They've been hailed as Best British Newcomers by Kerrang! They're famous fans include Fearne Cotton, Zane Lowe, and Nick Grimshaw (to name but a few), and they've been on the lips and in the ears of Radio 1 listeners for weeks, so what is it about While She Sleeps that has everyone talking? Music News caught up with two fifths of Britain's hottest metal band to talk about their new album, and why they're taking the world by storm.
Music News: How are you guys doing today?
While She Sleeps: We’re very good, but a little bit tired, we had to get up at half five, then we got stuck in traffic coming from Sheffield – as soon as we hit London we had four miles to go, but there was so much traffic.
MN: How long have you guys been together?
WSS: As a couple? [laughs] While She Sleeps have been together six years. Some of us were in the same group before, but as a different band, but then again we’ve been in and out of bands for ten years.
MN: And you’ve suddenly blown up now? How’s that?
WSS: Well it wasn’t sudden for us, we were playing locally for about four years, it’s taken a while, but we stuck at it, and now we are where we are.
MN: Has your sudden (or not sudden) popularity been overwhelming?
WSS: It’s been really overwhelming, but we’re just taking it in our stride. There’s so much going off, you just do one thing at a time, every week is full and different, you’re doing this then you’re doing that, and by the time you’ve finished and gotten use to it, there’s something else.
MN: Is this the kind of stardom you were aiming for when the band got together?
WSS: We weren’t really aiming for anything. Obviously you want to be successful and you’re like ‘Oh yeah I want to be in a big band’, but you don’t really expect things to go off quite the way I have – nobody really expects it, it just kind of happens. It’s been a steady process for about two years and then we got signed by Sony, which was incredible, but we’re just taking it all in right now.
MN: How have your live shows changed from before you blew up to now?
WSS: We don’t play to ten people anymore [laughs]. Mostly we just get the opportunity to play to more people, because we get to go on tour with bigger bands. For example, a couple of years ago we did a headline tour, and played to about 20 people a night, then a year later when we’d just got signed to Sony, we were selling out 400 capacity rooms, which was really cool. You just get better and you learn things whilst you’re on tour, and everything just gets better – it’s amazing.
MN: Kerrang! has called you the best new British band, that’s a big accolade to live up to, how do you feel about that?
WSS: I think we’ll live up to it, it feels like the right time for us. We’ve always wanted this, and we’re going to give it our best shot. The award is something that we really wanted last year, but we didn’t get it, so to get it this year is great, and to be able to go to the awards and then win, that was great, afterwards we got drunk.
MN: Tell us about your takeover of Radio 1, it’s been epic!
WSS: It’s been amazing! It’s pretty much played on all of the shows except Chris Moyles. Fearne Cotton played us at 11AM, and we get repped all the time, it's absolute gold. Scott Mills has played us; and Nick Grimshaw as well. It’s weird to hear that kind of heavy music on at the time of the day, but it’s time for a change, and it’s time to create some diversity. There have been a lot of split opinions in the country, but we like that, we get a buzz off of it. People phone in and say that they hate it and that it sounds like a cat screaming, but then other people are like ‘I haven’t heard this band before, this is really cool’.
MN: Do you think having your music played on such a commercial station and so early will help expand your fan base?
WSS: Definitely! There will be people driving to work, or people that won’t admit to liking such heavy music, but when they’re on their own they rock out in the car. It’ll gain us more fans, because at least one of the shows, Fearne Cotton’s I think, has about 4million viewers, so we’d hope that at least one person out of that 4million will become a fan – if they don’t then we’re probably doing a pretty bad job.
MN: So how do you think you’re different and how will you convert people they don’t like metal?
WSS: I don’t think we’re a typical metal band, yeah it is screaming, but we’ve got good melodies as well. A lot of people get angry, everyone does, and listening to our music gets that out. Even if you forget the screaming, I think there’s something in our music for everyone, there’s different parts of the album, or the song, with some bits being melodic, some bits being heavy, so there’s something for everyone.
MN: There’s a lot of screaming, how do you keep your voices in tact?
WSS: Both our singers have lots of exercises they do backstage to warm up; it’s a little annoying actually. They also have lots of honey and tea, so that helps. Singing like that is such a hard thing to do, it’s an art and it takes a lot of work, but they’ve been doing it for years, so they’re use to it, but it’s definitely a skill. We kind of do want people to listen a bit more though, and know that it’s an art and it’s a skill and it’s not just screaming, it’s about being passionate, it’s just louder than singing.
MN: Can you tell us a bit about it your debut album This Is The Six?
WSS: Writing the album was great, but it was quite new to us, we’d never been in such a great studio before. Our guitarist would usually write the riffs and then bring them to us. We recorded all the instruments separately, but it was a great experience, because we’d never been in a proper music studio before, we’d always just recorded everything ourselves – it was a crazy experience, but it was the best thing ever!
MN: What’s your favourite song from the album?
WSS: It’s hard to say, we like all of them, we’re constantly listening to it, making sure it still sounds alright, but the more you listen to it, the more your favourite song changes. Dead Behind The Eyes is a favourite, but also Our Courage, Our Cancer, but we like them all.
MN: What’s been your favourite part of this process so far? So much has happened this year, has anything been a standout moment for you?
WSS: This year, the Kerrang! Awards was amazing and winning was great, then getting pissed, but then we had Download festival the next day, and that was the biggest crowd we’ve ever played to. We had a great slot, which was around 6PM in the evening, so it was absolutely amazing, one of the best shows we’ve ever played. I think we finished that and we were all on a total high – so yeah, probably Download Festival.
MN: So what’s the next step?
WSS: There isn’t really a plan, we’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing, and hoping that more people like it. We just want to play in bigger places, hopefully write a new album after this one, and just keep going – maybe take over the world [laughs]. We’d love to play in more countries too. We’ve only played in the UK, Europe, Scandinavia and Australia, so going to more places around the world would be great.
MN: What would you want to be your next big career achievement?
WSS: Maybe Warp Tour, we’d love to do that next year. If we achieved Warp Tour, that would be the best thing – it’s a few months worth of festivals in America, so it would be amazing – eventually we want to start playing arenas as well. It’s a long way away, it might not be in the near future, but we’d love to do that eventually.
While She Sleeps' debut album This Is The Six is out August 13th
Visit www.WSSofficial.com for more info
ON THE RISE
Mary J. Blige is one of the titans of hip-hop and R&B music. She has held her crown as the reigning Queen of Hip-Hop Soul for over three decades, consistently performing and releasing music that resonates with many. Her openness and candor, sometimes during the most painful seasons of life, have touched the hearts of her audience and those watching from afar.
On Saturday, Oct. 19, Blige and 15 others will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as the class of 2024, marking the 39th year since the first induction. At the first ceremony in 1986, only an elite group of male acts of all kinds were inducted, including Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, James Brown, Little Richard and more.
Interestingly, Blige has a connection to many of those inducted in the first year. Case in point: The super producer duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis incorporated the iconic bassline from James Brown’s 1973 classic “The Payback” into Blige’s beloved hit “Everything” from her third album, Share My World. Blige took the fan-favorite to the top five of many charts in 1997.
From there, Blige established herself as one of the most versatile artists of her time, capable of collaborating with artists from many genres without sounding out of place. She collaborated with the iconic rock band U2, who were inductees as part of the class of 2005, both in the studio and on stage. The band first encountered Blige at the 2002 Grammy Awards, where she delivered a powerful rendition of “No More Drama” (more on that later).
Bono, the frontman of U2, could be visibly seen at the end of her performance, clapping and scanning the crowd in awe for their reaction. In 2005, Blige and U2 collaborated on an updated version of the band’s beloved 1991 classic, “One,” for Blige’s album, The Breakthrough.
Skip ahead to 2024; Blige also has ties to legendary figures who are part of the class of 2024. Notably, she is closely attached to Norman Whitfield, a highly acclaimed songwriter and producer, set to receive a posthumous Musical Excellence Award.
Blige has re-recorded two songs written and produced by Whitfield for Rose Royce, including “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore” with Faith Evans and “I’m Going Down.” The latter belter, an arena anthem loved and sung by all, has become more synonymous with Blige than its original performers, respectively.
As the countdown continues for the 39th annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Rated R&B reveals 16 more connections that Mary J. Blige has with at least one artist from some of the other induction classes, demonstrating why she is in good company.
