Mary J. Blige is planning to retire in the next "five or six" years

She told US TV show 'Extra: "Mary is singing about life. Life... love... being stable and understanding you can have things like love. You can have a good life. "Right now, I'm definitely gonna do some more acting and I'm definitely gonna retire in, like, five or six 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."

The 'Family Affair' hitmaker now has a reported net worth of $20 million but reflected on her tough childhood growing up in Yonkers, Y and admitted that while it was a tricky time for her whole family, herself and other musicians like Lady Gaga are made "stronger" by all having similar sorts of experiences.

She said: "It was hard. My mom was a single parent... So if you survive it, you have friends and you have had love. It made us stronger... You can ask any writer from Yonkers - Jadakiss, DMX, Lady Gaga. It's something about Yonkers that made you strong!"

Earlier this year, Mary - who split from Kendu Isaacs in 2018 after 16 years of marriage - confirmed that she is no longer single but admitted that now she has realised that she is her only true love.

She said: "The glow is the love for Mary J. Blige. I find my real love. And my real love is me and I found it!"