Charli XCX gives her all on stage, but it comes with a cost.
In a new video interview with Variety posted Wednesday (Dec. 4), the 32-year-old pop star opened up about suffering nerve damage from how intensely she performs, noting, “I find touring really hard emotionally.”
“I find the stage — especially these days — to be a very angry place for me,” she continued. “I’ve done a lot of physical damage to my body from performing, and I’m often in a lot of pain when I perform. Physically, I have nerve damage in my neck from things I’ve done on the stage.”
Charli is currently gearing up for a run of 2025 dates in support of her critically acclaimed album Brat. This year, she hit the road with Troye Sivan for their joint Sweat trek, an arrangement the “Von Dutch” artist called “a lot easier and less of an emotional battle for me.”
“For me to give a performance I feel is good enough, I have to really physically throw myself around and that makes me very upset when I do it,” she added. “It’s kind of this hellhole, but being with Troye softens that a lot.”
The video comes alongside a feature interview with Variety, in which the musician opened up about the surprising success of Brat, her insecurities and more. At one point, she shared that her “Sympathy Is a Knife” remix collaborator Ariana Grande gave her advice on multiple fronts, including kick-starting her acting career and hosting SNL. (The “Yes, And?” singer helmed the show in September, followed by Charli in November.)
Charli also recalled bonding with the Wicked star over the “Sympathy Is a Knife” lyrics. “She had a lot to say,” the “365” artist said of Grande, who “gravitated” toward the track, according to Charli. “We went back and forth on the lyrics, talking about all the knives that we both felt in this industry.”
Watch Charli open up about her nerve damage above.
