Mary J Blige loves Rihanna for being unapologetic.

The 46-year-old singer has heaped praise on the 29-year-old star's 'Wild Thoughts' collaboration with DJ Khaled and Bryston Tiller, and revealed she is a ''huge'' supporter of the 'Don't Stop The Music' hitmaker.

Naming 'Wild Thoughts' as the song she can't get out of her head at the moment, Blige told NME: ''It's just the beat and the way Rihanna is singing and riding the beat. I am a huge Rihanna fan.

''I love her for many reasons. She's free - she does what she wants. She says what she wants. She's like a rock'n'roll star. She's just Rihanna and she's not apologetic for any of it.''

It comes after the 'Family Affair' singer received the Icon of the Year Award at Billboard's Women in Music Awards 2017 on Thursday (30.11.17) at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles.

During her acceptance speech, she said: ''Thank you to Billboard for this honour tonight. I'm so grateful, I'm so humbled, I'm so thankful.''

But Mary believes with the title comes a ''huge responsibility'', and the star - who filed for a divorce from her estranged husband Martin 'Kendu' Isaacs earlier this year - wants to encourage other people in difficult position in their lives that they can ''make it through''.

She continued: ''When people look up to me, I want them to see my life and have it reflect theirs and understand that if I can make it through everything that I've made it through and still making it through, you can do it as well.''