Mary J. Bligeis one of the greatest singers of all time and the queen of hip-hop soul.
as well as her breakthrough My Life.
Inducting Blige on Saturday were her longtime friends and collaborators, Dr. Dre and Method Man.
Mary J. Blige speaks onstage during the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction CeremonyKevin Kane/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Lets face it, you dont just listen to a Mary album.
You feel that shit in your soul, Dre said.
When you listen to Mary, were reminded were not alone in heartbreak.
Read her full speech below.
Thank yall so much.
Can yall hear me?
Thank yall so much, man.
This is, this is a lot.
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.
To my Lord, to my savior, Jesus Christ.
Because if it wasnt for him, Im telling you, thered be none of this.
If youre 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 wouldnt be standing here if it wasnt for you.
I love you so much.
You pushed me beyond what I thought I was capable of just with your strength.
I have family everywhere.
I want to thank my amazing friends.
I love you guys and appreciate you so much.
Yall have always been there for me from music to television.
Method Man and Dr. Dre.
I love yall.I love yall and appreciate you so much.
These guys are here with me today, and theyre my friends.
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.
Thats what friendship is about, winning together.
Exchange is the process of life, and when you stop exchanging, you become stagnant.
I love you guys and thank you for helping me.
Thank you Lou, Peggy, Sherry, Robin.
I love yall so much.
To my fans, to my fans, to my fans.
None of this would be possible if it wasnt for you guys supporting us and cheering us on.
I wouldnt be here if you didnt cheer for me, if you didnt buy those records.
There arent any words that can express all that youve done for me and how appreciative I am.
The miracle is in the movement.
Faith without work is dead.
Its not enough to just be beautiful and talented.
Sustaining comes from having humility and the way you treat yourself and others.
Life is full of peaks and valleys.
So I say this: Move with grace.
Offer forgiveness because we all are works in progress.
You dont have to wait until youre perfect to feel worthy.
So just continue to do whatever work youre doing.
This thing is moving so fast.
I got a couple more things to say, but I cant say it.
Im grateful that Im loved, and Im capable now to give love.
When I said I wanted to be happy, I really meant that.
And Im not talking about just the happiness where youre delusional and think everything is okay.
That kind of happiness.
Im building for expansion.
Im building for longevity.
Im building for legacy, and Im 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.
