Yonkers legend Mary J. Blige among 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees

Yonkers hip-hop and R&B legend Mary J. Blige will be one of the newest performers inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this October.

American Idol host Ryan Seacrest and 2022 Hall of Fame honoree Lionel Richie announced the inductees live on ABC Sunday during a "Rock & Roll Hall of Fame" episode of the show.

Blige, 53, is joined in this class by other notable inductees, including Cher, A Tribe Called Quest, Peter Frampton, Ozzy Osbourne and the Dave Matthews Band.

“Rock ‘n’ roll is an ever-evolving amalgam of sounds that impacts culture and moves generations,” Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation chairman John Sykes said in a release. “This diverse group of inductees each broke down musical barriers and influenced countless artists that followed in their footsteps.”

In order to be nominated, a music artist or act must have released its first commercial song at least 25 years before the nomination year. Blige was first nominated for the Hall of Fame in 2021.

The Westchester native took to Instagram Sunday evening to express her gratitude for the nomination, which coincides with the 30th anniversary of her second album My Life, released in 1994.

Raised in Yonkers; recorded demo at Galleria

Blige was born in the Bronx and raised in Yonkers' William A. Schlobohm housing projects, now known as Palisade Towers after its renovation in 2019.

In the 2021 documentary, "My Life," she spoke about her childhood in Yonkers and her experiences with trauma, and with drug and alcohol use in her teen years, before her rise to stardom.

Blige signed with Uptown Records in 1989 after recording artist Jeff Redd heard a demo of her singing Anita Baker's "Caught Up in the Rapture," which she recorded at an empty recording booth at the former Galleria Mall in White Plains. She became the label's youngest and first female artist.

She released her debut album, "What's the 411?" in 1992. It peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart and gave Blige her first top 10 radio hit with "Real Love," which peaked at number 7 on the Hot 100 charts.

"Her debut singlehandedly kick-started the hip-hop soul genre," the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame said. "Her image – oversized jerseys, backwards baseball hats, and combat boots – introduced a new look to R&B music, and her lyrics embraced an authenticity that resonated with fans – especially women."

Since then, Blige has gone on to release 15 studio albums, eight of which went multi-platinum, win nine Grammy Awards and sell over 50 million albums.

Her most recent album, Good Morning Gorgeous, was released in February 2022, just days before she performed at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show in Los Angeles with Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. The halftime show earned her her first Emmy award.

Locally, September 17 was designated Mary J. Blige Day in 2020 by Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano. She was also honored with a star on the Apollo Walk of Fame in Harlem in 2021.

"Blige’s music echoes our experiences with love and life. She helps us move on, move out, and move up," the Hall of Fame said. "She’s the much-needed soundtrack to our heartache, vulnerability, and courage to refuse to accept anything less than we deserve."

This year's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on Oct. 19 at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. The ceremony will be streamed live on Disney Plus.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Yonkers NY native Mary J. Blige chosen for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame