My Life (Mary J. Blige song)

"My Life"
Single by Mary J. Blige
from the album My Life
Released	June 28, 1995
Recorded	1994
Genre	Contemporary R&B, Hip hop soul
Length	4:18
Label	MCA/Uptown Records
Writer(s)	Roy Ayers, Mary J. Blige, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Chucky Thompson, Arlene DelValle, Rashad Smith
Producer	Sean "Puffy" Combs, Chucky Thompson, Rashad "Ringo" Smith
Mary J. Blige singles chronology
"All I Need" (1995) "My Life" (1995) "Everyday It Rains" (1995)
My Life track listing "Keith Murray Interlude" (6) "My Life" (7) "You Gotta Believe" (8)

"My Life" is a song co-written and performed by American R&B artist Mary J. Blige and the title track off her critically acclaimed second studio album. It samples heavily from the song "Everybody Loves the Sunshine" by Roy Ayers. "My Life" became a signature song for Blige, achieving great success at Urban radio, despite the fact that it was never officially released outside of the United Kingdom, and had no accompanying music video.

Thematically, the song explores the protagonist's attempts to both strive for better in life while also remaining true to emotional feelings ("when you're feeling down, you should never fake it"). At its climax, Blige asserts that "things will turn out fine" through faith and spirituality. It was composed by Blige, as was the rest of the album, at a dark time in her personal life when she battled drug and alcohol addiction and was engaged in a tumultuous relationship with K-Ci Hailey.

Faith Evans and Blige's older sister, LaTonya Blige-DaCosta, provided backing vocals on the song.

Blige recorded "My Life '06" for her compilation album Reflections (A Retrospective). The new version of the song features live instruments, a more mature and jazz-inflected vocal arrangement, and new closing ad-libs that shed a positive light on the song's previously melancholy and somber mode.