Mario is opening up about how one of the darkest moments of his life helped heal one of his oldest wounds.
During a recent appearance on Way Up with Angela Yee, the R&B singer reflected on reconnecting with his father after the death of his mother, explaining that her funeral changed the way he viewed the relationship they never truly had.
Asked what advice he would give people who grew up without a father and struggle with forgiveness, Mario admitted the process wasn't easy.
"It was hard for me because you don't know what you're missing if you never had it," he said.
Mario explained that everything shifted during his mother's funeral in 2017.
"It wasn't until my mother's funeral that I actually felt like, 'Damn,'" he recalled. "He was the only person in that moment when her casket was closing that could console me."
Although his father had largely been absent throughout his childhood, Mario said something deeper happened in that moment.
"Even though he wasn't in my life, it was a spiritual thing," he said. "He was the only person that could hug me and it felt like, 'Yo, you're not alone. You did everything you could.'"
That experience convinced him it was time to rebuild their relationship.
"In that moment I was like, 'Yo, I got to rekindle this relationship because I got one parent left,'" Mario said. "So that's when, for me, it shifted."
Mario has spoken candidly over the years about growing up without his father and the impact it had on his self-worth. He has previously said that not having a father figure contributed to struggles with loving himself and understanding healthy relationships with men.
The singer's mother, Shawntia Hardaway, died in June 2017 following a long battle with addiction. Before her passing, Mario spent years trying to help her recover, investing significant time and money into rehabilitation programs. He later described watching her casket being lowered as the moment he fully accepted her loss.
That grief shaped much of his later music, particularly his 2018 album Dancing Shadows and the emotional single "Care for You," which revisited his childhood and his mother's addiction while encouraging vulnerability.
Outside of music, Mario has continued advocating for families affected by substance abuse through his Mario Do Right Foundation, which he launched in 2008. He has repeatedly urged families not to blame themselves for a loved one's addiction and has emphasized that addiction impacts entire families, not just the individual struggling with it.
