Mary J. Blige’s break-out album My Life was inspired by a deep depression.
The Grammy-winning singer reveals she “didn’t want to live” during her darkest days and she used those feelings to create a string of hits.
In the trailer for her new documentary, “Mary J. Blige’s My Life,” she says, “I had it all inside and I was able to sing it and write it. I didn’t know that so many people felt the same way. My Life is probably my darkest album, at one of the darkest times I’ve had. Most of the times I just was just depressed and didn’t want to live.”
In the film, Mary also recounts her rough childhood, much of which was spent in a housing project in Yonkers, New York with an alcoholic mother and an abusive father, who was a Vietnam veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder.
He walked out on the family when the singer was only four.
“In the neighborhood we lived in, it’s like prison,” she adds. “There was a lot wrong… I needed to get out. That’s why I had that pen. The only thing I think that kept us guided was the music. It just saved you.”
She credits her fans with helping to keep her alive: “There’s just something really powerful about inspiring each other to wanna live to see another day,” she explains.
The film, executive produced by Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and Quincy Jones, includes commentary from friends including Alicia Keys and Taraji P. Henson. It will debut on on Amazon Prime in the U.S. on June 25.