Mary J. Blige was among the Class of 2024 honored at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in Cleveland last night. Dr. Dre and Method Man laid down the soul beautifully, before a medley of hits with Ella Mai and Lucky Daye. Check out the clips for “My Life” and “Family Affair” below.
Blige, who inducted Solomon Burke in 2001 and, posthumously, Nina Simone in 2018, said in her speech: “The queen of hip-hop soul is a rock star.”
Introducing Blige, Dr. Dre said: “Let's face it, you're not just listening to a Mary album. You feel this mess in your soul. Every syllable, her emotional vocals capture pain and culture, but her messages of resilience, hope and light are a path to healing. When you listen to Mary, we are reminded that we are not alone in our broken hearts.”
In her own speech, Rolling Stone reports, Blige said, “I'm grateful to be loved and I'm able now to give love. When I said I wanted to be happy, I really meant it. And I'm not just talking about the happiness where you're delusional and think everything is fine. I'm talking about the happiness where you know there will be trials, but you'll smile anyway, because you believe you'll get through it. Such happiness. I'm building for expansion. I build for longevity. I build for heritage, and I build for history. All this time I was trying to be a rock star, and not now. I'm the queen of hip-hop – Soul is a rock star.”
Read Mary J. Blige's Clover Hope Sunday Review The Breakthrough.
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