Monica and Brandy captured the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal Grammy in 1999 for “The Boy Is Mine.”
The Darkchild and Dallas Austin-produced duet, featured on Brandy’s Never Say Never and Monica’s album of the same name spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In June, the two R&B legends made a cameo in the official video for Ariana Grande’s “the boy is mine” from the album eternal sunshine.
It was a moment that Grande will forever remember. “You have no idea what this means to me. I am still convinced that I am dreaming it all,” she posted to her then-378 million followers on Instagram Stories.
Soon after, Brandy and Monica collaborated for the third time, joining Grande on “the boy is mine (remix).” That version was serviced at urban radio, reaching No. 36 on Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.
Other Billboard charts also welcomed the remix, including Rhythmic Airplay (No. 4) and Digital Song Sales (No. 21). It also has over 23 million Spotify streams.
Of Grande, Brandy posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Thank you for embracing us with so much warmth and kindness, Overjoyed to celebrate this moment with you and @MonicaDenise”.
Monica also was grateful to reunite with Brandy and find a new collaborator in Grande, who showed her great respect.
Discussing Grande, Monica told Entertainment Tonight, “What I am so amazed by is her humility, her compassion. On the day that we recorded, I received flowers and a note that was directly from her. Everything has been directly from her chest and, for me, authenticity, humility, all of those things are key.”
Most notably, Grande’s “the boy is mine (remix),” featuring Brandy and Monica, is up for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 67th Grammy Awards in 2025. This category recognizes new collaborative pop recordings, limited to singles or tracks.
Grande now has a total of 18 Grammy nominations, including two more for 2025. Brandy has 13, and Monica has five.
“Truly an honor to have been a part of this song,” Monica posted to her 13.5 million followers on Instagram Stories.
Monica’s new nomination marks a significant milestone after a 14-year absence. Her last nominated works were Still Standing for Best R&B Album and “Everything to Me” for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards in 2011. This was her first time in each category.
Previously, Monica was recognized 12 years earlier at the 41st ceremony for Record of the Year with “The Boy Is Mine,” where she also won in that aforementioned category.
Brandy, nominated 13 times, was last recognized for her duet “Love Again” with Daniel Caesar, which topped Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart for two weeks and earned a gold certification from the RIAA after selling over 500,000 equivalent units.
“Love Again” was featured on both Brandy’s b7 album and Caesar’s CASE STUDY 01 album.
The influential vocalist received an additional nomination, Best R&B Song, for “The Boy Is Mine” in 1999 for co-writing the song, which is a songwriter’s award. She shares the writing credit with Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III, and Japhe Tejeda.
Long before this nomination came, Brandy hoped that the renewed connection with Monica would lead to future projects, possibly involving touring together.
“I hit [Monica] up so much talking about all the things that we could do together — tour, residency, everything,” Brandy told Extra TV on the red carpet. “I really want that. Monica, I really want that.”
The 67th Grammy Awards airs live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, on CBS.
Watch Ariana Grande’s official remix lyric video for “the boy is mine” with Monica and Brandy below.
