Humble Beginnings
On January 11th, 1971, Mary Jane Blige was welcomed into the world. She was born in The Bronx, New York, to a middle-class musical family. Her dad was an aspiring jazz musician, and her mom worked as a nurse. When she was a little girl, her dad started giving the future-star singing lessons, but in 1980, her parents got divorced.
Mary J Blige in 1993. Photo by Pat Johnson / Shutterstock
That’s when things began to get hard for Mary J. Blige. Not only was she abandoned by her father, but she had a strained relationship with her mother. Her earlier years weren’t easy, but from the moment she was born, Blige was destined to become a performer. She had that rare star power combined with raw talent, and she was born to shine.