I'm on my way to a place where I'd never dreamed I'd be, and that's perfection.
— Mary J. Blige
You can look at my palm and see the storm coming. Read the book of my life and see I've overcome it.
I do consider myself part of black history.
It's OK showing yourself some love.
I barely have time for my own children. To adopt more children and not have time for them, that would be poor parenting on my part.
When I was a child I didn't care about getting an education, and I didn't finish high school.
For the first time in my life, I'm proud of myself.
It's challenging to find an identity as a young person if you don't have the sustenance of love, because you're being shipped around.
I remember a time when all my fans were crying and sad and going through hell. Now, we're trying to uplift each other and accept ourselves for who we are, even if nobody else does.
My first album is playful.
Once you climb to another level, you have to figure out how to sustain it.
I wish I had an extra day with my mom sometimes. Or another hour in the day with my family, husband and children.
I was inspired to create 'My Life' so I could finally share a personal part of my life beyond my music.
'My Life' is not an autobiography. It's just music.
You know a lot, but you don't know everything.
I can tell you I didn't feel good when I could not articulate properly. Getting my GED was important and I want other women to feel that.
I didn't never have to go to a therapist. I just always put it in a song and you heard me.
It was only for two years, and I jumped from family to family. It's very scary.
Thank you so much for supporting me from the day I stepped foot into the music industry. It really means something to me to have Maya Angelou speak on my behalf. It also means a lot to have Oprah on my speed dial!
I listen to gospel music.
I can see the music. I know what it looks like. I know what color it is. The words come easy, the tears come easy, and the joy comes easy. The music tells you what to do.
'My Life' is soft, with notes of pear and gardenia, but still bold, with a woody base.
As a child I always wanted to be a singer. The music my mother played in the house moved me - Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Mahalia Jackson. It was truly spiritual. It made you understand what God was. We are all spirits. We get depressed. But music makes you want to live. I know my music has saved my life.
God comes first - if I don't love him, I can't love anybody, and if I can't love me I can't love nobody.
I wouldn't adopt, but what I will do is give my time and go and try to be there for people.
You can hate me. You can go out there and say anything you want about me, But you will love me later because I told you the truth.
My responsibility to God is to live. That's the gift he gave me.
I don't think I'll do foster care or adopt, to be quite honest.
Music makes us want to live. You don't know how many times people have told me that they'd been down and depressed and just wanted to die. But then a special song caught their ear and that helped give them renewed strength. That's the power music has.