Quick note: the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will be live-streamed on Disney+ on Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. ET. It will also be shown on ABC at a later date and available on Hulu starting Oct. 20.
Blige will perform with special guests Ella Mai and Lucky Daye, with Method Man and Dr. Dre listed as presenters.
Back in 2002, culture journalist and photographer Craig Seymour confidently asserted that Mary J. Blige could one day be celebrated in the same way as some of the greatest women in music, including three Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, one of whom was Aretha Franklin. Blige is often regarded as the equivalent of what Franklin was to their generation, a sentiment shared in the past by Kelly Rowland, Sir Elton John, Andre Harrell and others. “When you think about Mary J. Blige, you think about, to me, like our generation of Aretha Franklin because she’s got so much soul and she’s just so raw,” stated Rowland. John added, “We Mary comes on television, you’re always prepared for something great. It’s like when Aretha came on television, you knew you were in the presence of greatness. And by God, she is great.”
Like the Queen of Soul, Blige commands respect, epitomizes soul, and has racked up a career’s worth of accomplishments, including nine Grammys. One of her wins, for Best Gospel Performance with “Never Gonna Break My Faith,” is shared with Franklin. It’s noteworthy that this win marked Franklin’s final trophy and 20th overall. Further, their inaugural collaboration, “Don’t Waste My Time,” from 1999, also received a Grammy nomination.
Yet, not enough discussion has been focused on Franklin having Blige co-write material for her 2003 album, So Damn Happy, despite the emphasis on the duets between the two. One of the standout moments was “No Matter What,” featuring background vocals by Blige, with Troy Taylor as a co-writer and producer. Blige also offered backing vocals and co-writing on “Holdin’ On” from the same album.
“I was five years old when I first heard Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life. You feel so good listening to whatever lyrics that Stevie is singing,” Blige said in a 2017 interview. Blige’s admiration for this particular Stevie Wonder album and the music genius himself runs extremely deep. In 1992, the two first met on the Arsenio Hall Show, where they performed “You Will Know” with Jodeci. Later, she incorporated parts of “Pastime Paradise” from Wonder’s 1976 album into her soulful 1999 release, Mary, specifically in the song “Time.” According to Blige’s former manager, Kirk Burrowes, Blige covered “As” with George Michael, intending it to be part of the same album. Years later, Blige teamed up with Usher to pay tribute to Motown and performed “Do I Do” at the 2017 Fashion Rocks ceremony.
A collaboration still worth having in this life is the one between Mary J. Blige and The Isley Brothers. Blige has thoroughly searched through the record bin for interpolations and elements from the band’s decades-spanning career. For example, she interpolated their legendary group’s 1979 classic “Let’s Fall in Love (Parts 1 & 2)” for “The Love I Never Had” from the Mary album. She later did a full-fledged cover of their material when she re-recorded “Hello It’s Me” for a special edition of her Grammy-winning album Growing Pains (2007). Additionally, Ron Isley of the legendary band and Blige also shared a minor acting role on The Jamie Foxx Show, playing a daughter and father pair.
Blige portrayed the Queen of Blues, Dinah Washington, in the 2021 film Respect. The biopic centered around the early career of Aretha Franklin, for which Jennifer Hudson starred as the Queen of Soul. “It was nice to work alongside Jennifer Hudson and be that character. Flipping the table over was just so therapeutic,” said Blige to Elle.
“[Blige] is genuinely one of my favorite people in the whole wide world, and certainly, my favorite girl singer,” Sir Elton John told Blige over a video gram during a taping of Private Sessions. Blige and John have a long history of recording and performing, dating back to 1999 when Blige integrated parts of “Bennie and The Jets” into “Deep Inside.” John also played the piano on the personal track, which rocketed to the top 10 on the R&B and hip-hop charts in 2000.
Over the years, Blige and John have performed together on stage. They sang John’s hit song “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues” and Blige belted “The Right Time” while John played the piano in tribute to Ray Charles during the 2000s. Later in their careers, John wrote the empowering song “Stronger Than I Ever Was,” inspired by Blige’s divorce, for the animated film Sherlock Gnomes in 2017. The following year, Blige covered “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word,” a song she had previously performed live, for John’s tribute album Revamp.
