The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul’s outreach is much broader than you think — much broader.
According to Will Bardenwerper, author of The Prisoner in His Palace: Saddam Hussein, His American Guards, and What History Leaves Unsaid, and former Airborne Ranger-qualified infantry officer in Iraq, Mary J. Blidge had an unlikely member as apart of her fanbase.
In his newest book, Bardenwerper narrates the final days of Iraq’s notorious leader, Saddam Hussein, in the months leading to his execution. From his love of muffins to his nickname for his prison exercise bike (Pony), Bardenweper is no-holds-barred, which included one of the more interesting facts: the former president of Iraq’s love of Mary J. Blige.
“He’d always stop tuning [the radio] if he stumbled across a Mary J. Blige song,” shared one of the 12 members of the 551st Military Police Company recruited to guard Hussein, according to the New York Post. The book will further detail experiences and relationships formed by the guards during his last days of captitivy.
Hussein held his position of power for nearly a quarter-century before being charged in connection with a 1982 botched assassination attempt and executed by hanging in December 2006.
I must say, “No More Drama” is aptly fitting given his circumstance but as they say “music soothes the savage beast.”
