Mary J. Blige’s Hard Work Over the Past 3 Decades Has Paid Off in a Big Way
Music superstar Mary J. Blige has been a hardworking artist in the music industry for three decades. The Grammy-winning artist has amassed a sizable personal fortune over the years and has even made a name for herself beyond the world of music.
Mary J. Blige’s music career
Mary J. Blige burst onto the music scene in 1992 with her debut album What’s the 411? and quickly became known as the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. Her 1994 album My Life remains one of the most acclaimed R&B albums of all time; on it, the “I’m Goin’ Down” singer opened up about love, loss, abuse, and much more in a way that the music industry hadn’t seen before.
Blige continued to release music over the following three decades. In 2001, she earned her first and only No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart: the Dr. Dre-produced “Family Affair.” That same year, she performed at the Super Bowl halftime show alongside Aerosmith, Britney Spears, and *NSYNC, and in 2022, she made her grand return to the halftime show as a headliner with Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Kendrick Lamar.
Mary J. Blige’s net worth in 2022
Blige has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and won nine Grammy Awards to date. She’s toured and performed extensively over the years, which is often a musician’s largest source of income besides music sales.
Blige’s decades of hard work are reflected in her estimated net worth. According to WealthyPersons, the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul is worth approximately $25 million in 2022.
Mary J. Blige’s acting career
Blige first made her acting debut on The Jamie Foxx Show in 1998. Since then, she’s appeared on hit TV shows such as Empire, Black-ish, and How to Get Away With Murder and been taken more seriously as an actor. She starred opposite Angela Bassett in the 2013 film Betty & Coretta and played the iconic villain Evillene in The Wiz Live!
Blige made a highly-lauded return to the big screen in 2017 with the period drama Mudbound. She received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song, making her the first person in Oscars history with that unique distinction.
After Mudbound, Blige revved up her acting career to a new level. She plays the villain Cha-Cha in Netflix’s popular series The Umbrella Academy. She also starred as a drug queenpin on Starz’s Power Book II: Ghost and played legendary jazz singer Dinah Washington in Jennifer Hudson’s Aretha Franklin biopic Respect.
Mary J. Blige’s business ventures
Beyond music and acting, Blige is also an active entrepreneur, with several businesses to her name. Since her debut in the early ’90s, Blige has had endorsement deals with the likes of Reebok, Air Jordan, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Gap, Target, American Express, AT&T, M·A·C, Apple, Burger King, and Chevrolet.
In 2010, Blige launched her first perfume, aptly called “My Life,” and broke HSN sales records in just a few hours. That same year, she released a line of sunglasses called “Melodies by MJB.”
In 2020, Blige launched a new business venture called Sun Goddess Wines. The partnership with Fantinel Winery in Italy contains wine-down favorites including a sauvignon blanc and a pinot grigio ramato.
