Nine-time GRAMMY Award winner and reigning queen of R&B Mary J. Blige has had a life full of wins and heartache, but through it all she has managed to end up on top time and time again.
Recent photographs of the “Power Book II: Ghost” actress show that not only is she looking her best on the outside, but that that same energy is matched on the inside.
During a Feb. 23 interview on the “The Ellen Degeneres Show,” the singer revealed that she felt great making it to her 50th birthday, but another emotion surfaced as well.
She shared, “Oh man, I feel great . When it hit at 12 ‘o’clock that night I just cried like a baby ’cause I made it. I’ve been through hell in my life and to make it to 50, it was just beautiful. Family and friends was around; it was beautiful.”
While fans of the “Real Love” vocalist have used her decades’ worth of music to overcome their own heartbreak and tribulations, the singer says it wasn’t until 2020 that some of her older music began to resonate with her.
Admittedly, Mary says her dislike of her own voice early on is the reason why she had not pressed play on portions of her discography until the pandemic hit.
“Something just said ‘listen to some Mary J. Blige,’ and I did, I felt like an outside person doing it. And as I was listening I didn’t, I mean, what blew me away is like so many of the lyrics was helping me now,” she said. She further explained that looking back on her drug and alcohol use during her younger years made it almost unfathomable that her younger self was helping her at the age of 50.
In particular, she says lyrics from her song “My Life” spoke to everything she has overcome in her life and those aspects that remain a work in progress.
“The line ‘take your time, one day at a time, it’s all all on you, what you going to do, was like, that was like the hill for me. Like, ‘just sit down Mary and relax.’ “
Making her year even more grand is her nomination to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as a role in the upcoming biopic “Aretha.”
