Mary J. Blige Opens Up About Her Past Struggles And Hating The Sound Of Her Own Voice: “I Used To Hate Everything”

Mary J. Blige admits she was once hesitant to listen to her own music.

During a Wednesday episode of TODAY With Hoda and Jenna, the R&B/Soul icon shared some unexpected insights about her music.

“I used to hate everything about me. The sound of my voice, the sound of my speaking voice. And I used to just be afraid to hear any music back,” Mary said.

Despite Mary’s initial struggle with self-loathing, she shared that these negative feelings eventually faded away.

“We grow up thinking we couldn’t boast or brag or love on ourselves, and now I’m doing all that,” she added. “I have so much fun with myself. I’m like, ‘Girl, you look so good. I’m so proud of you. Oh, that looks nice on you.’ And I’m by myself a lot, so I’m always like, ‘Oh Mary, I love that! Let’s wear this tonight. That’s gonna be hot!’”

The singer has been outspoken about her challenges in the music industry. Last year, the superstar singer shared insights into her journey in her cover story for Glamour. The magazine honored Mary as ‘Woman of the Year,’ prompting her to delve into both her achievements and the journey it took to reach them.

“This is not an overnight success,” she said. “This is not an easy thing, this new me, this new Mary. This is hard work. When you’re happy and you’re strong, and you’ve been…[as] miserable as I’ve been in life and went through as much hell, it’s easy to revert back to the residue. It’s easy to revert back to the past because that’s what you knew. Because you know the pain of the past will always try to pull you back.”