Sometimes I might be sleepy, and sometimes I've literally been sleeping backstage, woken up, gone straight on stage or gone crazy. It's not like I psyche myself; I don't do any of that.
Yup, the toilet is my best friend before a show.
I don't prepare for a live show.
Nothing is real until you walk out on stage.
I get to the theatre in plenty of time; I prepare my shoes in advance; I eat and drink the right things at the right time. The rest you have to leave to luck!
I don't agree with superstitious routines, but there are a couple of things I'll always do before performing. I'll get together with the band and chill out, and then, just before I go on stage, I'll always check my flies.
I can't speak for anybody else but myself 'cause I usually get in trouble when I speak for other people, so I've learned my lesson not to do that, but for me, I've been known to pace for quite a while when I walk onstage, and that's just because I'm becoming one with my shell.
Being a singer now I have to get all fussy... I must have my ginger and lemon and all that.
The night before a show, I don't sleep. Really. I've been doing this for 30 years, and the night before a show, I still don't sleep.
When I was doing 'A Raisin in the Sun' with Sean Combs, we began in bed, and he would give me 10 kisses and an 11th for luck before the play began.
Sometimes we pee on each other before we go on stage.
When I go into a theater, I'm very excited to turn off my phone. But then, of course, I get anxiety.
When I'm in show mode, I can't even think about putting on makeup; I just have to be centered.
I warm up a lot harder for a Clipping show than I ever did for 'Hamilton.'
For me, before I go on stage, it all depends. Might be a girl, might be an edible, might be a verse, might be somebody mixing something in my drink without me knowing - hopefully that won't happen tonight.
I remember playing the Royal Albert Hall, and a guy would say, 'Ten minutes to stage time,' and I'd get so nervous.
Never eat spinach just before going on the air.
Right before I go on stage, I'm absolutely terrified. My mind darts at many directions, but the center of me is going forward into the performance.
And when I perform on my own tour, I have to talk myself into going out on that stage every single night.
I'm really at ease in being me and going all around the world playing music. But I do get a lift once we start. I'm humming stuff in the dressing room and smiling, looking at myself and making sure I don't have nose hair! But once I get really close to the stage, and the guys are doing the intro thing, I do get a pick-me-up.
If I have a gig in the evening, I get 'the doom' at about 5 P.M., when I think I'm getting flu.
I've always come into a show when the show was already up and running.
I have to be careful what I eat before going onstage, to avoid an upset stomach.
When you go onstage, the process of getting you from the dressing room to the stage is all about ego.
No matter what - rehearsed, under-rehearsed, over-rehearsed, doubts about rehearsing - the first gig is always the first gig, and you put on your little praying hat, batten down the hatch, and do what you do.