Maxwell is not the only artist who has put their own spin on Al Green’s 1972 signature tune “Simply Beautiful.” Blige collaborated once again with her My Life collaborator Chucky Thompson for the song “PMS,” which addresses what she considers to be “the worst part of being a woman.” The emotional anthem takes inspiration from the pensive organ instrumentation of Green’s classic.
During a live taping of a concert DVD featuring Green, Blige also performed an improvised version of “Simply Beautiful.” In the same concert special, Blige and Green sang together, performing “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” from Green’s 1972 album Let’s Stay Together.
Blige had to have a huge affinity for Curtis Mayfield to have embedded his music into not one but two songs on the My Life album. The first of the pair was “I’m The Only Woman,” a sure-footed track for which it samples, was inspired by a romantic scene in Mayfield’s Super Fly 1972 film.
Blige included “You’re So Good to Me” from Mayfield’s 1979 album, Heartbeat, as the basis for “Be Happy,” the lead single off My Life. Mayfield’s smooth foundation and continuous slap-bass accompaniment benefitted Blige’s career, as her optimistic single reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart and No. 29 on the Hot 100 in the winter of 1994.
Blige collaborated with a star-studded class of artists and musicians for her fourth album, Mary, propelling her from a hip-hop singer to a bonafide artist. Among the new studio associates was English guitar legend Eric Clapton, who played on the Diane Warren-penned “Give Me You.” The ballad, another top 10 hit for the R&B icon, was quite different from anything previously heard from Blige.
“I just figured that was a really great song for her voice and it was kind of something different for her,” Warren exclusively told Rated R&B in 2019. “When I write a song, it’s almost like casting. You just want the best voice and she has one of the best voices ever.”
Circling back to Clapton, he invited Blige to perform songs from her career at a benefit concert in support of Crossroads Centre in Antigua. She delivered a three-song medley, including a powerful rendition of “Not Gon Cry.”
Blige has been a fan of Michael Jackson for as long as she can remember. “When I was growing up, my idea of music royalty was Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, The Jackson 5,” she gushed to W Magazine in 2015. “Every song that they’d ever sang was my favorite song. I was just a huge fan, especially of Michael. He was just my husband in my head.”
While Blige never collaborated with Michael Jackson, she did enjoy sampling and interpolating his music, particularly from his Off the Wall album, in her work. In 1999, she mimicked the vocal phrasing of his 1979 song “I Can’t Help It” in “Sexy” featuring Jadakiss. She later interpolated the energetic “woo” from Michael’s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” at the beginning of her long-standing anthem for confident women, “Just Fine.”
Jazze Pha, who co-wrote and co-produced, told Rated R&B in 2017 that he had no doubt fans would gravitate to Blige’s sunny new approach. “I already knew fans were going to love [“Just Fine”],” Pha declared. “It was upbeat but it was still Mary. It didn’t feel like something she was trying that was out on the limb somewhere for her or her fans. It felt right in the middle for her fans. It was different … but it still felt good for them.”
The music video for “Just Fine,” directed by Chris Applebaum, was also heavily inspired by Michael’s video for his second No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Blige’s My Life album not only delves into her broken relationship and life struggles but also reflects the music she adored while growing up. The thoughtfully sampled project takes listeners back to the sounds of ‘70s soul, with the piano from Isaac Hayes’ “Ike’s Mood I” woven into the final product known as “I Love You.” Blige remembers that DJs used to mix this track from Hayes’ album …To Be Continued into the hip-hop breaks at block parties. Fast forward to 2014, hip-hop giant Nas sampled “Ike’s Mood I” for his track “Reach Out,” featuring Blige. The song appears on the lyricist’s album Life Is Good.
“Dance for Me” featuring Common, from Blige’s fifth album, No More Drama, is considered a standout in her extensive discography. It’s a lively track that samples “The Bed’s Too Big Without You” by The Police, a British rock trio led by frontman Sting (more on him later). The song was a big hit overseas, reaching No. 13 on the UK Official Singles chart.
Speaking of Sting, he collaborated (“Whenever I Say Your Name”) with Blige for his album Sacred Love in 2003. Their duet, which they performed at her An Intimate Evening with Mary J. Blige – Live from the House of Blues special, won a Grammy in the pop category the following year. It became Blige’s third of nine statuettes from the Recording Academy.
