29 November 2013
Newsdesk
Mary J. Blige was so in love with Michael Jackson growing up she thought they'd marry.
The R&B star had a major crush on the late King of Pop when she was a teenager. Even at 42 the singer can instantly remember the depth of her feelings, admitting she believed they were destined to be together.
"As a kid, I was in love with Michael Jackson, and I just knew I was going to marry him someday," she told Us Weekly.
Mary has been discussing her festive record A Mary Christmas a lot of late and is proud to have shown she can be a big band singer with the release.
She stopped short of saying whether her family will listen to the album over the holidays, although Mary did open up about their rituals.
"I don't stuff the turkey!" she laughed to British newspaper The Guardian. "I have a chef, and my mom and sister help. I wrap presents, but I leave the cooking to everyone else. We get a Christmas tree in, and on the night the tree goes up, we all relax and look at the lights. On Christmas Day itself it's food, friends, presents, lights."
One thing that's certain is that Mary won't be indulging in a Christmas tipple this year. She quit drinking following the death of her friend Whitney Houston last year. The singer struggled with addiction during her life and cocaine use played a part in her death, with Mary deeply affected by her funeral.
"Being that close to someone you loved so dearly, in a coffin – it freaked me out. It made me realise the importance of my own life," she explained. "I didn't stop [drinking] overnight; it was a process, and then it was a dead stop. I feel great right now. I feel wonderful. I have more clarity, more focus, more patience. And I lost weight – it flies off. It's all water weight, all the sugar in the alcohol, and when you stop, it flies off."
The star and her husband Martin Kendu Isaacs will celebrate their tenth anniversary next month and even that won't tempt the star to raise a glass. She plans to sip ginger ale to mark the occasion, insisting that's all she needs.
