Mary J. Blige is one of the world’s biggest stars. From the very beginning, fans resonated with Blige’s ability to communicate her pain succinctly and with soul.
Since her career took off in 1991, Blige has proven to be a triple threat. She can sing. She can act… and we all love her trademark dance moves.
The “Family Affair” singer has an impressive nine Grammy awards under her belt. More recently, she’s frequented Hollywood’s red carpet for her starring roles in the Netflix series, “Umbrella Academy,” “Betty and Coretta,” and “Respect.” She also earned Oscar nominations for her role in the Netflix movie “Mudbound.”
In her new documentary titled “My Life,” Blige takes fans all the way back to her childhood.
“To go back and actually show them where the pain came from, it was heavy, but it was nothing because those are my fans. In order to do a My Life documentary, you have to go back and show people what happened, you know? Why it happened and where did all this pain come from,” she told Entertainment Tonight.
“That was painful because the most painful part is, ‘Why so much stuff, so much stuff had to happen to a little girl?’ But that happens, you know? Little girls aren’t safe. Little boys aren’t safe,” she says.
Blige signed to Uptown Records in 1991, overseen by Andre Harrell at the time. She says she owes a huge portion of her success to him.
“It’s just beautiful. It’s amazing. It’s humbling, and for me, it’s just a responsibility ’cause, you know, I got something right. I’m just grateful. I’m so grateful that people love me like that. I never thought I would ever touch people,” she tells ET. “Andre [Harrell] said in the documentary when he came to my house, ‘You’re gonna be singing for royalty,’ and I didn’t know what that meant. Well, I guess that means this right here, you know?”
“Mary J. Blige: My Life” debuts on Amazon Prime on June 25.
