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Dance and sing along as Divas celebrates soul!  LIVE performances by your favorite artists and entertainment Divas!

Mary J Blige LIVE and many more!

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By Julie Naughton for Women's Wear Daily

Mary J. Blige’s music played a starring role in her appearance on HSN Wednesday, as the singer, philanthropist and businesswoman performed while promoting both of her fragrances.

Blige sang “You Bring Me Joy” from her seminal 1994 release, “My Life,” as well as “25/8” and “Mr. Wrong” from her newest album, “My Life II...The Journey Continues (Act 1),” as well as “No More Drama” from the album of the same name, performing at 12:30 a.m. and 10 p.m. HSN is also selling the new album, which was released last week.

“We decided to make it a complete ‘My Life’ moment,” Blige told WWD in an exclusive phone interview from HSN’s St. Petersburg, Fla., offices. “Both the music and the fragrances have evolution, growth and consistency. When I put my first album out, it was about me. Now, it’s about the movement. It’s a responsibility. I am being used to touch a lot of lives. It’s a responsibility and it is bigger than me. I have to be consistent, kind, patient, gentle and have manners, and I have to be honest with myself. It’s not about, ‘I have a headache today and I’m not going to smile at you.’ I have to speak, because we still have work to do.”

Blige sold two limited edition holiday gift sets during her appearance. The My Life Holiday Gift Set included the My Life Eau de Parfum, Body Lotion and Shower Cream, for $49.90; 6,000 sets were available and all sold. The $59.50 My Life Blossom Holiday Gift Set included the My Life Blossom Eau de Parfum and Body Cream plus the “My Life II…The Journey Continues (Act 1)” CD, along with an exclusive download card including: “You Gotta Believe,” “You Are Everything,” “You Bring Me Joy,” “I’m The Only Woman” and “No More Drama.” All 20,000 available units of that set sold out.

“We continue to excite our customers by offering unparalleled experiences that foster their connection to Mary and her art form, whether it be music, film or beauty products,” said Steve Stoute, chairman and lead investor of Carol’s Daughter, which produces Blige’s scents. “HSN continues to be a platform for us to do that.”

“We love Mary and are so proud to be the exclusive launching pad for her fragrances and to have her as a part of the HSN family,” said Betsy Olum, general manager of beauty and merchandising strategy for HSN. “Her latest success demonstrates the staying power of her brand and her ability to move people and move product is extraordinary.”

Blige has broken HSN records since her original appearance on the channel, introducing her first fragrance, My Life, in July 2010. Her second scent, My Life Blossom, bowed in August and she is developing a third, which is tentatively slated for a fall 2012 launch. My Life is composed of florals with undertones of wood, while My Life Blossom is a softer composition with a white floral accord and a warm vanilla heart. Both scents were inspired by Blige’s life experiences, which also inspired Blige’s original “My Life” album and launched her into the public eye. “I couldn’t have named the first one anything but “My Life,” because that was such a personal album and when I really started touching fans.” She noted that she’s still working on a name for her third scent. “We’re trying to get the title right, along with the scent. My name is on these products, and I want women to get these fragrances and be happy. I want their friends to say, ‘you smell great, what are you wearing?’ not ‘Whoa, you stink — what is that?’” she said with a laugh.

Blige’s latest film project is “Rock of Ages,” which is slated for a June 2012 release. “It features Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Paul Giamatti, Alec Baldwin and a great cast,” she said of the film, which is a love story set in 1987 Los Angeles. “It was a lot of fun to work on.”

Despite Blige’s many accomplishments, she isn’t content to rest on her laurels. “It’s not over until it’s over — when they’re burying you. Until then, you continue to evolve and to grow,” she said.

» www.mjbmylife.com

The miraculous singer Mary J. Blige is a "soul survivor" in more ways than one. Byron Pitts pays her a visit:

With nine Grammys and six multi-platinum albums to her name, Mary J. Blige has earned the title "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul."

But to her fans, she is simply Mary.

It's an intimacy Blige herself welcomes, by sharing the ups and downs of her life ... communicating and connecting with her fans like a preacher in a pulpit.

Her lyrics reflect her struggles, heartache and joy ...

