Michel’le shared her story of surviving domestic violence Sunday night on the season finale of TV One’s Unsung.
A native of South Central Los Angeles, Michel’le stunned the music world with her two voices – the childlike speaking voice and her powerhouse singing.
She was discovered as a teenager, and signed to Eazy-E’s Ruthless Records.
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The singer-songwriter took the music scene by storm with her self-titled debut album in 1989, which included the hits No More Lies and Something In My Heart.
But behind the R&B star’s success, there was significant pain.
Michel’le said she was physically abused by her then-producer and boyfriend, Dr. Dre of N.W.A, and she admitted having black eyes on at least three music video shoots.
The abuse was no secret to those close to the singer, but her brother said on Unsung, “I came up thinking that was the way it was supposed to be.”
The domestic abuse details were previously revealed on the 2016 Lifetime biopic Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel’le.
But watching Michel’le recall the physical pain and mental anguish in her own words on Unsung brought strong reactions from fans on Twitter.
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“@Michellemuzic You are a HERO!!! Thank you so much!!! #Unsung,” one viewer tweeted.
“Her pain is still so palpable after all of these years, but I’m so glad that she decided to stick around and win in her beauty and truth,” another person wrote on Twitter.
A third person tweeted: “It’s hard 2 hear @Michellemuzic talk about this on #Unsung because my mother was a battered woman too #brave #thankyou.”
You can read more reactions to Michel’le’s episode of Unsung below.
The fact that her brother and father is in her life but yet Dr. Dre beat her repeatedly….smh But her brother just said they grew up thinking that was normal…smh. #Unsung
— KiKi (@qweenKi34) July 16, 2018
Many families normalize dysfunction like domestic violence @michellemuzic @tvonetv #Unsung
— Donald Peebles Jr. (@DonaldJrPeebles) July 16, 2018
