Mary J. Blige has brought in her 52nd birthday with a few famous faces including Fat Joe, Usher, Remy Ma and Queen Latifah on hand to celebrate her.
The Queen of Hip Hop Soul partied with a number of her friends in New York City on Saturday (January 14), three days after her actual birthday. The party was hosted at famed restaurant Cipriani, and welcomed additional guests from across the music, fashion and television industries including Joey Bada$$, Mysa Hilton, Angie Martinez, Papoose and stars from the Power franchise.
AD LOADING...
On Monday (January 16), Mary J. Blige took to Instagram to share a few snaps of her two party looks and thank her friends for helping her celebrate.
“WOW!!! What a night!!!,” the multi-platinum songstress wrote. “It’s nothing like partying with people you really LOVE and who LOVES you back!!! That energy was crazy and unmatched!!! Thank you to everyone for all the birthday LOVE!!! I’m so overjoyed and still recovering from Saturday!!! #CapricornSeason”
Mary closed out her 51st year with a bang, previewing two major non-music projects just ahead of the end of 2022.
In November, she announced the pending release of her very first children’s book, Mary Can!, which is set to hit shelves on March 28. Sharing the “BIG NEWS” via Instagram, the “Real Love” singer debuted the book’s cover and revealed that the Ashleigh Corrin-illustrated story was officially available for pre-orders.
AD LOADING...
Giving fans an insight into what they can expect from the book, she added: “Mary Can! is an inspirational and motivating story about a young girl who proves that anyone can make their dreams come true if they just believe in themselves.
“It’s such a personal story for me, based off my own experiences as a child and even as an adult. I was so used to people telling me ‘no’ and that I ‘couldn’t’ which only motivated me more. My hope with this book is that it instills in kids from an early age that they can do anything they aspire to do. There are no limits to what they can accomplish!”
AD LOADING...
Weeks later, Mary J. Blige landed a new deal with BET and with a talk show titled The Wine Down slated as the first effort to come from the partnership. According to Deadline report, the new series will feature Mary having “raw, provocative, insightful and real” conversations with “the hottest, most outspoken” celebs in their respective fields over wine. She’ll also executive produce.
The show is part of a first-look non-scripted deal between the network and the legendary singer’s Blue Butterfly media company, launched in 2019. And it’s quite likely the guests will be sipping on Mary’s Sun Goddess wine, which she launched with Italian winemaker Marco Fantinel in 2020.
“BET has been one of my biggest supporters throughout my career,” Mary J. Blige said in a statement. “Being able to now create together, for them to be so supportive of my vision for the type of content I will create, is something I am grateful and excited for. We already have multiple projects in the works and there is much more to come.”
Overall, 2022 was a huge year for Mary, and it kicked off with her nostalgic Super Bowl halftime performance alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent. Following the performance, streams of her 2001 song “No More Drama” saw a massive 520 percent increase.
AD LOADING...
Mary released her 14th studio album,Good Morning Gorgeous, the same weekend as her Super Bowl appearance, and it received six Grammy Award nominations including Album of the Year and Best R&B Album. The multi-hyphenate also continued her role as Monet in Power Book II: Ghost and was even commemorated with her own day in Atlanta.
And in addition to her partnership with BET, Blue Butterfly has also announced a first-look scripted TV deal with Lionsgate Television.
AD LOADING...
Check out additional photos from Mary J. Blige’s 52nd birthday soiree below.