"Life has a way of making you live it.
Sometimes it takes you to giving it..." (from "Press On")

And Blige again bares her soul on her latest album, "My Life 2."

"I just want to remind everybody how far we've come," Blige said, "because everybody can get so down on themselves. And we're not perfect. We're never going to be perfect."

The title is a nod to her 1994 sophomore record, "My Life," released when Blige was just 23 and figuring out her place in the world.

"I started speaking about what I was dealing with through my music, and 4 million women responded and said, 'Us too, Mary,'" she said. "And I didn't know that everyone was hurting like I was hurting. I had no idea."

What Blige was dealing with - in frank and sometimes raw terms - was the sexual abuse she experienced when she was five at the hands of a family acquaintance.

Her music struck a chord, and propelled her to the top of the hip hop and R&B charts.

Blige had arrived, but wasn't entirely comfortable with fame.

"I've read that the younger Mary J. Blige could be sometimes difficult to deal with," said Pitts. "How did you get from that person to who you are now?"

"Well, the younger Mary J. Blige, I would call her, she was very unaware, ignorant," Blige said.

"She didn't know how to sit down and give an interview and respect the interviewer, and the same, you know, stupid questions that they would ask over and over and over again," she laughed. "What you do is what you do, and I can't get angry about, you know, you asking me the same stupid questions. I've grown up a lot in that area."

"Are you calling my questions stupid?" Pitts asked.

"Not yours! " she laughed.

Hoping to smooth out the rough edges, her record label sent her to an etiquette class.

"I don't know how I knew that whatever I am - which is broken and unarticulate, and I didn't know that - would help people. Because I didn't know I would grow and evolve to this. But I just was completely like, 'I don't want to take no etiquette.' I didn't care about taking an etiquette class."

Blige also put her foot down when record executives suggested she change her name, to Mary Brown.

"It's like I didn't want to get rid of anything that meant something to me," she said. "My name is all I had. That's the only thing I can identify with, and my culture."

Mary Jane Blige was born in the Bronx and raised in a rough neighborhood in Yonkers, a suburb of New York City.

Pitts asked what Yonkers do for her?

"Yonkers made me strong and made me believe in myself, because so many people would doubt you and not believe," she said. "There are people that would believe in you, but the environment was so harsh, nobody wanted you to get out, you know?"

Blige's father left the family when she was 4, and her mother Corinne raised four children in a public Housing project.

"When I was a kid, I needed to sing because it makes me feel good about myself," Blige said. "It makes me feel good, period."

"You needed to sing?"

"I needed to, because when I was having like a down day, I mean, I would come down here, right down to the pier, and sing, like really loud. It would just lift all the oppression and depression and sadness and make me feel better. It does the same thing for me now."

When a tape of a 17-year-old Blige - recorded in a karaoke booth - made its way to music producer Andre Harrell, he immediately signed her up.

"I was street, I was every single thing that every little girl from the 'hood can relate to."

Blige forged a new genre dubbed "hip-hop soul," and helped pioneer the fashion trend called "ghetto fabulous."

"That was something that I was happy about, because it's all I had in identity," she said. "You know, I didn't know who I was. So if ghetto fabulous and keeping it real and all of that was what I was, I was cool with that ... until I learned that I can be more than that."

After years of drinking and cocaine use, Mary J. Blige shed the drama in her life, with the help of her husband and manager Kendu Isaacs.

And although she and Isaacs have been married for eight years, Blige initially had some doubts about the relationship:

"Even after I was married, I still couldn't believe it, that it was real," she said. "And he really did love broken down, little old me. 'Cause I just never saw myself like the woman that a man like him would want."

"Explain that? Because?"

"Because my past was just horrific. I felt ashamed about everything. Me dropping out of high school, me not, you know, just not being beautiful enough. I just didn't feel like I was smart enough or beautiful enough, you know, for years."

But after almost two decades in the spotlight, 40-year-old Mary J. Blige has finally made peace with her past, present, and future.

"You've been in this business for a while. Do you still enjoy it as much as you did when you were 17, 18, 19 years old?" asked Pitts.

"I enjoy it more now," she said. "Because now I can see it. And I know what it is. But when I was younger, I didn't know what the heck was going on. I was just singing for my life!

