Mary J Blige to perform in NZ 

Mary J Blige will perform four one-night-only concerts in her first ever tour of New Zealand and Australia next month.

The singer will kick off in Perth on June 10, followed by performances in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane before heading to New Zealand for shows at Auckland's Vector Arena on June 16 and Wellington's Town Hall on June 17.

The stylish Blige has had 23 Grammy nominations and eight wins, along with seven multi-platinum records.

She has secured her place as a top urban diva by appealing to older fans with her soul sensibility and maintaining youthful credibility with her hip-hop savvy.

"Mary J Blige is a superstar in anyone's language...she is sexy, stylish, sassy," Michael Chugg, executive chairman of Chugg Entertainment, said about bringing the diva downunder.

Blige was born in the Bronx and spent the first few years of her childhood in Georgia before returning to New York with her mother and older sister, settling in the housing projects of Yonkers.

Her life in Yonkers left her with physical and emotional scars but set the foundations for her music which lift spirits and touches lives.

Her eighth studio album, Growing Pains, comes on the heels of her best-selling anthology Reflections. It's also her first album of new material since The Breakthrough.

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