Stevie Nicks’ advice on overcoming stage fright
It’s the anticipation. It’s the thought of all those people waiting patiently. It’s the idea that anything and everything could go wrong at a moment’s notice. That’s right; it’s stage-fright. All performers feel it, but only some let it paralyse them. Take Stevie Nicks, for example. Despite her reputation as a fearless pop icon, she’s been plagued by stage fright for years. Here, she offers some brilliant advice on overcoming performance anxiety.
Of course, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Stevie Nicks would the last person to suffer from stage fright. Since she rose to fame as the steely-eyed female vocalist for Fleetwood Mac, she has been revered for her passionate performance style.
Nicks has always looked completely at home onstage, something she acknowledged during an interview with Jim Ladd back in 1983: “You know when I walk out on the stage it’s like that’s when I’m really me…They almost had to take me off the stage with a hook to pull me off the stage at the US festival. People say to me there’s never a look on your face like there is the look that is on your face when you’re on that stage. Cause that’s where I belong and I’m not near as good at home or at a party on an aeroplane or anywhere else. I’m at home on a stage with those kids.”
And yet, Nicks has frequently spoken about feeling wracked with anxiety before stepping onstage. “I get very bad stage fright. I get terrible butterflies and it’s not pleasant. It has always happened to me,” she told VH1. “Once I walk out onstage it’s fine all the nerves go away. But the six hours leading up to the shows are very hard for me.” Nicks has also said that big shows for The Grammys and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame are the worst, but the fear tends to get less and less as her tours progress.
So how did Nicks overcome this very pronounced fear? By the looks of things, a strong sense of self-belief. When, in 1998, she was asked to provide some tips for performers, she had only one thing to say: “Believe in yourself when you walk out on that stage. If you believe in yourself you can make everyone else believe in you.”
While certainly easier said than done, self-belief really is the golden rule of performing. Whether you’re an actor, a musician, a comedian or a professional wrestler, confidence is key. Why? Because if you have faith in your own ability, everyone else will have faith in you too. Audiences are very anxious things and very sensitive to the anxieties of others. All they’re looking for is permission to relax.
The best way to do so is to reassure them that everything is going to go swimmingly. It might not, but if you ride it out with confidence, the audience will either not notice or treat your mistake as a unique aspect of that particular performance. Honestly, belief can get you a long way.
