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Mary J. Blige opens up about troubled past

Mary J. Blige performs at the BET Awards '11, June 26, 2011, in Los Angeles. Getty

(CBS) In an episode of "Behind the Music" that aired Sunday night on VH1, singer Mary J. Blige opens up about the problems in her past. In one section, she talked about her struggle with alcoholism.

Pictures: Mary J. Blige

"I stopped drinking," she says in the episode. "It was will power. It was prayer. It was really hard. But, I cared so much about [husband Kendu Isaacs], I didn't want to be just this alcoholic burden on him. He doesn't deserve for me to be some, you know, slum-bucket alcoholic, and so I took responsibility and I cleaned up, as much as I could. But it was hard."

Blige told the Miami Herald the special was about "[f]orgiveness, recovery, hope, inspiration, determination, [and] love."

Blige's album "My Life 2: The Journey Continues" is scheduled for a fall release.

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