Brandy Reveals Unexpected Inspiration Behind ‘The Boy Is Mine’

With Brandy and Monica confirming they’re going on a “The Boy Is Mine” tour, 27 years after they released the hit song together, their fans were ecstatic. While both have kept busy in their careers, they admitted that they’ve been longing to do something together for a very long time — 27 years, to be exact.

“It was a dream come true,” Brandy said on “CBS Mornings” about the tour coming together. “The song itself, like, this idea was just monumental in ’98. And I just wanted us to do everything with the song. Finally, we get a chance to do that, and I’m excited. I just can’t wait.”

As they make the talk show circuit, discussing everything about “The Boy Is Mine,” Brandy revealed her surprising inspiration for the song.

Brandy Explains How ‘The Boy Is Mine’ Originated from ‘Jerry Springer’

Brandy and Monica went on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” to discuss the upcoming tour on June 25. Fallon asked if it was true that Brandy got the idea from watching Jerry Springer.

“Yes, I was a huge “Jerry Springer” fan, and one of the topics was, ‘The boy is mine,'” she told him. “I’m like, ‘Oh my god, song idea, let’s do this.'”

While the two had never met, Brandy admitted that she “was always a fan of hers and I wanted to work with her. So I called her up and asked her to be a part of the song, and she said ‘yes,’ and here we are,” she said, while Monica smiled.

Monica agreed with her recollection of what had happened. “When I first heard the song, I’m like, ‘But people are going to think we’re fighting,'” she recalled bringing up. “That was the point,” Brandy added.

“And people still think we’re fighting,” Monica said, as they both laughed.

The video for “The Boy Is Mine” begins with Brandy lounging in a chair, enjoying an episode of “Jerry Springer” before Monica, seated on a couch nearby, turns the channel. After going back and forth, they begin singing the song.

Monica and Brandy Addressed Their Long-Standing Feud: ‘It Started as Nothing’

“The Boy Is Mine” spent 13 weeks at number one and also earned the duo a Grammy award. However, what started as “brilliant marketing” for the song ultimately turned into a real feud, thanks to the voices surrounding them.

“It started as nothing and it really did turn into something,” Monica said on the “CBS Mornings” interview. This time, they opted to eliminate the middlemen. “The reason I was so insistent that we communicate directly is that you take all of the peanut gallery out of the conversation.”

“If there’s something to discuss, we discuss it among each other… and that just eliminates any confusion,” she added, alluding to all the other opinions and whispers they were dealing with in the late 90s and early 2000s. “There was a lot of confusion and conflict and there was a lot of people around.”