In 2009, Blige was invited to perform for President Barack Obama at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., for his inauguration as the 44th commander-in-chief. She delighted thousands outdoors with her moving rendition of the soothing 1972 anthem “Lean On Me” by Bill Withers. Blige still cites this moment of career as a major highlight.
In 2018, Blige was present to induct Nina Simone, the High Priestess of Soul, into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Her presence there was not coincidental; for over a decade, she has been connected to Simone in one way or another. Blige was originally intended to portray Simone in a biopic, and she took piano lessons and acting classes to prepare. “It’s a big honor to have been chosen, but this is the first big role I’ve ever had. I’m going to give it all that I have,” said Blige in a 2006 interview with Real Health.
Three years later, Blige mentioned that she was moving forward with the film under her now-defunct Matriarch Entertainment banner. The following year, she confirmed that she was enrolled in various classes to prepare for the film. It was said to be shot that fall but was later delayed. Although she was not chosen for the biopic about Simone that was released, she has not given up on the idea of portraying the larger-than-life woman. “I want to learn how to play the piano,” Blige told Stephen Colbert in 2023. “I love her songs. They are very dark and moody and I can always find a place for that. So yeah, I definitely want to play her.”
Biopic aside, Blige used a sample of Simone’s iconic vocal for her song “About You” in 2005. In 2015, she re-recorded Nina Simone’s song “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” for a tribute compilation. Additionally, Blige’s 2024 single “Breathing,” featuring Fabolous, includes a sample of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ song “I Put a Spell on You,” which Nina Simone had previously covered.
While music icon Janet Jackson and soul diva Mary J. Blige have never worked together on music, the two share a mutual respect for one another. They, along with Beyoncé, graced the June 2004 issue of Essence following Jackson’s infamous Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction. Blige was asked about Jackson in the cover story, stating, “She’s been an inspiration, and I love and respect her.”
Blige adds, “She goes through a lot because she’s a big celebrity. That comes with the territory. She’s everything I thought she was when I was a child watching her. I know with all that success comes other stuff, but the strength she has is, to me, the biggest gift.”
Years later, Jackson and Blige had rare photo opportunities. They also were on the same performance bill or seen supporting each other at their sold-out shows. Then, in 2022, Jackson presented Blige with the Icon Award at the Billboard Music Awards. Just before this, Blige referenced Jackson in “No Idea,” which is taken from Good Morning Gorgeous.
Had Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis never worked with Blige, fans would have been deprived of many of the essentials and gems in her discography, including the Nas-assisted “Love Is All We Need,” the lead single from her third album, Share My World. Then there is “The Love I Never Had,” which appeared on her subsequent release, Mary. However, if there is one song that will be remembered as her most recognizable from their sessions together, it’s “No More Drama,” from the album of the same title, released in 2001.
The survival track continued to pave the way for her success in music, especially after her unforgettable performance at the 2002 Grammys, which remains one of the most talked-about in Recording Academy history. Jam & Lewis collaborated with Blige in the later stages of her career, contributing to two tracks (“Baggage” and “Can’t Get Enough“) on her Grammy-winning album, The Breakthrough. Most recently, in 2021, the renowned duo featured Blige on a song titled “Spinning” from their debut album, Jam & Lewis Vol. 1.
Blige must feel like a lucky woman. Not only has she covered music by Chaka Khan, one of her biggest influences, but she has also won a Grammy with the Queen of Funk for “Disrespectful,” which she wrote and presented to Khan. In terms of covers, Blige gave new life to Rufus and Chaka Khan’s “Sweet Thing” for her debut album What’s the 411? There are also unreleased and rare remakes, such as “Everlasting Love,” originally recorded by Rufus and Chaka Khan in 1977, on YouTube.
In 2012, Blige remade one of Khan’s mega hits “Ain’t Nobody” for her 10th album, My Life II: The Journey Continues (Act I). Blige has shared the stage with Khan on many occasions and curated a lineup for the 2017 Essence Festival and her inaugural Strength of a Woman Festival in 2022, for which she enlisted Khan to perform. Above all, in many of Blige’s interviews, when asked about the best advice she’s received, she quickly refers to the words shared by Khan. “For me to get out of my own way,” Blige recalls.
