The trials and tribulations of R&B/soul/hip-hop legend Mary J. Blige are well documented, especially when you go through her discography—the singer has famously used her music to tell the stories of her own struggle.
And now, the newest episode of VH1′s Behind the Music: Mary J. Blige, which will air on the cable network Sunday, July 24, at 10 p.m., continues to tell the story, specifically about her struggle to quit drinking for her husband, record executive Martin Kendu Isaacs. EW has the exclusive preview clip of the hour-long episode.
“The best thing you could do to me—challenge me to challenge myself,” Blige says of battling her alcoholism in Behind the Music. “I stopped drinking. It was will power. It was prayer. It was really hard. But, I cared so much about [Isaacs], I didn’t want to be just this alcoholic burden on him. He doesn’t deserve for me to be some, you know, slum-bucket alcoholic, and so I took responsibility and I cleaned up, as much as I could. But it was hard.”
The episode, of course, also chronicles the remarkable career of Blige, and how faith and a never-ending search for love helped her survive her tumultuous past. The episode features a candid interview with Blige, as well as contributions from hubby Isaacs, sister LaTonya Blige Dacosta, Diddy, and Nas, among others.
EW has the exclusive first look at the episode here:
Tanner on Twitter: @EWTanStransky
Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix
Read more:
Miranda Lambert on VH1′s ‘Behind the Music’: The star talks about her early romance with Blake Shelton — EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW VIDEO
Ice Cube on VH1′s ‘Behind the Music’: Watch the preview — EXCLUSIVE VIDEO
Missy Elliott on VH1′s ‘Behind the Music’: The raptress discusses Graves’ disease, childhood abuse, and more — EXCLUSIVE VIDEO
I love how Behind the Music reveals something new about a person, even if it’s little, and how it gets people to speak about certain experiences. Not saying Mary J. hasn’t spoken about this before, but still. I’ll be sure to watch this episode.
As many of your readers that use iPhones, you’d think you could use HTML instead of flash. Come on EW! Get with it!!
I absolutely love this woman and everything she stands for.
Great article. I can¡¯t wait to hear more about your research tool. If it is as good as your other products, then you will have another winner. Your article pretty much summed up what I have been seeing too. Great to see some hard data.