Kristen Johnston

After months of experiencing a ‘mysterious illness’ Third Rock actor Kristen Johnston was diagnosed with lupus myelitis (a type of Lupus that afflicts the spinal cord).

It was only after her official diagnosis that the actress took to Facebook in December 2013 to share with her fans the news and breadth of her symptoms, which included 'full body muscle weakness.'  'I've been really, really sick since early September... Full body muscle weakness to the extent that just walking difficult, stairs impossible and I even need a neck brace to hold my head up,' the actress shared online.

The symptoms became so much that Kristen - who currently stars as divorce attorney Holly Franklin on the TV Land comedy The Exes - was forced to take some time off from her role.

Michael B Jordan

Michael Bakari Jordan is an American actor. He is known for his film roles as shooting victim Oscar Grant in the drama Fruitvale Station, boxer Adonis Creed in the Rocky sequel film Creed and main antagonist Erik Killmonger in Black Panther.

Michael's mother, Donna, has lupus. He said:

“My mom’s always smiling even when I know she’s not feeling her best. She just moved up to Los Angeles a couple months ago, so she’s closer to me now.”

Michael is also involved in the fight to find a cure for lupus and has hosted events to raise funds for lupus research including the MBJAM event which he created in 2017..

Teddi King

Teddi King (September 18, 1929 - November 18, 1977) was an American jazz and pop vocalist. In the 1960s, she opened the Playboy Club, where she often performed.

After developing lupus, she managed to make a brief comeback with a 1977 album and with two more albums recorded for Audiophile released posthumously. She died of the disease on November 18, 1977.

Jo Koy

Joseph Glenn Herbert, known professionally as Jo Koy, is an American stand-up comic. His sister, Rowena, was diagnosed with lupus and Raynaud’s phenomenon in 2013 after suffering from symptoms for 15 years.

Jo who is an Ambassador for lupus, has pledged to raise awareness and funds so researchers can identify better treatments and hopefully find a cure for the disease.

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga's Aunt Joan died of lupus complications. In an interview for the Times she was asked if she had been tested for lupus and said: “Yes. but I don’t want anyone to be worried.” She did not actually reveal if the tests were negative or positive. She has since confirmed that her test shows she has ‘borderline’ lupus in an interview with Larry King 2nd June 2010.

Robyn Lawley

Australian model Robyn Lawley was diagnosed with lupus in 2015, saying it was "the most 'painful' ordeal she’s ever been through".

She went on to say " “I had symptoms towards the end of the pregnancy. It started in the muscles. I couldn’t pick up things very well and I was losing the ability to walk and to talk. I have a super high pain threshold ... I delivered an 11 pound baby ... so when I couldn’t even pick up things, the doctors, at first, didn’t take me seriously.

It wasn’t until my family — my sisters and my mum came over and saw me and said ‘That’s not how Robyn is’. They wheelchaired me off to hospital and that’s when I got checked out [and diagnosed].”

In 2018 Robyn revealed via Instagram photographs that she had a seizure and fell down the stairs at her home. Full story here.

Julian Lennon

Julian Lennon became a Patron of the Lupus Trust in December 2010. His school friend Lucy Vodden had lupus and sadly passed away in 2009 aged just 46. Lucy was the inspiration behind the Beatles classic 'Lucy in the sky with Diamonds'. 

Kate Linder

Kate Linder is an American actress, best known for her role as Esther Valentine on The Young and the Restless, which she has played since 1982.

Her sister in law has lupus. Kate supports the Lupus Foundation of America and was Grand Marshal for their walk to end lupus in 2019.

Muni Long

Muni Long is an American singer and songwriter who was diagnosed with lupus in 2018.

Her lyrics have been sung by artists like Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Madonna, Demi Lovato, and countless others. The song Hrs and Hrs written and performed by Muni had over 169.2M video views on TikTok and 109 million views on Youtube..

“Lupus is a stress-related disease, it’s a silent, invisible struggle ’cause you can’t see it. You wake up in the morning and you look just fine, but you really feel like you got ran over by a train. There’s a lot of different things that I’ve experienced with this diagnosis, everything from hair loss to skin rashes. Being in this business is vainglorious, so that affects my output so much. When I feel good, I look good, I produce well. When I feel like crap, and I gotta go out… Even something as small as someone touching my arm, it hurts. But I gotta smile, and I gotta talk to people when I don’t feel like talking.”

Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez

Lisa Left Eye Lopes of TLC, suffered from lupus and often supported lupus charities in the USA. She died in a car crash aged 30.

President Ferdinand Marcos

During the 1980s, Ferdinand Marcos was seriously ill and was in and out of office. He had systemic lupus erythematosus, which led to kidney failure. He was then on dialysis and later had a kidney transplant. Marcos finally died in Honolulu in 1989.

Doctors said lung and kidney failure and a widespread infection contributed to the cardiac arrest that was listed as the cause of death.

Kellie Martin

Emmy award nominated American actress, Kellie Martins sister, Heather, died of lupus in 1998 aged just 19. Kellie is most famous for her role as Lucy Knight in ER.

Marvelettes

Georgeanna Tillman (February 5, 1944 - January 6, 1980)

Georgeanna Tillman was a member of group the Marvelettes, who were Motown’s first successful girl group. They had a number of hit records such as ‘Please Mr. Postman’, ‘When you’re young and in love’ and ‘too many fish in the sea’.

By 1965, Georgeanna was battling lupus. As her health problems worsened, her doctor advised her to stop touring and she left the group for good but remained at Motown for a while as a secretary. She died in 1980 from the complications of sickle cell anaemia and lupus. The Marvelettes continued on as a trio.

Catherine McCormack

Catherine is British actress born in Alton in Hampshire. Appearing in films such as: Braveheart, Shadow of the Vampire, The Land Girls, A sound of thunder, Midnight Man and Dangerous Beauty.

Her mother died of lupus when Catherine was 6 years old.

Mary McDonough

Mary McDonaugh, best known for her role as Erin in the Waltons suffers from Lupus and when interviewed states that she thinks having breast implants in 1984 triggered the lupus as the symptoms started shortly afterwards. She played the part of a lupus sufferer having a kidney transplant in the programme ER in 1997. Mary told her story to the Lupus Trust and it has since appeared in our newsletter and on our website.

Bill Medley

Righteous Brother Bill Medley still fundraises for lupus after the other half of the Righteous Brothers, the late Bobby Hatfield’s wife Linda battled lupus. Bobby tirelessly worked to help increase awareness and raise funds for patient services and research.

Roger Moore

“When I was a child, my parents had a friend, the son of my Godparents, who had a form of lupus. He'd lost all the skin around his face, couldn't shut his eyes, he was going blind. It was horrendous to look at”.

Natalis

Natalis, is a multi-platinum, Two time Grammy Nominated Artist straight out of the Bronx, NY.

Davis Chris & Mr Foster reached out to her about working on an upcoming Gospel Album, the Good Fridays, the album was created to celebrate life because Natalis also battles with Lupus on a daily basis.

Wayne Newton

American singer and entertainer Wayne Newton’s sister-in-law, Tricia McCrone, was diagnosed with lupus in 2001 aged 30. Wayne calls Tricia "very courageous" adding "She has held her integrity and never let the disease stop her from doing anything she wanted to accomplish"

Flannery O'Connor

The famous American author, Flannery O’Connor, was born on March 25, 1925. Her father, Edward, died from lupus complications in 1941, when O’Connor was 15.

It was during this time that she wrote more than two dozen short stories and two novels. She died at age 39 from lupus complications.