We’re getting our first look at Grammy Award-winning singer Mary J. Blige in the hotly-anticipated movie musical Rock of Ages. MJB will be taking the role of Justice Charlier, the owner of a gentlemen’s club, in the film inspired by the hits of the 1980s and adapted from the award-winning Broadway production of the same name.

Adam Shankman’s Rock of Ages — also starring Tom Cruise, Russell Brand, and Alec Baldwin — will open in theaters in Dec. 2012.

The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul is back with new music! R&B queen Mary J. Blige will release a new album — titled My Life II, The Journey Continues — this fall.

Blige’s 1994 Diddy-produced disc My Life — featuring hits like “All Night Long” and “I’m Going Down” — was certified three-times platinum and is considered to be one of the most prolific works of the Grammy winner’s nearly 20 year career. In 2003, the album was ranked number 279 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s listing of the 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time. Three years later, it was included in TIME’s 100 Greatest Albums of All-Time.

“From me to you, ‘My Life II’…..our journey together continues in this life. It’s a gift to be able to relate and identify with my fans at all times. This album is a reflection of the times and lives of people all around me,” Blige said in a statement about the album, due Sept. 20.

The video for her first single from My Life II, the Lil Wayne-assisted “Someone to Love Me (Naked), will premiere Tuesday night on BET, following The Game.

The Queen of Hip-Hop/Soul is taking this acting thing seriously — now if only she could get crackin’ on production!

Mary J. Blige has opened up about her upcoming role in a biopic about jazz legend Nina Simone. During an interview with NBC The TODAY Show last week, Blige revealed that producers have held the project up even after she learned French and took acting lessons to master the part.

“They keep pushing it back. It’s not my fault. I’m ready. I went to the acting class, I learned ‘Ne Me Quitte Pas.’ I know all French, whatever — so I’m doing my job.”

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Grammy-winning songbird Mary J. Blige made history on the Home Shopping Network over the weekend.

The singer sold more than 50,000 bottles of her new one-of-a-kind fragrance My Life over the weekend, landing the network its fastest-selling and most popular perfume to date and grossing about $2.7 millionMJB even shattered Diddy’s record, which was set with the Bad Boy mogul debuted his I Am King cologne to a glorious reception earlier this year.

Blige’s foundation — FFAWN (Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now) — will receive $1 for every bottle of My Life sold — netting the charity $50,000.

“Fam!! We did it!! We broke records with My Life fragrance on HSN! And made history once again!!! 50K sold!!!” she Tweeted this week. “Thank you so much!!!!!!! What an amazing support system!!!! You guys are the best!!!!!!… You saved so many lives and dreams tonight with your purchase!!! So many women will be getting the second chance they deserve!!! FFAWN…Thank You HSN for the love and support you showed me and my fam!!!!!! We really appreciate it!!!!!!”

Mary J. Blige made headlines over the weekend when the platinum-selling Grammy winner announced that she had received an honorary NYC high school diploma and would be joining Howard University’s Class of 2014 in the fall.

Too bad no one let the folks at the prestigious historically-Black college in on the news. The Washington Post is reporting that MJB’s recent announcement of being accepted into Howard caught the school off guard — because it isn’t true!

On July 2, Blige was filming a Central Park concert for the Good Morning America Summer Concert Series when she revealed her big news during a commercial break: “I never got the chance to graduate from high school, but they gave me my honorary diploma the other day … And I got accepted into Howard University for the class of 2014,” she told the ecstatic crowd.

The Post decided to follow-up MJB’s claims with Howard administrators, here’s what they had to say:

“Early Tuesday, a rep for the school declined to address Blige’s prospects at the school, noting that information about applicants and admissions is confidential. By late in the day, the university put out a statement suggesting Blige’s comments may have been somewhat premature. They were kind about it, though, praising her ‘resilience and dedication’ to her craft: ‘We encourage Ms. Blige to continue her studies and welcome her consideration of Howard University in the future. We are happy to work with Ms. Blige on completing the formal process for admission.’”

Mary J. Blige unveiled her new fragrance, My Life, at the 2010 Essence Music Festival over the Fourth of July weekend.

The fragrance, which is the first celebrity product by the natural skin care company Carol’s Daughter, is named after Blige’s platinum-selling 1994 album. The scent comes in a caramel-colored, heart-shaped bottle and goes on sale on the Home Shopping Network July 31.

Look out, Howard Bison: Mary J. Blige may show up in your next college Biology lab.

The award-winning singer — who has six Grammys and seven multiplatinum records to her credit — has been accepted to the Howard University Class of 2014 after receiving her General Equivalency Diploma (GED), celebrity snitches at The Fab Empire report.

We hear that the “Take Me As I Am” singer hopes to earn her Bachelors degree from the Washington, DC institution once hailed “The Black Harvard.”

During a performance on ABC’s Good Morning America last Wednesday, the R&B singer — who dropped out of high school in 11th grade — confirmed that she had completed high school and was considering continuing her education at Howard.

“The city of New York gave me my high school diploma … and now Howard University has accepted me.”

Last month, R&B star Fantasia Barrino, who struggled with reading as a teen, earned her GED.

Great casting! Mary J. Blige will play legendary singer Nina Simone in Cynthia Mort’s upcoming biopic Nina, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The soul vocalist and civil rights activist was well-known as “The High-Priestess of Soul” between 1950s – 1970s, and best known for her jazz-infused hits, like “My Baby Just Cares for Me”, “I Put a Spell on You,” and “Four Women.”

MJB — who last appeared on the big screen in Tyler Perry’s 2009 film I Can Do Bad All By Myself — will begin filming on Nina next fall.

The “No More Drama” hitmaker performed at the Jazz in the Gardens event at Miami’s Sun Life Stadium, along with blue-eyed soul star Robin Thicke. Snitches say Blige’s “extreme and unwarranted” diva antics has organizers of last weekend’s festival vowing to never book the star again.

Mary was reportedly more than an hour late for her headlining slot, meaning the show ran into overtime.

“While she sat in her limousine, her personal guards came into the press tent to clear out the area like they were the Secret Service. They first demanded that all print and online journalists be kicked out because Mary didn’t want to take questions. They were acting like she was Michelle Obama or Queen Elizabeth,” a source complained to The New York Daily News Tuesday. “Her handlers kept saying that she would ‘go onstage when she was ready,’ but it was almost midnight when she got on, which took the entire festival into overtime.”

Mary further angered bosses of the event by demanding the backstage section be cleared before she entered the area.

“When Mary finally emerged from her car, she walked into the tent for literally two minutes wearing dark shades – even though it was night time. She struck one pose and then walked off without bothering to say a single word. Her antics were extreme and unwarranted.”