Read Mary J. Blige's speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Mary J. Blige is one of the greatest singers of all time and the queen of hip-hop soul. After a seven-year wait since her first appearance (and a nomination in 2021), she has finally been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Blige is no stranger to the Rock Hall stage, having presented inductions for fellow R&B legends Solomon Burke and Nina Simone in 2001 and 2018, but on Saturday the longtime Hall of Fame disruptor finally got her own flowers instead of someone else's to hand over.

Despite all the names of friends, family and musical collaborators mentioned, one person was conspicuously missing: Sean Combs, the disgraced mogul who helped Blige start her career and produced several of her records, including the debut album What's the 411? as well as her breakthrough My Life.

Blige was greeted on Saturday by her longtime friends and collaborators Dr. Dre and Method Man introduced.

“Let’s be honest, you don’t just listen to one Mary album. “You feel this shit in your soul,” Dre said. “Every single syllable, her emotional singing captures the pain and culture, but her messages of resilience, hope and light are a path to healing. Listening to Mary reminds us that we are not alone in our heartbreak.”

Read her full speech below.

Thank you all. Can you all hear me? OK? Thank you all, man. Um, wow. That's, that's a lot. That's a lot, and as I said yesterday to everyone who knows who I am and where I come from: Man, it's been a long time coming, and there have been times in my life when I didn't think I'd be here would be, but I'm here. I am grateful.

I would like to thank John Sykes and Rick Krim for the nomination. And to everyone who voted: thank you, I appreciate you. I must first begin by giving praise, thanks, honor and all honor to the Most High God. To my Lord, to my Savior, Jesus Christ. Because if it weren't for him, I tell you, none of this would exist.

If you're a Mary J. Blige fan, you know I needed God. I needed something other than men. I would like to thank my mother. Mom, I love you so much. I watched you struggle as a single mother, raising your two babies in a project that could have almost resembled a prison, and you did it for us. Without you I wouldn't be standing here. I love you so much. You pushed me beyond what I thought I was capable of with your strength alone.

I want to thank my family in New York, my family in Georgia, and my family everywhere. I have family everywhere. I would like to thank my amazing friends. I have some great friends to hold me and lift me up and I'll see you back on top next week and we'll keep celebrating. Thank you to the beautiful and talented Ella Mae, a real one, a beautiful one, and the soulful and talented one. Lucky Daye. I love you and appreciate you very much. You're both wonderful people and amazing artists and I'm so proud of what you're doing in R&B, the future of R&B, you're all bringing the game to the best.

I would especially like to thank two of my lifelong friends who truly embody what it means to be a friend and brother. You are always there for me, from music to television. Method Man and Dr. Dr. I love you all. I love you all and appreciate you so much. These guys are with me today and they are my friends. I was there Share my world album or something like that, and I didn't get a Grammy at all. But then I did “You’re All I Need” with Method Man and won my first Grammy ever with Method Man.

And then one day I was at home, minding my business and working hard like I always do, and my amazing friends, Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine called me and said, “Hey, Mary, do you want to be a part of this little show?” 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 appearance won. I'm so grateful. That's what friendship is all about: winning together. Thank you guys for being here with me tonight.

When you're in this business, talent requires a great and amazing team. Exchange is the process of life, and when you stop exchanging, you become stagnant. I would especially like to thank my team for helping me be great in all my endeavors. I love you and thank you for helping me. Thanks Lou, Peggy, Sherry, Robin. I love you all so much. When I came to you I was newly divorced and had no money, but we did this damn thing. Amanda Silverman from Lede Company, Dina Mariah from Lapolt Law Firm, my sister LaTonya and the Blue Butterfly team, my production company, my little brother. I want to thank my security team for keeping me safe and secure on these streets and I want to thank Glam for making me feel so good tonight.

To my fans, to my fans, to my fans. To my fans: You all endured blood, sweat and tears with me and helped me heal, just as you said I helped you heal. None of this would be possible if you hadn't supported and cheered us on. I wouldn't be here if you didn't cheer me on, if you didn't buy these records. There are no words that can express everything you have done for me and how grateful I am.

It is imperative that I say this now to all the artists who are my colleagues and the artists who are on the rise right now. The miracle lies in the movement. Faith without work is dead. Keep believing and keep moving so that God can receive the highest glory through your testimony so that you can help someone. It's not enough to just be beautiful and talented. It's not enough. Sustainability comes from humility and the way you treat yourself and others. Life is full of peaks and valleys. So be careful how you treat others because you never know who you will need on your way up or down.

So I say this: Move with grace. Trust the process of your journey, share your wisdom, love and respect with everyone who crosses your path. Offer forgiveness because we are all a work in progress. You don't have to wait until you're perfect to feel worthy. You are worth it. You are worth it. And when I tell you this, when I was at my worst, I didn't know this, but God approved of me at my worst, and he still approves of me, and he approves of all of us. So just keep doing your work. This is history for me, my family and my friends, and tonight I share this introduction with each of you.

I'm almost done. If I were to leave this today, I would want to be remembered as someone who was unafraid to sacrifice his life through his music to help heal, uplift and touch the lives of others. I am beyond grateful for wisdom, knowledge, understanding and self-awareness, compassion and patience. The test of patience that I'm still working on. I don't have much patience, but I'm getting there. I am extremely grateful, extremely grateful for everything. I love you. You are my family.

For my fans: you all know what it is. January. This thing moves so fast. I have a few more things to say, but I can't say it.

I am grateful that I am loved and am now able to give love. When I said I wanted to be happy, I really meant it. And I'm not just talking about the happiness where you're delusional and think everything is fine. I'm talking about the happiness where you know there will be trials, but you will still smile because you believe you will succeed. Such luck. I'm building for expansion. I build for longevity. I build for legacy and I build for history. All this time I've been trying to be a rock star, and not now. I am the queen of hip-hop – soul is a rock star. Thank you very much.