各国名人英文介绍-Mary Jane Blige

（单词翻译）

Mary Jane Blige is a singer, rapper, songwriter and actress. She is widely known as the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" for mixing the two musical genres¹ together. Blige has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and has won eight Grammy awards. She also has a World Music Legends Award, despite her young age. Her musical style has influenced many other female vocalists, including Alicia Keys and Ashanti.

Blige was born in 1971 in New York. She grew up listening to the new sounds of hip-hop and rap that were starting to come out of New York. She also loved her mother’s collection of 60s and 70s soul records. She won a talent competition when she was seven and decided² she wanted to be a singer.

Blige improved her singing technique in the local church choir³. In 1988, she recorded an Anita Baker⁴ song at a recording⁵ booth in a local mall. Her mother's friend loved it and sent it to a recording company executive, who signed Blige instantly. She spent several years as a backup singer, before releasing her debut⁶ album in 1992.

Blige has recorded eight studio albums, including the highly successful ‘The Breakthrough’, for which she scooped⁷ many awards. She also branched out into acting⁸ and has appeared in television series, Broadway plays and movies. Blige is also actively⁹ involved in several charities and started the Foundation for the Advancement¹⁰ of Women Now, “to inspire women from all walks of life to reach their individual potential.”