Singer Muni Long is sharing details about her experience with lupus.
Systemic lupus erythematosus, commonly referred to as lupus, is a chronic autoimmune disease, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. It occurs when the immune system, which typically protects the body from infection and disease, attacks its own tissues.
In an exclusive chat with PEOPLE about her new single “Slow Grind,” the Florida-born songstress, 36, shares some of the ways lupus flare-ups affect her.
“[People with lupus] have little signs, right? Like my fingertips will start turning blue. My skin will get really pale,” Long says. “I’ll start looking super white. Which is hard to imagine because I’m brown-skinned. But literally my skin will turn like a light, ashy color.”
Sometimes, a major lupus flare-up can dictate an entire live performance.
“I recently had to cancel my college football playoff performance on January 18th because I had a flare-up due to some personal things,” Long confirms.
When the “Made For Me” singer joined Chris Brown as an opener for his 11:11 tour last summer, she was able to establish a pre and post-show routine that allowed her to remain in “control.”
“Please turn the air off when I come in the building. I’m not being a diva, but literally if I get too cold, I start coughing and I won’t be able to sing,” Long shares. “And then when I get off stage, I have to lay down immediately and wrap up in covers and steam my voice.”
According to the Lupus Foundation of America, the disease disproportionately affects Black women, who are three times more likely to develop lupus than White women. In fact, as many as 1 in 250 Black women will be affected by the illness in their lifetime.
Long, who was diagnosed with lupus in 2014, says that it’s been challenging to navigate the health care system.
“As a Black woman, when I go to the doctor, they never listen,” Long begins, when asked how the illness affects her day-to-day. “They don’t believe you. So it’s hard to tell them, ‘Hey, I’m in a lot of pain.’ They’re like, ‘Okay, cool. Go get this blood work.’ ”
“I’m like, ‘Okay, but that’s going to take you like a week [to get the results back.] I’m in excruciating pain. Is there anything you can do?’ And then it just becomes a thing of like they put down on your chart [something] like, ‘Oh, you’re asking for medication.’ It’s just so, so hard navigating with the way that the health care system is set up.”
So how has the two-time Grammy winner been able to manage the illness? By doing her best to remain stress-free, as she notes that stress is her biggest trigger.
“The thing for me is I really have to just not allow people to stress me out, which is hard because people get on my nerves,” Long says, with a laugh. “So the best tool that I have is just staying relaxed and not doing anything I don’t want to do. We do our best to make sure that kind of stuff doesn’t happen and before I step into a space, I can be as comfortable as possible.”
Listen to Muni Long’s new single here.
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