Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Muni Long is opening up about a terrifying health battle that nearly cost her life.
The 37-year-old R&B star revealed this week that doctors once gave her just one week to live after a grueling tour left her battling severe pneumonia on top of her ongoing fight with lupus, an autoimmune disease that can attack the body’s organs and tissues.
Speaking on ABC’s Good Morning America, Long admitted she pushed herself far beyond her limits while serving as an opening act on Brandy and Monica’s The Boy Is Mine tour last year.
“I should have never taken that tour,” she confessed. “But there was so much going on in my life that I had to do it.”
As the tour continued, Long’s health rapidly deteriorated. She said the combination of cold weather, nonstop performances, and lupus took a devastating toll on her body.
By the final stop of the tour, the singer could barely make it through her set.
“I was only able to do two songs,” she recalled. “My team and my family were like, ‘You just need to come home and rest.'”
But what happened next was even more shocking.
After returning home for Thanksgiving, Long woke up to devastating news from her doctors.
“I asked, ‘How long do I have to live?'” she said. “And they go, ‘A week. One week.'”
The stunning diagnosis left her speechless.
“My jaw dropped, literally,” Long said.
According to the singer, doctors made it clear that she was facing a life-or-death decision.
“This is not a joke,” they told her. “You need to make a choice. You can either go to hospice or you can get these lungs.”
Faced with an unimaginable decision, Long chose to fight.
Thankfully, the Grammy winner survived the health crisis and is now on the road to recovery.
Today, she says she’s feeling “fabulous,” although the ordeal continues to affect her voice. Long revealed it could take anywhere from six months to a full year before her vocal strength fully returns.
The frightening experience has given the singer a new perspective on life and health after coming dangerously close to losing both.
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