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R&B star MARY J BLIGE has blasted the music industry for writing off her career, but confesses its attitude fuelled her determination to succeed.
The NO MORE DRAMA singer and former drug addict insists record labels were obsessed with finding copycat stars to replace her, because no one was convinced of her longevity.
She says, "A lot of people were just depending on the fact, you know, 'She won't be around long.' There would be another girl, who looked like me, or sounded like me, and there would be another one, year after year after year.
"It was like, 'Wow, they really expect for me to be dead.'
"I think the music business in general, all the record companies, were going, 'We need a Mary J Blige.' In their mind, they already thought that I was dead." (SH/WNBGUS/SC)
(c) 2004 World Entertainment News Network
