Even Paul McCartney can't really explain how he does it.
The former Beatle is in his sixth decade as a live performer, and while he might have slowed down a bit over the past few years, there's no signs he'll retire from performing anytime soon.
The singer has long chalked up his energy to a healthy vegan diet and regular exercise. But how his voice has remained intact after all this time is a bit of mystery.
"I have a couple of things I do before I go on stage, and I don't even know if they work!" McCartney said in response to a fan question on his website.
McCartney then detailed his routine, which he learned from Little Richard in Hamburg, Germany, in the early 1960s.
"I do like a steaming before I go on, which I was told was probably the best thing to clear your larynx," McCartney said. "I was taught that by watching Little Richard do it when we were kids in Hamburg. He used to do it before he went on. He’d get a kettle full of hot water in the sink, put a towel over his head, and [inhales] breathe in, get the vapors. So, I do that. It’s become part of my ritual and then I have a salt-water gargle. Again, I’m not sure if that does anything!”
McCartney clarified that he goes through all that within an hour before he goes onstage.
While he learned the steaming trick in Hamburg in the early '60s, McCartney says it's only become his routine over the last 10 years or so.
McCartney has been on the road for much of this year with his One on One Tour, playing bass, guitar, piano and singing his head off for close to three hours per night.
So far, steaming seems to be working just fine.
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