Mary J. Blige is ready to put herself first.
“Unfortunately, a lot of y’all met me when I lacked boundaries and was a people pleaser.” Blige, 54, wrote via X on Thursday, March 27. “Let me reintroduce myself, I burn bridges as needed.”
Blige, who is currently on tour, did not shed light on any specific situations that caused her to change her mindset. She did, however, previously upload the same message via her Instagram in May 2024.
While setting firmer boundaries, Blige does hope to continue making music and performing.
“I’ve done pretty much everything that I want to do. The boxes have been checked,” Blige exclusively told Us Weekly in August 2024, confirming that she’s nowhere near ready to retire. “Sometimes I get fatigued, you know what I’m saying? I’m tired. I’ve been doing this for 30-something years. So, in a little while, it’ll be time. … [But I’ll be] working hard until then.”
The rap star has been an inimitable force for decades, and she specifically holds her sophomore album, My Life, in high esteem.
“That’s my baby because it shows the difference between where I was and where I am. I was in such a dark state of mind. And life was not something that I wanted to live,” Blige recalled to Us of the 1994 record. “When I had to make a choice and when I made the choice to love myself, those are two different dynamics. … I didn’t want to live, now I want to live. So I had to make the choice to choose myself and my fans and live. That’s what turned it all around. It was pivotal.”
Despite all the success and accolades, Blige said her “spiritual life” is what helps her stay grounded.
“This has not all happened because of you,” Blige added to Us. “This is blood, sweat and tears. This is your family. This is people helping you. There’s no ‘I’ in team, there’s no ‘I’ in any of this. And that’s how I stay grounded, knowing that I need help.”
Once Blige decides that she is finally ready to slow down professionally, she has a few ideas in mind for retirement.
“Retirement looks like traveling the world,” she teased to Us last year. “Going to places I’ve never been before, relaxing [and] being on yachts and in homes and just enjoying the fruits of my labor.”
