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Home • Beauty

ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty

For more than two decades the singer has given us beauty looks that are everything.
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
By Shalwah Evans · Updated December 6, 2020

For nearly three decades Mary J. Blige has been entertaining us in music, movies, and even on the small screen. When the first annual ESSENCE Festival (referred to as ESSENCE Fest back then) kicked off, Mary J. Blige had just released her sophomore album, My Life, which skyrocketed her to Queen of R&B fame. And in the almost 25 years that Festival has been held, the multi-platinum award winning singer has participated in several—dating all the way back to that very first one when she took the stage in an evening show. In those years we’ve seen some of Mary’s greatest moments.

We’ve been there for the breakdowns and the breakthroughs, we’ve seen her life in the sunshine, and we’ve seen it when it was going down. We were there during her struggles with addiction and bad relationships; we watched her find love and create a family affair, and we watched as that family dissolved (we won’t even go there). We’ve seen her rise and fall and rise again. She has evolved and changed and grown right before our eyes. Through those years one thing that remained constant is her undeniable charm and inner beauty that radiates.

Article continues after video.

In her current role as Cha Cha, a time traveling assassin on the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, she reminds us why we love to see her perform. With a tour with Nas on the books for the summer, a new single out called “Thriving,” and murmurings of an album akin to a My Life sequel, fans are bursting with elation, as there’s never a thing as too much Mary. So, as we draw closer to this year’s monumental 25th anniversary of ESSENCE Festival, where she’ll be headlining once again, we look back at some of Ms. Blige’s show stopping beauty looks that made us sing about why we never want to be without her.

01
My Life Cover Art – 1994
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Pinterest
02
Billboard Music Awards – 1995
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Evan Agostini/Liaison
03
38th Annual Grammy Awards – 1996
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images
04
Share My World Album Shoot – 1997
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Kevin Westenberg
05
Lady of Soul Awards – 1998
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
06
MTV Europe Music Awards – 1999
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Eric CATARINA/Gamma-Rapho
07
14th Annual Soul Train Music Awards – 2000
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Ron Galella/WireImage
08
Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show – 2001
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
J. Vespa/WireImage
09
MTV Video Music Awards – 2002
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Hogan/Getty Image
10
VIBE Awards – 2003
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Jean-Paul Aussenard/WireImage
11
Person of the Year Tribute to Sting – 2004
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Frank Micelotta/Getty Images
12
The Breakthrough Album Art – 2005
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
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13
American Music Awards – 2006
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic
14
American Music Awards – 2007
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
15
Cannes Film Festival amfAR’s Cinema Against AIDS – 2008
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Daniele Venturelli/WireImage
16
American Music Awards – 2009
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Steve Granitz/WireImage
17
US Weekly’s 25 Most Stylish New Yorkers – 2010
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Henry S. Dziekan III/WireImage
18
VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul – 2011
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Jim Spellman/WireImage
19
“Rock Of Ages” L.A. Premiere – 2012
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Gregg DeGuire/WireImage
20
The Grove’s 11th Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Spectacular – 2013
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic
21
Ferrari’s 60th Anniversary In The USA Gala – 2014
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic
22
The Wiz Live! – Season 2015
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Paul Gilmore/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images
23
Saks Downtown x Vogue Event – 2016
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Brent N. Clarke/FilmMagic
24
Metropolitan Museum Of Art Costume Institute Gala – 2017
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Jamie McCarthy/FilmMagic
25
Tiffany & Co. Celebrates Tiffany Blue Book Collection – 2018
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
26
EE British Academy Film Awards – 2019
ESSENCE Festival Headliner Mary J. Blige Gave Us 25 Years Of Beauty
Karwai Tang/WireImage
TOPICS:  2019 essence festival essence fest essence festival Mary J. Blige Red Carpet Beauty