BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS HONOR MARY J. BLIGE AS A MUSICAL ICON
Mary J. Blige received the Icon Award for being an influential music maker. The singer, known as the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, was presented the award by Janet Jackson and escorted on stage by Sean “Diddy” Combs – who emceed the show, which was broadcasted live on NBC from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Blige said she was in a “dream right now” after she received the honor. She spoke about the journey of becoming an icon not being an easy feat during her stellar career.
“I’ve been on this journey for a long time, one that didn’t always look the way you see me now, one that is filled with a lot of heartache and pain,” she said. “But God helped me to channel those experiences and emotions in my music, which is where I started in music.”
Blige was honored through a video montage with appearances from Queen Latifah, Gabrielle Union and Taraji P. Henson. Previous award recipients include Prince, Steve Wonder, Mariah Carey, Neil Diamond, Jennifer Lopez, Garth Brooks, Pink, Celine Dion and Janet Jackson.
“I was ghetto fabulous and I still am,” said Blige, whose Dr. Dre-produced single “Family Affair” topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2001 and had four No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. “So ghetto and so fabulous and people were threatened by that. Now, everybody wants to be ghetto fabulous.”
