Mary J. Blige: I'm a clubber at heart

Mary J. Blige was "glued" to house music even when she was "too little" to be a clubber.

The 43-year-old singer's latest record is called The London Sessions and was inspired by house music, with Mary travelling to the UK to lay down the tracks. She decided to indulge a different kind of creativity this time around as, although she's known as an R&B artist, she has many other musical influences.

"I was too little to be a clubber. But the radio was big in my house and Friday was club music night. I was glued to it," she told Q magazine of her childhood.

Mary worked with many big names in the electric and UK music scene for The London Sessions. Among those were Sam Smith and Emeli Sandé, both of whom she has a lot of time for.

"I'd recorded the remix, F For You, with Disclosure and they blew me away," she recalled. "After that we said, 'Why not do an album where we embrace the London scene, its culture and talent? Emeli was brilliant to work with, and Sam has this thing where he opens his mouth and the hairs on your arms stand up."

Although this is a change of tack for the star, she doesn't think it will alienate all her usual fans. That's because she's given dance music a Mary J. Blige twist.

"Writing the record was free, liberating. But it's still Mary J. Blige; my DNA is still in it, the tone of my voice, my personality. And London was great. Fortnum & Mason for tea, Wagamama, and proper fish and chips. Y'all make the best fish and chips," she laughed.