Overseen by Ross' musical director Gil Askey,[2] the jazz-flavoured album was originally conceived as a follow-up to her soundtrack to the 1972 American biographical drama film Lady Sings the Blues in which Ross starred.

[3] Allmusic editor Rob Theakston found that "Gil Askey's arrangements are top-notch without sounding like dinner theater knock-offs.

Blue is an album every bit as bold an artistic statement as her contemporaries Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, who were recording the opuses Where I'm Coming From and What's Going On around the same time, and for Ross fans, Blue is every bit as enjoyable as her sultriest moments as the supreme Supreme.

On the charts, Blue peaked at number two on the US Billboard Top Jazz Albums, also logging a single week on the Billboard 200 at number 146.

[10] Its final sales figure was slightly higher than 80,000 US copies.