Gregory Porter had to stop eating before performances because he kept burping on stage.
The 47-year-old jazz singer doesn’t have many pre-show rituals or rules except ensuring he has an early mealtime before he is due to sing to avoid trapped wind exiting his gut as he’s holding his mic.
Porter introduced the self-imposed rule after a bad burping experience on stage which was caused by a fine dining experience before a concert in France.
Speaking on the Table Manners with Jessie Ware podcast, he said: "I do try not to eat right before a show, in France none of the kitchens are open from four, five, six, that’s when you need to eat because I like to have three hours before I go on stage.
"In France they were always feeding me at like 8 o’clock for an 8.30 show and it was just ridiculous, so my first few times in France I was like, ‘OK, I have to be respectful I have to eat this good food I don’t wanna waste this food.’ "
The musician then explained that he would burp in the middle of songs such as ‘Hey Laura’.
He continued: "I was like this is craziness so I just stopped doing that. But other than that I don’t really have any rules I do milk and cheese I have a very light thing before I go on show so I don’t follow any of the rules."
The ‘Liquid Spirit’ hitmaker went on to explain that he began cooking very early, and recalled handling hot oil with his nine-year-old sister at the age of six to cook crispy French fries.
He said: "Cooking for me, my putting my hands on even a knife and food really started early … I remember we used to handle the grease ourselves we put the grease ourselves; we put the grease, the oil into the pan ourselves.
"I was six years old, my sister was nine and very tall, yes there were other grown teenagers around us, but I remember dropping the French fries in the oil.
"Nothing happened but I think about it now, my son is five now would I let him cook in a year no, but I did it and I loved it."
Gregory Porter stopped eating before shows to stop stage burps
