Most of the male singers in my country including some i know smoke. Why is that? Do they get nervous before a show? Does it improve their voice somehow?

As a professional singer I cannot see anything positive about smoking in any form.
I kicked the habit cold turkey 25yrs ago & never looked back. You must treat your voice like a finely tuned Stradivarius its a delicate instrument.

I know this will sound weird ---

In my thirties and forties I smoked continually on the job (weekends). From Monday to Friday no smoking. I did say Weird ----

I feel it was all part of the illusion we created in those days. You know the Sinatra look. The singer and his cigarette.

Haven’t smoked since, John C.

Cigaratte companies & entertaiment media promote smoking as somthing hip & kool, specifically marketing & targeting to teenage youth who become quickly addicted.


The only improvement?! (if you even want to call it that) is developing a husky voice (aka hoarse damaged) voice from irritated throat & vocal chords with lung capacity efficiency, followed later developing emphysema, lung cancer, and death. Not a healthy scenerio. The fact is: contrary to cigarette company hype promote only to increase sales (profit) to line their pockets alone, there's not one single benefit to cigarette smoking for a singer.

I have NEVER smoked, and NEVER plan to start.

My advice. If you don't smoke, don't ever start. If you smoke now, quit.

Scott

PS: Even being exposed to 2nd hand cigarette smoke has been now shown to lead to lung cancer.

I never put one in my mouth, but after 30 years in music ... I'm sure I've inhaled my share of second hand smoke.
Sure hope it doesn't turn into any problems. So far - it hasn't. I never shout, never go to hockey games .... I really pamper my instrument. I like breathing !

If you wanna sing the blues, but sound too much like Pat Boone, smoking will help. It will also help you to the Soylant Green factory quicker... then you'll really have the blues. Hardly worth it.

Glenn

Although I've never smoked, I would say my lungs have taken a hammering over the years from second-hand smoke in various venues. Thank goodness for 'no smoking' by-laws being introduced in many jurisdictions.

The tobacco companies are seriously worried about this trend. I saw a story in the paper this week about how cigarette manufacturers have, over the course of the last few years, increased the amount of nicotine by as much as 20% in their deadly products, especially in those brands that are targetted towards the younger generation. The sole intention being that of installing the addiction in young people to guarantee the companies' future profits. How despicable.

Further to this, tobacco companies have greatly increased their advertising budgets in third world countries, ergo less-educated about the perils of nicotine addiction, in order to carry on their dirty business.

Of course, the biggest addicts in all of this are governments, hooked on tax revenues from tobacco sales. A pox on all their houses.

Q. Is it possible to keep singing if you're a smoker?

A. Yes. However, smoking has certain effects on your body which will affect your singing:


Smoke burns the cilia that line the airways to your lungs. These cilia protect the suface they line from infection. In addition, without these cilia lining your airways, you will likely begin to experience a retention of fluid in your lungs because the mucus created in your nose and elsewhere will continually slide down your windpipe.
You will find yourself short of breath not only because of fluid in your lungs, but because the smoke burns, turns black, and destorys your alveolar, the air sacs in your lungs. Less of them means less air, the exact thing you need to have to sing.

I don't think it's true.
I never smoked the first one, but, like the others, I've been exposed to much second-hand smoke. Now, I stay out of the smoky places.
Thank goodness, Louisiana is going all smokeless Jan. 1.
DonM

To my knowledge, bars are exempt. As usual, Louisiana waters down the law. No telling how long it will be before it applies to bars. We'll probably be dead and gone. It doesn't make sense... if you say they are deadly and you want to protect people in restaurants... I guess that means you don't care about people in bars. Cheers to them for passing it but it's a major disappointment to me. There is nothing I hate more than tobacco. Sorry, Carolinians.


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Bill
Yamaha PSR2000