Soulchild. Growing Pains was nominated for and won the Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary R&B Album", at the 51st Grammy Awards held on February 8, 2009, earning Blige her 27th Grammy nomination, in a mere decade.
On May 9, 2008, The Mary J. Blige and Steve Stoute Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now, Inc. (FFAWN) was inaugurated at Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, New York. FFAWN's purpose is to inspire women "to reach their individual potential". The foundation offers scholarships and programs whose aim is to foster self-esteem and career development. The Mary J. Blige Center for Women has opened in Yonkers.
In 2008, Mary teamed up with Carol's Daughter executive Lisa Price to make a perfume which would be called "My Life". On July 31, 2010, Mary J. Blige was on 6 live televised Home Shopping Network specials to promote and sell her perfume. On that day, "My Life" sold a record breaking 60,000 + units. Her perfume was the first to sell over 60,000 bottles in one day on HSN. Also $1 from each purchase was donated to FFAWN her foundation for women to send more women to college.
On August 7, 2008, it was revealed Blige faced a US$2 million federal suit claiming Neff-U wrote the music for the song "Work That", but was owned by Dream Family Entertainment. The filing claimed that Dream Family never gave rights to use the song to Blige, Feemster or Geffen Records. Rights to the lyrics of the song used in an iPod commercial are not in question.

Blige returned to performing in January 2009 by performing the song "Lean on Me" at the Presidential Inauguration Committee's, "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial". Blige also performed her hit 2007 single, "Just Fine", with a new intro at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball after Barack Obama was sworn in on January 20, 2009. Blige appeared as a marquee performer on the annual Christmas in Washington television special.
                                   
The lead single, "The One", which features Canadian rapper Drake, was released for airplay in June 2009, and was officially and digitally released in July 2009, peaking at number sixty-three on the Hot 100. Blige recorded "Stronger", as the lead single from the soundtrack to the basketball documentary "More Than a Game" in August 2009. The second single from Stronger with Each Tear, "I Am", was released in December 2009 and reached number fifty-five on the Hot 100. The third international single from the album, "Each Tear", was remixed with different featured artists from different countries, then being released in February 2010. The single failed to chart anywhere except in the UK where it reached number one-hundred-eighty-three and in Italy where it reached number one. The album's third U.S. single, "We Got Hood Love" featuring Trey Songz, was released in March 2010 and reached number twenty-five on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart though it failed to reach the Hot 100.

In May 2009, Mary made a guest appearance on 30 Rock, as an artist recording a benefit song for a kidney. Blige also had a supporting role in Tyler Perry's movie I Can Do Bad All By Myself, which was released in September 2009.


Blige's ninth studio album, Stronger with Each Tear, was released on December 21, 2009, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 and at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, selling 332,000 units in its first week of release. It became her fifth album not to take the top spot in the United States.
Blige was honored at the 2009 BET Honors Ceremony and was paid tribute by Anita Baker and Monica. On November 4, 2009, Blige sang The Star-Spangled Banner at Yankee Stadium before the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies played the last game (game 6) of the World Series. Blige performed two songs from her ninth album as well as her previous hits, "No More Drama" and "Be Without You" along with the song "Color", which was featured on the Precious soundtrack.
Blige appeared as a guest judge on the ninth season of American Idol on January 13, 2010.
Blige earned her GED in 2010.
On January 23, 2010, Blige released a track "Hard Times Come Again No More" with The Roots as well as performing it at the Hope for Haiti Now telethon.

At the 2010 Grammy Awards, Blige and Andrea Bocelli performed" Bridge Over Troubled Water". Blige also performed on BET's SOS Help For Haiti, singing "Gonna Make It" with Jazmine Sullivan and "One." Blige also took part in February 2010's We Are the World 25 for Haiti, singing the solo originally sung by Tina Turner in the original 1985 We Are The World version.

In July 2010, Blige launched her first perfume, My Life (through Carol's Daughter), exclusively on HSN. The fragrance's unprecedented success broke sales records in hours and has been awarded two prestigious FIFI awards from the Fragrance Foundation.
In October 2010 Blige released a line of sunglasses called "Melodies by MJB". The first Melodies collection featured four styles with a total of 20 color options. Each style represented a specific facet of Blige’s life. Essence magazine reported that in the spring of 2011, "Melodies by MJB" extended their collection to offer more styles.
At the 41st NAACP Image Awards Blige won Outstanding Female Artist and Outstanding Album for Stronger with Each Tear. On November 18, 2010, Billboard revealed Mary J. Blige as the most successful female R&B/Hip Hop Artist on the Top 50 R&B/Hip Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years list. Mary came in at number 2 overall.
 The remix, titled "Someone to Love Me (Naked)", features new vocals from Blige and Lil Wayne. The song was released as an iTunes digital download single on March 29, 2011 and serves as a teaser until the official first single from the album. The video for the song was directed by Colin Tilley. The video premiered online via Vevo on April 4, 2011 and made their television debut on April 5, 2011 following BET’s “The Game.”
Mary was awarded Outstanding Female Artist at the 42nd NAACP Image Awards.
Mary J. Blige released My Life Blossom in August 2011 exclusively to HSN.
On July 5, 2011, Mary released the song "The Living Proof" as the lead single to the soundtrack of the film The Help.
 On July 24, VH1 premiered their third Behind the Music on Mary that profiled Mary's personal and career life.

August 25, 2011 Mary released her first single off the album simply titled "25/8", which later reached number ten on iTunes for Top R&B/Soul song. My Life II... The Journey Continues (Act 1) will be released November 21

Mary J. Blige appeared on VH1 Diva Tribute to Soul along with Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Estelle, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson and Chaka Khan to name a few.
 On February 26, 2012, Blige performed the Star Spangled Banner at the 2012 NBA All-Star Game.
Blige appeared as guest mentor on American Idol on March 7, 2012, and performed "Why" on the results show the following night.


Mary J Blige filmed a commercial for Burger King. The leaked video sparked a backlash. Burger King quickly pulled the commercial and Mary J Blige went on the defensive claiming she didn’t approve the commercial aired.
Mary J. Blige preformed with her Idol Anita Baker open BET 12th Annual Award Show in July 2012.
On September 23, 2012, Blige was a performer at the iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Blige starred alongside Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough, and Alec Baldwin in the film adaptation of the 1980s jukebox hit musical Rock of Ages. Blige played Justice Charlier, the owner of a Sunset Strip gentlemen's club. The film was released in June 2012.
November 2012 Mary J. Blige performed at a benefit concert for the victim for Sandy hurricane.