Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Not Gon' Cry

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Released
  
January 23, 1996

Genre
  
R&B soul

Label
  
Arista Records

Recorded
  
1995

Length
  
4:57

Format
  
CD single Cassette single Maxi single

"Not Gon' Cry" is a 1996 single by American R&B singer Mary J. Blige, from the soundtrack to the film Waiting to Exhale; the song is also featured on Blige's 1997 album, Share My World. The song was written and produced by Babyface and became a major hit for Blige in the US, where it peaked at number one and two on the Billboard's R&B Singles and Hot 100 charts respectively. The single sold 900,000 copies domestically and was certified platinum by the RIAA. Blige received her third Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (her first nomination in that category) at the 39th Grammy Awards in 1997 for the song. Coincidentally, other songs on that were later released as singles from the soundtrack ("Exhale" by Whitney Houston and "Sittin' Up In My Room" by Brandy) also received nominations in the same category. Blige performed the song at the 39th Grammy Awards telecast.

Background

The lyrics of the song are inspired by a storyline in the movie Waiting to Exhale revolving around one of the films main characters, Bernadine (portrayed by actress Angela Bassett), who gets abandoned by her philandering husband. The music video, which incorporates clips from Waiting to Exhale, was directed by Wayne Maser and Elizabeth Bailey.

The song was later sampled in 2004 by rapper The Game for his own song "Don't Need Your Love" from his album The Documentary. In 2009, R&B singer Monica covered the song at "The BET Honors 2009" as dedication to Blige, who was one of the honorees at the program.

References

Not Gon' Cry Wikipedia