Lorde details battle with stage fright: 'It's a real struggle'

Lorde’s battle with stage fright is a “real struggle”.

The ‘Stoned at the Nail Salon’ hitmaker finds it hard to get up on stage and perform for her fans because of anxiety, and has said she has to “tape little notes” for herself around the stage whenever she performs so she has words of encouragement to look at when things get overwhelming.

She said: “It’s a real problem that I’m trying to get on top of. I try to write something down. I tape little notes to the stage for myself, so I would go over and be able to read something that me from the past is trying to tell me from the future. But it’s a real struggle.”

And Lorde, 24, thinks the COVID-19 pandemic might have made her stage fright even worse, because she hasn’t been able to perform since the health crisis.

She added: “It’s hard to know if the pandemic has made my stage fright worse or better, because I haven’t had the chance to test it out. I do think this album is a little bit more calm, and maybe that will help. Maybe the content will help me feel a bit more chilled out.”

The ‘Royals’ singer also has several pre-performance rituals she takes part in to keep her mental health in check before she takes to the stage.

She explained to David Byrne for Rolling Stone’s Muians on Muians package: “I do a lot of puzzles on tour. I’m often applying a piece right when it’s time to go, which maybe doesn’t help the stage fright. That’s too much of a change of mood. I’m still looking for the puzzle at the first song.”