Mary J. Blige is set to hang up the microphone in a few years, she tells Extra.
Making an appearance in Yonkers for the Pepsi x Mary J Blige Strength of a Woman Community Fund, which assists underserved women, the Grammy-winning R&B legend says that she is looking to pursue other interests, but plans to retire from music before too long.
“Right now, I’m definitely gonna do some more acting and I’m definitely gonna retire in, like, five or six years,” she reveals.
At the moment though, she has music on her mind, though not quite as much as she did in previous years. “Right now, I’m still doing what I’m doing but not as often as I was doing it because I don’t have to now,” she explains.
But she adds that music is “singing about life ... love … being stable and understanding you can have things like love. You can have a good life.”
With a range of film and TV credits to her name, Blige has found herself to be an in-demand actor, appearing in the upcoming biopic Rob Peace, alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor and fellow singer Camila Cabello.
Alongside Ozzy Osbourne and Cher, Blige was recently named one of 2024's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, telling Extra the honour is “the most amazing thing. It is in a class by itself.”