“Just imagine them in your underwear, and you should be fine.” Okay, first of all, no, thank you. I’m not curious. Second, that’s the most typical advice one might give you right before you speak in front of a massive crowd or ten people. The point is that your stomach is doing all the gymnastic moves you probably dream of doing, and you don’t know how to handle it.
It’s common for many to wish that they could have just a smidgen of the guts our favorite celebrities do when they get on stage to perform for thousands of people for hours at a time. We wonder how they do it. We wonder what it takes to get to that level but forget that they aren’t superhuman. The truth is some of the stars we consider household names have/had stage fright that we never would have guessed based on their performances. There are three you might have never imagined.
Amy Winehouse
This small Jewish woman named Amy Winehouse has blown the world’s mind with her stellar voice and out-of-this-world personality. She was charming and natural onstage-at least that’s what she made it seem like. Behind the beehive, Amy was also a nervous wreck.
Anyone who knows her story knows she suffered from an alcohol problem. Unfortunately, alcohol is one of the many factors that actually got her through stage fright and the pressures of touring. In her earlier years, you might catch her fidgeting with her clothes or looking down at her guitar to avoid eye contact with the crowd. No matter how often she performed and nailed it, she still had difficulty getting on the stage.
How Amy managed through it varied. As stated earlier, alcohol was a significant player, getting comfortable as it went on or focusing on the task ahead. Sometimes she needed her best friend, Tyler, to root her on from behind the curtain. Even up to her death, she still had the problem.
Marvin Gaye
The man who produced the song that kids are born to? Yes. Marvin Gaye had stage fright on a level that would make others feel brave. It was so bad it might as well have been a phobia. We look back and see the man who charmed and swooned the ladies. The man who stripped on stage to his boxes to give his fans what they were looking for and then said he was a natural! Well, kind of.
Marvin Gaye was naturally charming, with vocals so sweet they will make your teeth grit. But you don’t know that only moments before, backstage, he would cry because he had to go onstage. Marvin would be so sick to his stomach that he vomits and then contemplate if he would cancel the show. He pulled himself together, though, and somehow managed to put on the performance of his life, then wondered how he would work to do it again next time.
Beyonce
Queen Bey? The same one who sells out shows in the first hour? The same woman who performs like it’s her last show? Yes, Beyonce, at one point and time, did have stage fright. You couldn’t have guessed, but she ain’t superhuman either. She claims that she developed her alter ego- Sasha Fierce, to help cope with her stage fright. It was during her first performance when she 7. She admitted to Rollin Stones,
“I was terrified, and I didn’t wanna do it,”
It worked, and she no longer needed her. In 2010 she “killed her” and is now one with herself. That’s 22 years of pure fright.
Conclusion
As you can see, even superstars we see or hear daily cope with nervousness that we thought would be so natural. I know I used to grow up thinking, why can’t I get up there with no fear in the world like these people do? Little did I know behind the curtain, they faced the same dilemma I did but on a higher level. This article was not to convince you to drink before a speech, make you feel wrong about being sick to your stomach, or say get over it.
If you’re nervous or have stage fright, I hope this article gave you some courage. You’re not alone, even if it feels like it. Now I have one question for you. Can you relate?