While the 55th Annual Grammy Awards were huge, celebrating music released over the last year, a lot of new albums and projects were announced too. Keeping up as it pertains to R releases, John Legend, Ashanti, Tyrese, Elle Varner and Kelly Rowland are among those that gave updates or announced brand new efforts. Plus find out which one has been inspired by Michelle Obama and Stevie Wonder. Read more at (singersroom.com) And if you want to take a peek inside the Grammy after parties head over to (ybf.com)
MARY J CLEAN & SOBER
Mary J. Blige, a self-confessed born-again Christian, says Whitney Houston’s death in February 2012 hit her hard, and made her realize it was time to seek spiritual help in an effort to cut out her binge drinking. “I didn’t want to go to rehab,” she tells Los Angeles Confidential magazine. “I believe that anything man himself can do for me, God can do in a greater way. I decided to pray and to seek God on my own. I just stayed in the Word. And it worked.” Blige admits she struggled with alcohol addiction after trying to cut back and just drink socially. “I chose to learn how to drink socially and it didn’t work,” she said. “The test comes when you have to decide whether you’re drinking to be social or drinking to cover up something again. To cover up depression, to cover up guilt. Shame. Abandonment… Once I realized, ‘There you go again,’ I had to stop. “Whitney Houston’s death really affected me. Her death is another reason I stopped. I really do think I’m done. I looked at how that woman could not perform anymore.”
BEYONCE’S NEXT CHAPTER
If the public still hasn’t had its fill of Beyonce, just wait until Saturday. OWN has announced that the entertainer will be the subject of “Oprah’s Next Chapter” airing Saturday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m., which precedes HBO’s premiere of Beyonce’s documentary “Life is But a Dream” at 9 p.m. Topics to be discussed during Oprah Winfrey’s chat with the 17-time Grammy winner include directing her HBO documentary and performing during the Super Bowl. Beyoncé was last interviewed by Winfrey for the “Oprah” show in 2008.
USHER’S CONNECTION TO JUDGE
