Preparation Ritual Quotes

I dare not drink before a gig because I'll get tired and blow it. So I have to sit drinking tea in a caravan.

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.

We always pray before we go on stage. It's just something that I've always done. For me, it's a big thing, and the guys in the band seem to appreciate doing it, so we do it at every show.

I still like to keep tapes of the few minutes before the final take, things that happen before the session. Maybe it's superstitious, but I believe if I had done things differently - if I had walked around the studio or gone out - it wouldn't have turned out that way.

I'm always like this with a new movie role. I always get super-defensive and make noises like a rooster, Maybe that's because I spent so much time as a chorus girl.

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.

You prepare yourself by concentrating on what you have to do out on the field.

Me being the metal fan that I am, I like to listen to thrash metal to get me pumped - that kind of music will get your heart racing and ready for a crowd.

At 10 o'clock in the morning I'd go right in the studio. It feels good to be there in the morning before the day starts to mess with you - I don't mean in a negative way, but before I'd speak to a lot of people or get into anything, I'd go in there and just see what I felt. A lot happens in the morning for me in the studio.

When I'm getting ready, I'll listen to '80s music on Spotify just to wake me up and put me in the mood. I like that it's cheesy.