Words and photographs by Sugarwolf
The “Queen of Hip Hop Soul,” Mary J. Blige, held court at Golden 1 Center on Saturday, March 8, with the final California stop on her “For My Fans Tour.”
The tour, which comes on the heels of Blige’s fifteenth studio album, ‘Gratitude’, has been billed as a celebration of the love and gratitude Blige has for her “life, family, friends, and her beloved fans”. Blige spent the evening treating those fans to a hit-heavy setlist of music spanning all the way back to the debut album ‘What’s The 411’ that helped launch her career.
Now more than three decades later, Blige continues to be a chart topper as Gratitude’s first single, ‘Breathing’ has already ranked number one on Billboard’s Adult R&B list. Blige expressed much excitement when the tour was announced and promised it would bring fans a more intimate and personal evening with the star. Blige made good on that promise last Saturday. The grammy award winning performer nearly set off a five-alarm fire when she appeared wearing a rhinestone studded, red-hot bodysuit. Her production featured two stages, both with long catwalks that allowed her to get up close and shake hands with hundreds of fans throughout the evening. The ‘For My Fans Tour’ continues its run through late April with multiple US cities still on the calendar.
Blige saunters across the main stage. Photo by Sugarwolf
LOVED SEEING MARY! IT WAS ON MY BUCKET LIST. SHE WAS THE FIRST CASSETTE TAPE I BOUGHT. I DROVE ALL THE WAY FROM PORTLAND,OR TO SEE HER! SHE DIDNT DISSAPPOINT! LOVE YOU MARY AND THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME THROUGH THE YEARS WITH YOUR MUSIC!