Music helped save Mary J Blige
Shutterstock
In the movie, Blige reflects upon her upbringing in the Bronx, saying that her neighborhood felt “like a prison,” and that “the only thing I think that kept us guided was the music … It just saved you” (via Rolling Stone). It was this same belief in music that got her through the toughest time in her life, which coincided with when she was recording that now-famous 1994 debut album “My Life.” She says of that period in her life, “My Life’ is probably my darkest album at one of the darkest times I’ve had … Most of the time I was just depressed and didn’t want to live. I had it all inside and I was able to sing it and write it, and I didn’t know that so many people felt the same way” (via Page Six).
It’s this through-line of music that earned Blige so many loyal fans. The passion and purpose in her lyrics and her music has always been palpable, and now fans know why. “There was a lot wrong,” says Blige, “and it was a lot. I needed to get out. That’s why I had that pen” (via Page Six). She used her own music to cope, just as some music fans use her work to get through their own hard times.
Mary J. Blige Gets Candid About Her Depression In Upcoming Documentary
Shutterstock
By Elizabeth S. Mitchell/June 3, 2021 10:59 am EST
In the film, Blige admits that during the recording of that album, in spite of the artistic masterpiece she was creating and the career she was beginning, she was “depressed and didn’t want to live.”
Music helped save Mary J Blige
In the movie, Blige reflects upon her upbringing in the Bronx, saying that her neighborhood felt “like a prison,” and that “the only thing I think that kept us guided was the music … It just saved you” (via Rolling Stone). It was this same belief in music that got her through the toughest time in her life, which coincided with when she was recording that now-famous 1994 debut album “My Life.” She says of that period in her life, “My Life’ is probably my darkest album at one of the darkest times I’ve had … Most of the time I was just depressed and didn’t want to live. I had it all inside and I was able to sing it and write it, and I didn’t know that so many people felt the same way” (via Page Six).
It’s this through-line of music that earned Blige so many loyal fans. The passion and purpose in her lyrics and her music has always been palpable, and now fans know why. “There was a lot wrong,” says Blige, “and it was a lot. I needed to get out. That’s why I had that pen” (via Page Six). She used her own music to cope, just as some music fans use her work to get through their own hard times.
It’s this through-line of music that earned Blige so many loyal fans. The passion and purpose in her lyrics and her music has always been palpable, and now fans know why. “There was a lot wrong,” says Blige, “and it was a lot. I needed to get out. That’s why I had that pen” (via Page Six). She used her own music to cope, just as some music fans use her work to get through their own hard times.
