Mary J. Blige appropriately titled her new album Gratitude, which was released on Friday (Nov. 15), because that is the overarching theme of this phase of her life. After enjoying a career spanning 30-plus years and no current plans on stopping — despite speculation about a looming retirement — the Queen of Hip Hop Soul is finally in a place to enjoy the fruits of her labor and warmly receive the many accolades bestowed upon her in recent years.
When she appeared on a new episode of “The Tamron Hall Show” on Friday (Nov. 15), the singer shared, “I’m getting the things I deserve because I know I deserve it.” In October, she earned her spot among legends when inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “It was right on time. You know, so many people was being inducted at like 80, some of those people who were dead, you know, and the blessing is it’s right on time,” said Blige, noting that she is not “too old” or “too young.”
The Grammy Award-winning artist’s discography includes massive successes such as her debut, What’s the 411?, the beloved classic My Life, No More Drama, Share My World and the list goes on. Blige even stretched her talents, finding praise for her roles in film and television. She earned two Oscar nominations in 2018 for Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song for Mudbound. Her multi-season run on “Power Book II: Ghost” saw her win a NAACP Image Award for her portrayal of Monét Tejada. But at 53 years old and having achieved the pinnacle of a musician’s measure of success, she says there is still so much more life and joy for her to experience.
“It’s a new book. I mean, I have to believe that there is more,” she told Hall. “And there is more; there’s so much if you want it to be, but if you want to believe you can’t do anything, you wanna believe what naysayers say, believe what the time is saying, and believe what your age is so-called saying, then you will be defeated… I’m believing that I can keep going,” she added.
Despite telling People magazine in April that Gratitude may be her last album, she clarified to Hall that she was just tired at the time the statement was made.