Mary J. Blige

VH1 Soul presents Mary J. Blige "Soul Story" premiering on Tuesday, December 19 at 6:00 PM. VH1 Soul's original series "Soul Story" celebrates the career of a featured VH1 Soul artist by airing a chronological sequence of their videos with artists providing in- depth accounts of the personal stories behind the lyrics. The two-hour episode will re-air on Saturday, December 23 and Monday, December 25 at 10:00 AM, 6:00 PM and 2:00 AM.

Throughout the episode Blige discusses the stories behind songs off her new album "Reflections: A Retrospective" as well as some of her biggest hits including "No More Drama" the title track off her 2001 album and "Real Love," "You Remind Me" and "I'm Going Down" as well as her newest hit "We Ride."

Blige states her hit "No More Drama" was "a turning point in my life." She goes on to explain how the World Trade Center attacks and the passing of R&B songstress Aaliyah affected her. Blige also mentions how surprised she was with the success of the record because "when you speak consciously, nobody really wants to listen." Blige felt that people were fed up with what was going in the world at the time and "No More Drama" echoed those sentiments.

When introducing "Not Gon' Cry," featured on her 1997 album "Share My World" Blige spoke openly and candidly about "being cheated on, lied to, abused, fighting back, and ready to burn down the house."

The Grammy-nominated song "Be Without You" off her 2005 album, "The Breakthrough" meant the most to Blige as an artist "because it let me know right away that my fans were growing with me and they were going with me because they accepted this record." She goes on to say "this record is about how hard it is to keep relationships together and that relationships are not all perfect but if you respect me and you ain't beatin' on me and cheatin' on me, I'd rather not 'Be Without You.'"

Launched in 1997, VH1 Soul is the 24-hour network that brings music lovers the hottest soul, neo-soul and R&B hits from the 90s and today featuring core artists such as Alicia Keys, Jill Scott, Outkast, Mary J. Blige and Usher. VH1 Soul, the premier source for all R&B and soul music, is now seen in the Top 20 U.S. markets for African-Americans and is available in nearly 20 million U.S. households.