Mary J. Blige To Host Mother's Day Music Festival In Atlanta

Mary J. Blige has had a lot to celebrate this year. She jump-started 2022 with the release of her 14th solo studio album, "Good Morning Gorgeous" on February 11. Days afterward she co-headlined the star-studded Super Bowl LVI halftime show. Today Billboard announced the R&B legend will become the 11th music artist to be honored with the Icon Award at this year's 2022 Billboard Music Awards (BBMA). Fittingly enough the award recognizes outstanding artists who've achieved excellence on the Billboard charts and have made an indisputable mark on music history.

They don't call her the Queen of Hip Hop Soul for nothing! She is a 9-time Grammy and 10-time BBMA winner with decades of major accolades to note all of her achievements. Sunday, May 15, Mary will receive her Icon Award and perform live at the BBMAs which will broadcast coast-to-coast from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The Bronx music superstar has always been a light for women of all walks of life, by dedicating her music career to telling our stories. Her songs reflect the joys, fears, sadness, and struggles of women around the globe and that of her own life's journey. Since her debut album, "What's the 441" was released in 1992 Mary has always been authentic.

This Mother's Day weekend is going to be extra special because the singer/songwriter/actress plans to launch her own music festival. In partnership with Pepsi and Live Nation Urban, it will bear the name of her 2017 album, "Strength of a Woman." So, save the date! Live in Atlanta, Georgia Mary J. Blige will present the first annual, “Strength of a Woman Festival and Summit.”

LOOK: Milestones in women's history from the year you were born

Women have left marks on everything from entertainment and music to space exploration, athletics, and technology. Each passing year and new milestone makes it clear both how recent this history-making is in relation to the rest of the country, as well as how far we still need to go. The resulting timeline shows that women are constantly making history worthy of best-selling biographies and classroom textbooks; someone just needs to write about them.

Scroll through to find out when women in the U.S. and around the world won rights, the names of women who shattered the glass ceiling, and which country's women banded together to end a civil war.