"Mary Jane (All Night Long)" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Qu ...

. It was written by Blige,

Chucky Thompson Carl Edward Thompson Jr. (July 12, 1968 – August 9, 2021) was an American record producer, best known for his work with Sean Combs' Bad Boy Records. Biography Thompson was born in Washington, D.C., in 1968. He was a member of Bad Boy Entertai ...

and

Sean "Puffy" Combs Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, Combs worked as a ...

for her second studio album, '' My Life'' (1994), while production was helmed by Combs and Thompson. The song is built around a sample of “ All Night Long” (1983) by American girl group

Mary Jane Girls The Mary Jane Girls were an American girl group formed in 1979, best known for their songs "In My House", "All Night Long (Mary Jane Girls song), All Night Long", "Candy Man", and their cover version of "Walk Like a Man (The Four Seasons song), ...

and "Close the Door" (1978) by American singer

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American Soul music, soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pendergrass lived most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initial ...

. Due to the inclusion of the sample,

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his tee ...

is also credited as songwriter. Released as the album's third single, "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" peaked at number 37 on the US

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (previously known as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay) is a chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the top R&B and hip hop songs in the United States, based on audience impressions from a panel of radio stations monitored ...

chart and became a top twenty single on the UK Singles Chart, where it reached number 17. The official remix for "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" features rapper

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

. The remix version was later included on Blige's compilation ''HERStory, Vol. 1'' (2019) and ''My Life — 25th Anniversary Edition'' (2020). A music video for the song was never made.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' complimented the song as "another pearl" from the queen of

hip-hop soul Hip hop soul is a subgenre of contemporary R&B music, most popular during the early and mid 1990s, which fuses R&B or soul singing with hip hop musical production. The subgenre had evolved from a previous R&B subgenre, new jack swing, which had ...

's "current masterpiece", '' My Life''. He remarked that "this sexy homage to the Mary Janes Girls' evergreen " All Night Long" demands immediate turntable attention. ..If there is a realistic candidate to be the

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins Will ...

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

for our generation, Blige is it. No voice is as brutally honest or evocative." Chuck Campbell from ''

Knoxville News Sentinel The ''Knoxville News Sentinel'', also known as ''Knox News'', is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Gannett Company. History The newspaper was formed in 1926 from the merger of two competing newspapers: '' ...

'' noted the "controlled vocals and less-is-more music" of "Mary Jane (All Night Long)". A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' gave the song five out of five, calling it an "sassy reworking", writing, "With Sean 'Puffy' Combs and Bottom Dollar on remix duty, this is one classy track."

James Hamilton James Hamilton may refer to: Dukes *James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606–1649), heir to the throne of Scotland *James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (1658–1712), Scottish nobleman *James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton (1703–1743), Sco ...

from the '' RM'' Dance Update deemed it an "excellent slower but similar remake". Jonathan Bernstein from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' noted that Blige "kickstarts" the record with the "thumping lilt" of the Mary Jane Girls song, "presented as her own composition."

Track listings

U.K. Cassette single – MCSTC 2088 # "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" (Radio Mix) – 3:40 # "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" (Soul Power Roller Skate Mix) – 5:04 U.K. 12" single – MCST 2088 # "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" (Album version) – 4:37 # "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" (Bottom Dollar House Vocal) – 7:56 # "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" (Soul Power Roller Skate Mix) – 5:04 # " I'm Goin' Down" (Remix) – 3:47 U.K. CD single – MCSTD 2088 # "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" (Radio Mix) – 3:40 # "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" (Album version) – 4:37 # "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" (Soul Power Roller Skate Mix) – 5:04 # "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" (Bottom Dollar House Vocal) – 7:56 # "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" (Soul Power Mix) – 5:55

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the ''My Life'' liner notes. *Mary J. Blige – vocals *Rich Travali - recording engineer *

Tony Maserati Tony Maserati is an American record producer and audio engineer specializing in mixing. He was involved in the development of the New York R&B and hip-hop scene in the 1990s, working with Mary J. Blige, Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, and Queen ...

- audio mixing *

– additional instruments

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1994 songs 1995 singles Mary J. Blige songs Songs written by Rick James Songs written by Sean Combs Songs written by Leon Huff Songs written by Kenny Gamble Songs written by Chucky Thompson Songs written by Mary J. Blige Uptown Records singles