Mary J. Blige Says She 'Cried Like a Baby' When She Turned 50 Last Month: 'I Made It'
Mary J. Blige is speaking candidly about turning the big 5-0.
While appearing virtually as a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show Tuesday, the 50-year-old singer opened up about her milestone birthday.
First telling host Ellen DeGeneres that she feels "great," Blige, who was promoting her new partnership with Gold Bond, then explained that "when it hit 12 o'clock that night, I just cried like a baby because I made it."
"I've been through hell in my life and to make it to 50, it was just beautiful," she added. "Family and friends were around, it was just beautiful."
RELATED: Mary J. Blige Celebrates Turning 50 Rocking a Gold Halter Bikini: '#MaryJFly'
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Last month, Blige rang in her 50th birthday by sharing a selection of snapshots from her Turks and Caicos beach vacation.
Donning a gold snakeskin halter bikini for the series of photographs, Blige accessorized her high-shine look with a pair of tinted sunglasses and an array of gold jewelry. The Grammy award-winning singer also showed off her toned physique and blonde braids in the two pics.
"Tough love is the therapy! #MaryJFly," Blige caption the pic as she struck a pose in her first photograph, adding "#WhereTheMoneyReside" in the caption of her follow-up post.
Many of Blige's fans and followers responded in the comments section of her post, sending the singer well wishes on her birthday. "50 years young????," one user wrote on the first pic as another added, "Wow. ?? 50 never looked so good!" on the other.
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Later during her Ellen interview, Blige also opened up about listening to her past work for the first time amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"Well, I really didn't like to listen to even the sound of my speaking voice, let alone, listen back to Mary. J Blige," the "Family Affair" crooner explained to DeGeneres, 63. "But I've grown so much."
"During the quarantine, I don't know. Something just said listen to some Mary J. Blige and I did," she continued. "I felt like an outside person doing it."
The artist went on to explain how listening to her old music turned out to be therapeutic, helping her through the quarantine times.
" ... As I was listening, what blew me away was so many of the lyrics was helping me now, during quarantine and in my life," Blige said. "And what I couldn't understand was how could somebody so messed up — that was drinking and on drugs and just a crazy, young person — write those lyrics that can help me through everything that I'm going through right now? It was like listening to another person."