Not Gon' Cry

{{Infobox song

| name = Not Gon' Cry

| cover = Not Gon' cry by Mary j Blige US CD single.jpg

| alt =

| caption = US CD single

| type = single

| artist = Mary J. Blige

| album = Waiting to Exhale {{noitalic|and}} Share My World

| released = January 23, 1996

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = R&B

| length = 4:58

| label = Arista

| writer = Babyface

| producer = Babyface

| prev_title = (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman

| prev_year = 1996

| next_title = Touch Me, Tease Me

| next_year = 1996

| misc = {{External music video|header=Audio|{{YouTube|YXHBuIXAiXo|"Not Gon' Cry}}}}

}}

"Not Gon' Cry" is a song 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 third album, Share My World (1997). It was written and produced by Babyface and became a major hit for Blige in the United States, where it peaked at numbers one and two on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles and Hot 100 charts, respectively. The single sold 1,000,000 copies domestically and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

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.

Critical reception

Larry Flick from Billboard named 'Not Gon' Cry' "one of the strongest numbers" of the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack and felt it "is finally given a crack at chart success." He explained, "Blige's worldly delivery breathes palpable depth and empathy into Babyface's composition tracing the bitter split of a relationship. She convincingly builds from white-knuckled anger to cathartic resolution in the space of four minutes, riding a slowly grinding R&B groove etched with quiet blues colors. Judging from the sparks ignited here, the pairing of Blige and Babyface is one that needs to happen again and again."{{cite magazine|first=Larry|last=Flick|title=Reviews & Previews: Singles|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1996/BB-1996-01-27.pdf|magazine=Billboard|date=January 27, 1996|page=106|accessdate=November 21, 2022|author-link=Larry Flick}} Jonathan Bernstein from Entertainment Weekly described the song as "snarling".{{cite magazine|author=Bernstein, Jonathan|url=https://ew.com/article/1997/05/02/share-my-world/|title=Share My World|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=May 2, 1997|accessdate=October 20, 2021}} A reviewer from Music Week gave it three out of five, describing it as a "slow, steel-tipped ballad" and "good, if not memorable."{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1996/Music-Week-1996-03-02.pdf|first=|last=|title=Reviews|magazine=Music Week|date=March 2, 1996|page=14|accessdate=August 11, 2021}} Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "Blige has a raw edge in her voice that makes her contribution 'Not Gon' Cry' essentially a blues song, despite the smooth R&B production."{{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1995/MM-1995-12-09.pdf|title=New Releases: Albums|magazine=Music & Media|volume=12|issue=49|date=December 9, 1995|page=7|access-date=March 19, 2025}} People Magazine named it Waiting to Exhale{{'}}s "jilted woman’s manifesto".{{cite magazine|url=https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-share-my-world-vol-47-no-19/|title=Picks and Pans Review: Share My World|magazine=People|date=May 19, 1997|accessdate=October 18, 2021}}

Charts

=Weekly charts=

scope="row"\| Australia (ARIA){{cite web\|url= https://imgur.com/a/3Bafstx \| title=Mary J. Blige ARIA Chart History complete to 2024\|publisher=ARIA\|via=Imgur.com\|access-date= July 26, 2024}} N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart. \|align="center"\| 164
class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" !scope="col"\|Chart (1996) !scope="col"\|Peak position
{{single chart\|New Zealand\|12\|artist=Mary J Blige\|song=Not Gon' Cry\|rowheader=true\|access-date=October 20, 2020}}
{{single chart\|Scotland\|93\|date=19960330\|rowheader=true\|access-date=October 20, 2020}}
{{single chart\|UK\|39\|date=19960330\|rowheader=true\|access-date=October 20, 2020}}
{{single chart\|UKrandb\|5\|date=19960330\|rowheader=true\|access-date=October 20, 2020}}
{{single chart\|Billboardhot100\|2\|artist=Mary J. Blige\|rowheader=true\|access-date=October 20, 2020}}
{{single chart\|Billboarddancesales\|31\|artist=Mary J. Blige\|rowheader=true\|access-date=November 3, 2023}}
{{single chart\|Billboardrandbhiphop\|1\|artist=Mary J. Blige\|rowheader=true\|access-date=October 20, 2020}}
{{single chart\|Billboardpopsongs\|36\|artist=Mary J. Blige\|rowheader=true\|access-date=October 20, 2020}}
{{single chart\|Billboardrhythmic\|3\|artist=Mary J. Blige\|rowheader=true\|access-date=October 20, 2020}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" !scope="col"\|Chart (1996) !scope="col"\|Position
scope="row"\|US Billboard Hot 100{{cite web\|url=http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=1996\|title=Billboard Top 100 – 1996\|access-date=August 27, 2010\|archive-date=March 1, 2009\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301121523/http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=1996\|url-status=dead}} \|32
scope="row"\|US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard){{cite magazine\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQkEAAAAMBAJ\|title=1996 The Year in Music\|magazine=Billboard\|volume=108\|issue=52\|page=YE-40\|date=December 28, 1996\|access-date=June 29, 2021}} \|13

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!scope="col"|Chart (1996)

!scope="col"|Position

scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100{{cite web|url=http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=1996|title=Billboard Top 100 – 1996|access-date=August 27, 2010|archive-date=March 1, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301121523/http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=1996|url-status=dead}}

|32

scope="row"|US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQkEAAAAMBAJ|title=1996 The Year in Music|magazine=Billboard|volume=108|issue=52|page=YE-40|date=December 28, 1996|access-date=June 29, 2021}}

|13

Certifications

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=Mary J. Blige|title=Not Gon' Cry|award=Platinum|relyear=1996|certyear=1996|access-date=October 20, 2020}}