As a kid, I was in love with Michael Jackson, and I just knew I was going to marry him someday.

No one intimidates me because I'm not trying to do what you do, because I can't do what you do. I can only do what Mary J. Blige can do, so that relaxes me right there, and it gets me out of the competition and that whole thing.

When I was a child I didn't care about getting an education, and I didn't finish high school.

By the time I was a teenager, when I went outside the house, it was about hip-hop all the time. Nothing but hip-hop, block parties.

As a kid, I dreamed about being onstage.

The music business is really, really small. The real music is becoming almost extinct, if you don't stay true to who you are.

When someone comes up to me and says, 'Mary, you helped save my marriage', or, 'Mary, you helped me get out of this abusive relationship', I'm in it, really in their lives. And I'm so passionate about my feelings, but also about showing people the way through theirs.