The Story Behind Mary J. Blige's Only No. 1 Hit, Family Affair

Posted by Reinaldo Massengill on Saturday, May 4, 2024

In 2001, Blige released what is widely considered her career-defining — and maybe even genre-defining — song, "Family Affair." According to UDiscoverMusic, the song headlined her fifth album, "No More Drama."

The track was produced by legendary rapper and producer Dr. Dre and saw his production pair with Blige's powerful voice. "Family Affair' became Blige's first song to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the song would also score her another Grammy nomination.

"Family Affair" is regarded as one of the genre's seminal songs, but even Blige herself didn't grasp just how huge the song had become until one particular moment sitting on her tour bus. "I was on tour and the bus driver was a white boy who was listening to his country music radio station," she told BackstageOL (posted on YouTube). "I'm sitting at the front of the bus and 'Family Affair' came on. I got really nervous and said, 'Something different happened, why is my song on the country station?' 'That's when I realized that I was huge, because country is a big deal. The bus driver said, 'This is the best thing in the world. This is our song!'"

The documentary "Mary J. Blige's My Life" is now streaming on Amazon Prime (trailer on YouTube).

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