Mary J. Blige is starting 2024 with a new award from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). “Good Morning Gorgeous,” the title track of her 14th album, is now certified gold.
The confident anthem has sold over 500,000 equivalent units. It marks Blige’s first RIAA certification update as a lead act since 2013’s A Mary Christmas, which received a gold plaque.
Speaking of the holiday album, Blige released A Mary Christmas (Anniversary Edition) in October 2023 to commemorate its 10th anniversary. The expanded pack featured two unreleased tracks, “O Holy Night” and a solo version of “Do You Hear What I Hear?”
Circling back to “Good Morning Gorgeous,” Blige co-wrote the song with Lucky Daye, Tiara Thomas, and its producers D’Mile and H.E.R. It peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Adult R&B Airplay chart and scored Blige her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 in over a decade.
On Spotify, “Good Morning Gorgeous” has amassed over 19.4 million streams, while the official video has 19.1 million views on YouTube.
Blige’s 14th album, Good Morning Gorgeous, was released Feb. 11, 2022, two days before she performed at the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show.
The album featured appearances from Usher (“Need Love”), Anderson .Paak (“Here With Me“), Dave East (“Rent Money“), DJ Khaled (“Amazing“) and more.
Speaking on the inspiration behind the album’s title, Blige told Zane Lowe of Apple Music, “Good morning, gorgeous, the affirmation, came from being in a very, very dark, low place where I was never enough. I wasn’t good enough… I wasn’t pretty enough.”
She continued, “Nothing would please this person, and I had to speak something positive over my life in order to build my spirit back up so I can pull myself out of that negative space I was in. It’s just a positive word I had to speak over my life that has gotten me to this title of this album.”
On May 6, 2022, Blige released Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe).
The expanded edition featured six additional tracks, including the H.E.R.-assisted “Good Morning Gorgeous (Remix)” and “Come See About Me” featuring Fabolous.
Blige achieved an Album of the Year nomination at the 65th Grammy Awards for Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe). It marked her first Album of the Year nod as a lead artist.
Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe) spawned five other Grammy nods, including Best R&B Album, Record of the Year (“Good Morning Gorgeous”), Best R&B Performance (“Here With Me” featuring Anderson .Paak), Best Traditional R&B Performance (“Good Morning Gorgeous”), and Best R&B Song (“Good Morning Gorgeous”).
Despite being the second-most nominated artist at the 65th Grammys, Blige did not take home any awards.
In recent news, Blige’s latest standalone single, “Still Believe Believe in Love,” featuring Vado, is No. 1 for a second week on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart.
The Mtume-sampled tune first entered the top 10 in late November 2023, tallying Blige’s 26th top 10 hit on that chart. She extended her record as the artist with the most top 10s on the Adult R&B Airplay chart.
Blige also contributed to The Color Purple soundtrack. Her song “When I Can’t Do Better” was produced by Bryan-Michael Cox and Johntá Austin, who also co-wrote it with Gabriel Blizman.
Up next, Blige’s Strength of a Woman Festival and Summit is set to return May 10-12 in New York City for the first time. The festival, which launched in 2022, was previously hosted in Atlanta, Georgia.
“We home,” Blige wrote in an Instagram caption for the festival’s promotional teaser.
Stream Mary J. Blige’s song “Good Morning Gorgeous” below.