With her seventh Geffen studio effort, "The Breakthrough," Mary J. Blige proved once again that R&B divas can make stunning comebacks (see Mariah Carey). The artist leads the field with eight Grammy nominations, including record and song of the year for "Be Without You."

"The Breakthrough" bowed atop The Billboard 200 (her third such achievement) in December 2005 with 727,000 first-week sales -- the biggest opening week by a solo R&B female artist in Nielsen SoundScan history. The set has sold 2.7 million copies thus far.

At the top of 2006, "Be Without You" crowned the R&B/Hip-Hop chart for 15 straight weeks. As the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul noted on the album cut "Hate It or Love It," the album marked "a point in my life where I can finally call myself a Queen."

"My goal was to make my fans happy, and I knew that [2003's] 'Love & Life' was something that disappointed them," Blige told Billboard last January. "None of us were in a good place. Too many cooks spoiled the soup. You had [Diddy] saying, 'Do this, do that,' and I wanted something else. I have to give the glory to God [for] giving me the strength and guidance to do this."

Blige recently released a greatest hits album, "Reflections: The Journey." The set features a mix of old favorites such as "Real Love" and "Family Affair," and previously unreleased tracks, as well as the new song "We Ride," produced by Bryan-Michael Cox.

LINKS:
Beyonce, Blige Top Image Award Music Nominees
Blige, Chilis Lead Grammy Nominee Field
Mary J. Blige Wins Big At Billboard Music Awards
BBMA Rehearsals: Mary J. Belts It Out, Janet Jams
Nickelback, Flatts, T.I., Blige Lead BBMA Finalists

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