R&B diva Mary J Blige opened up in a recent interview about her drug and alcohol addictions, past sexual abuse, and recovery.
Blige has not spoken to a therapist or attended rehab, choosing instead to pray and meditate to maintain her sobriety.
The singer revealed that her lowest moment was ironically at a high point in her career. Her hit album "My Life" was released in 1994, but a then 23-year-old Mary was still grappling with depression and self-esteem issues stemming from sexual abuse that occurred when she was five years old.
"I was ready to just check out," she told Billboard in an interview published last week. "It was a moment - I can't get into it - but I saw my life going and I was grabbing for it. I was like, 'No, no, no, no, no.'
"That's when I realised that I don't want to die. And I switched, and I started praying and crying, and my life shifted right there."
After years of sobriety, Blige relapsed, but has now been sober since 2012.
She credits her success to confronting her problems, and without the help of a professional.
"I've never sat down with a doctor like that, no," she admitted. "But I meditate and pray and try to really take responsibility.
"That's therapy too, when you take responsibility for all the foolishness you're doing and all the things you did wrong. It hurts. You got to feel it, deal, then heal."
Another positive influence is her husband and manager, Kendu Isaacs.
"I had something to look at that was new - a person who was happy, a person who appreciated life," she explained.
"A person who had family who loved him and taught him how to be what he was. I was able to look at that and try to be that. That's when my life began to go up."
Blige released her newest album, "The London Sessions," in the UK on Monday, and the project will drop in the US on December 2.