"I was running and hurting, and the only thing was coming out was pain. So now I'm enjoying my life because I know who I am."

"Who are you now?"

"I'm Mary Jane Blige. Jane Blige! You know, that's it. I know who I am. I am not perfect. I'm not the most beautiful woman in the world. But I'm one of them."

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Photo Credit: Markus Klinko

Earlier this fall her manager and husband, Kendu Isaacs, summed up the challenge Ms. Blige faced in writing a follow-up to "My Life," saying, "Mary's fans go from the girl in the neighborhood all the way to Elton John in London, so how do you make an album that broad?" "My Life II" is still centered in pain, but puts more emphasis on getting past it. On the closing song "Living Proof," Ms. Blige sings, "I'm so glad the worst is over, I can start living now." In a recent phone interview, conducted during a manicure ("I'm going for a brownish gray for fall"), Ms. Blige discussed her vocal abilities, her image among fans and childhood memories of singing for snacks in Yonkers, N.Y.

The Wall Street Journal: How has your music changed since the first "My Life" album?

Ms. Blige: What I wanted to do was not make a competitor to "My Life," but to show people how far we've come. You can hear it in my voice and in the song topics and in the spirit behind it, which is optimistic, strong, but also realistic about what life is. I had none of that back then.

Your voice has more depth to it now. How have you pushed your singing abilities?

I've definitely had some coaching. I've always had range, but due to so much harsh living in my life I ended up losing a little bit of it. So the vocal training shows you that you have it, but you just have to use that muscle memory to do it.

Have you had the kind of vocal-cord damage that many professional singers deal with?

I do have acid reflux and that burns up your vocal cords and swells them up. I had to go to my ear, nose and throat doctor. He stuck his camera up my nose and down my throat and he put me on Prevacid and Zantac, and it's been working. I've been clear as a bell.

Pop music is so dominated by dance beats right now. Did anyone push you in that direction for "My Life II"?

Everybody's going in that direction. I was approached by a couple people, but I was like, "Nah, I'm not gonna do that." I've experimented and it turns out some things don't work for everybody.

You recorded about 50 songs and whittled your track list down to 17. Do you always record that much material?

Yeah. We make a lot of records. That's why we end up wanting to do a double album, but instead we'll do a Part 2. We have most of it and we'll record more.

Since "My Life," much of your music has been about putting the past behind you. But do you have fond memories of your hell-raising days?

Absolutely. I have friends from back then. There's good times and laughter that comes from back then. When I was running to clubs, hanging out with my girlfriends, or at the studio recording and there were beers and stuff all over the place, that was fun. But when it became abusive and borderline suicidal, then it wasn't fun anymore. But for those moments that you're out and trying to live and get past the darkness, you make it fun.

What do you remember about the first time you stepped into a recording studio?

I was probably 15. I wasn't in the music industry yet. Everyone was trying to get me to a studio. The people who were managing me at the time took me to one in Brooklyn. It wasn't even a studio, it was like an apartment. I was always quiet and really shy, but I knew what I could do. I wasn't always super-confident in who I was, but I knew I had a voice.

Who supported your singing the most?

There was my Aunt Laura Bell. My really good friend's mother, Miss Brenda. A lady by the name of Cathy. A store up the block called Steve's Market—this was in Yonkers, on Palisades [Avenue]. I used to go there and sing for chips and grape juice. I'd sing a Deniece Williams song, "Silly, that he'd ask me to sing all the time.

Did you stand out or were there a lot of singers around you?

I stood out, because everybody said "Mary, sing! Mary, sing!" People wanted to hear what I could do. Not everything was chips and grape juice. It was just more like a neighborhood thing where people were just blown away, I guess, that a little girl could sing like that. There weren't any clubs or anything. I was a kid.

Do singers retire?

I'm definitely going to retire at some point. Retire in the way where you can say, "Call me when you need me." Or make an album when you want to. Right now, it's demand, demand, demand. There's going to be a time when you're not in demand, and you can just hopefully say, "I'm going to go downstairs to my studio and record." But I have to sing, yes, because it makes me feel good. It's healing for me, not just for my fans.

Source: wsj.com