Mary J. Blige Gives Emotional Rock Hall Speech: ‘The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul Is a Rock Star’

Mary J. Blige is one of the greatest singers of all time and the queen of hip-hop soul. After a seven-year wait since she first became eligible (and one nomination in 2021), she’s finally an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Blige is no stranger to the Rock Hall stage, having presented the inductions for fellow R&B legends Solomon Burke and Nina Simone in 2001 and 2018, but Saturday, the longtime Hall of Fame snub was finally given her own flowers rather than handing them to someone else.

For all the names mentioned, from friends, family and musical collaborators, one person was noticeably absent: Sean Combs, the disgraced mogul who helped Blige early in her career and produced several of her records including debut album What’s the 411? as well as her breakthrough My Life.

Inducting Blige on Saturday were her longtime friends and collaborators, Dr. Dre and Method Man.

“Let’s face it, you don’t just listen to a Mary album. You feel that shit in your soul,” Dre said. “Every single syllable, her emotional vocals captures the pain and culture, but her messages of resilience, of hope and light are a pathway towards healing. When you listen to Mary, we’re reminded we’re not alone in heartbreak.”

Read her full speech below.

Thank y’all so much. Can y’all hear me? Okay? Thank y’all so much, man. Um, wow. This is, this is a lot. This is a lot, and like I said yesterday to all the people who know who I am and where I come from, man, it’s been a long time coming, and there were times in my life I didn’t think I would be here, but I’m here. I’m grateful.

I want to thank John Sykes andRick Krim, for the nomination. And for all of you that voted, thank you so much, I appreciate you. I have to start first and foremost by giving praise and thanks and honor and all the glory to the Most High God. To my Lord, to my savior, Jesus Christ. Because if it wasn’t for him, I’m telling you, there’d be none of this.

If you’re a fan of Mary J. Blige, you know that I needed God. I needed something other than men. I want to thank my mother. Mommy, I love you so much. I watched you struggle as a single mother raising your two babies in a project that could have damned near been a prison, and you did it for us. I wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for you. I love you so much. You pushed me beyond what I thought I was capable of just with your strength.

I want to thank my family in New York, my family in Georgia, my family all over the place. I have family everywhere. I want to thank my amazing friends. I have some amazing friends that hold me down, lift me up, and I’m gonna see y’all back up top next week, and we’re gonna keep celebrating. Thank you to the beautiful and talented Ella Mae, a real one, a beautiful one, and to the soulful and talented. Lucky Daye. I love you guys and appreciate you so much. You’re both beautiful people and amazing artists, and I’m so proud of what you’re doing in R&B, the future of R&B, y’all are killing the game.

I want to give a special thanks to two of my lifelong friends who really embody what it means to be a friend and brother. Y’all have always been there for me from music to television. Method Man and Dr. Dre. I love y’all.I love y’all and appreciate you so much. These guys are here with me today, and they’re my friends. I was on the Share My World album, or something like that, and I haven’t had a Grammy at all. But then I did “You’re All I Need” with Method Man, and I won my first Grammy ever with Method Man.

And then, one day, I was just home, minding my business, working hard grinding like I always do, and my amazing friends, Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, called me and said, “Hey, Mary, do you want to be a part of this little show? I was like, Yeah, whatever, anything for Dre. And it was the Super Bowl. I won my first Emmy ever with Dr. Dre and the Super Bowl performance. I’m so grateful. That’s what friendship is about, winning together. Thank you, guys, for being here with me tonight.

If you’re in this business, talent requires a team to be terrific and awesome. Exchange is the process of life, and when you stop exchanging, you become stagnant. I want to give a big special thank you to my team that helps me be terrific in all my endeavors. I love you guys and thank you for helping me. Thank you Lou, Peggy, Sherry, Robin. I love y’all so much. When I came to you, I was fresh out of divorce and had no money, but we did this damn thing. Amanda Silverman from the lede company, Dina Mariah, at the Lapolt law firm, my sister LaTonya and the blue butterfly team, my production company, my little brother. I want to thank my security team, who protects and holds me down in those streets, and I want to thank glam for just making me feel so beautiful tonight.

To my fans, to my fans, to my fans. To my fans, y’all endure blood, sweat and tears with me and helped me heal just as much as you said, I helped you heal. None of this would be possible if it wasn’t for you guys supporting us and cheering us on. I wouldn’t be here if you didn’t cheer for me, if you didn’t buy those records. There aren’t any words that can express all that you’ve done for me and how appreciative I am.

It is imperative that I say this now to all the artists who are my peers, and the artists just coming up. The miracle is in the movement. Faith without work is dead. Keep believing and keep moving, so that God can get the highest glory through your testimony, so that you can help somebody. It’s not enough to just be beautiful and talented. It’s not enough. Sustaining comes from having humility and the way you treat yourself and others. Life is full of peaks and valleys. So be careful how you treat others, because you never know who you’re going to need on your way up or on your way down.

So I say this: Move with grace. Trust the process of your journey, share your wisdom and love and respect with all who crosses your path. Offer forgiveness because we all are works in progress. You don’t have to wait until you’re perfect to feel worthy. You are worthy. You are worthy. And when I tell you this, when I was at my worst, I didn’t know this, but God approved in me at my worst, and he still approves in me and he approves in us all. So just continue to do whatever work you’re doing. This is history for me and my family and my friends, and tonight, I share this induction with every one of you guys.

I’m almost done. If I stopped it all today, I like to be remembered as someone who wasn’t afraid to give her life through her music to help heal, uplift and touch the lives of others. I’m beyond grateful for wisdom, knowledge, understanding and self-awareness, compassion, patience. The patience one I’m still working on. I don’t have much patience, but I’m getting there. I’m beyond grateful, beyond grateful for everything. I love you guys. You’re my family.

For my fans, y’all know what it is. January. This thing is moving so fast. I got a couple more things to say, but I can’t say it.

I’m grateful that I’m loved, and I’m capable now to give love. When I said I wanted to be happy, I really meant that. And I’m not talking about just the happiness where you’re delusional and think everything is okay. I’m talking about the happiness where you know there will be trials, but you’re going to smile anyway, because you believe you’ll get through it. That kind of happiness. I’m building for expansion. I’m building for longevity. I’m building for legacy, and I’m building for history. This whole time I was building to be a rock star, and not now. I am the queen of hip-hop — Soul is a rock star. Thank you.

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