Muni Long Underwent Double Lung Transplant After Doctors Gave Her A Week To Live

Grammy-winning singer Muni Long left the “Brandy and Monica: The Boy Is Mine Tour” earlier than expected last year due to a need to focus on her health. But what she didn’t detail, until now, was that her doctors told her shortly after that if she didn’t get a lung transplant, she would die.

The singer revealed this in an interview with Good Morning America‘s Robin Roberts on Tuesday (June 23).

“I should have never taken that tour. But there was so much going on in my life where I had to do it,” the “Made for Me” singer revealed. It was during that time on the road that the demands of touring caused her to develop pneumonia.

“I couldn’t even get out of the bed to make my call time for stage,” she said. “The last show, I just barely made it. I was only able to do two songs.”

She pulled out of the tour and returned home for the Thanksgiving holiday, and next thing she knew, she woke up in the hospital with a tough decision to make: they said she needed to get a double lung transplant, which of course, she didn’t want to undergo.

“I said, ‘How long do I have to live?’ And they go, ‘A week.’ My jaw dropped. Literally. I was like, ‘That’s rude.’ But they were kind of like, ‘This is not a joke. You need to make a choice. You can either go to hospice or you can get these lungs.’”

As a singer, she was understandably concerned about how a double lung transplant could impact her career, but at the end of the day, her life was hanging in the balance. “The ego and the vanity was just like, ‘But what about my voice? What’s going to happen?’ But then I look at my son, and I think about how much more life that I have to live. Quality of life was first. I can’t sing if I’m not here.”

And speaking of quality life, since having the operation six months ago, she says she’s feeling better than she has in a long time.

“I’m doing fabulous. I’m six months post-op. Tomorrow is my last appointment for all the things…No symptoms. Asymptomatic. No infections. None of that. Then my vocal checkup six months will be in August because I had to have vocal surgery, as well.”

Long has been able to sing after the transplant and vocal surgery, and says her voice sounds amazing. But since leaving the tour, she’s not sure when she’ll be cleared to perform, as doctors say it could be as little as six months or as long as a year. Nevertheless, new music is on the way to hold fans over. And Long, who has been open about her journey with lupus, is in a much better place physically and mentally, as her life-or-death ordeal put everything into perspective.

“Don’t put yourself on the back burner for everyone else. You need to focus on you,” Long told Roberts. “You need to pour into yourself. Don’t be afraid to say no. Rest if you need to. That is a radical thing — for us to rest.”

*Outlets must credit ABC News/“Good Morning America”