Muni Long opens up about lupus battle, lung transplant and recovery
Two-time Grammy-winning R&B singer Muni Long is opening up about a life-changing health battle after doctors told her she had one week to live without a lung transplant.
Long, whose hits include "Hrs & Hrs" and "Made for Me," shared details of her health journey over the past year -- which she said included a double lung transplant last December -- in an interview Tuesday on "Good Morning America."
The singer, whose real name is Priscilla Renea Hamilton, has been open about living with lupus since being diagnosed with the disease in 2014.
According to MedlinePlus, an online health resource run by the National Library of Medicine, lupus is a chronic autoimmune condition that can affect many parts of the body, including the skin, joints, kidneys, lungs, heart, blood vessels, nervous system and digestive system. It can cause a range of symptoms, which differ from person to person, but can include fatigue, arthritis, rashes, mouth sores, swollen glands, and confusion and memory problems.
People with lupus also face an increased risk of heart disease, kidney damage, blood clots and inflammation of the tissue surrounding the lungs, MedlinePlus states.
"There is no specific test for lupus, and it's often mistaken for other diseases that cause similar symptoms," it adds, noting that the cause of lupus is currently unknown.
Long said she struggled through much of her time as a supporting act on Brandy and Monica's The Boy Is Mine Tour last year before her health deteriorated.
"The road is tough, like, even when you are healthy ... I should have never taken that tour, but there was so much going on in my life where I had to do it," Long said, speaking with "GMA."
As temperatures dropped during the Northeast leg of the tour, Long said her lupus symptoms worsened.
After battling pneumonia and stepping away from several dates, she attempted to return before ultimately being forced to stop performing.
"It was just like ... I couldn't even get out of the bed to make my call-time for a stage," she said. "In the last show, I just barely made it. I was only able to do two songs."
Long said that after returning home for Thanksgiving, she woke up one day in a hospital, where a team of specialists delivered devastating news.
"And they're all like, 'You need a transplant,'" she recalled. "And I'm like, 'Well, it sounds like you guys have a time[line], like, how long do I have to live?' And they go, 'A week. A week to live.'"
Long said she eventually underwent a double lung transplant in December 2025 and is now about six months into her recovery.
"I'm six months post-op," she said. "No symptoms, asymptomatic, no infections, none of that."
Long recounted that the prospect of a transplant, when first presented, raised questions about her future as a performer.
"It absolutely was, like, the ego and the vanity ... like, what about my voice? You know, what's gonna happen?" she recounted.
Long said her new single, "Richest" -- off a forthcoming album due out this fall, details of which have not been released -- was recorded before the surgery and will be the last music released featuring her pre-transplant vocals.
"My voice now is, it's totally different," she said. "It's actually better, but I don't know that I can perform yet."
Reflecting on her experience, Long said she hopes others learn the importance of prioritizing their own well-being.
"If you don't have your health, you don't have anything," she added.
