How These Musicians Stay In Top Shape For Tour
Back in the day, life on the road for a chart-topping rock star was one of excess and debauchery, characterized by the familiar phrase sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. Those that survived that lifestyle — and there have been many who didn't — eventually came to the realization that the only way they'd achieve career longevity was to embrace health and fitness by putting down the substances and picking up a barbell. As a result, musicians whose entourages may have once included their own personal drug dealers are now heading out on tour with personal trainers and fitness equipment, and private chefs along for the ride to craft meals that emphasize nutrition and wellbeing, not opulence.
As a result, octogenarian rockers such as Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger continue to entertain massive crowds in sold-out stadiums around the world.
It's a lesson that hasn't been lost on the new generation of music artists, either, who are also aware that the rigors of a concert tour demand a high level of physical fitness, particularly when delivering a two-hour-plus show night after night. For a closer look at some top acts who take their fitness seriously, read on to explore how these musicians stay in top shape for tour.
A vegetarian diet and grueling performances have kept Joan Jett rocking
Joan Jett burst on the music scene when she was a teenager as a member of the all-female rock band The Runaways. Going solo in early 1980, Jett unleashed a string of hard-rocking hits, most notably her classic 1981 single, "I Love Rock 'n' Roll."
With her 65th birthday arriving in September 2023, Jett continues to deliver the goods onstage, with a vigor that belies her age. A key reason for Jett's youthful appearance has been her refusal to fall prey to the typical rock-star vices, eschewing even alcohol and cigarettes. "Most days I feel 25," she told the New York Times in 2007, crediting her raucous live performances for keeping her fit. "It's so physical," she said of the workouts she gets during one of her stage shows.
She's also a longtime vegetarian. "Cutting meat out of your diet is the best thing you can do for animals, and for your own health," she said in a video testimonial she recorded for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. As she told The Guardian, when she's on tour she tends to gravitate toward Indian cuisine, singling out such dishes as naan, chana masala, and even plain old rice. "The Indians get vegetarianism like no other nation," she said, insisting those who believe vegetarian diets don't include enough protein are simply wrong. "I'm like, chill out; we need a quarter of the protein that we actually eat," she said.
Tim McGraw shed 40 pounds when he changed his diet and began exercising
Since the release of his debut album in 1993, country music star Tim McGraw has charted numerous hits and continues to be one of the country's top touring acts. Fans who see him in concert these days, however, may be struck by his ripped physique, something that came about only after a few years of poor dietary choices and too much partying that led to a gradual 40-pound weight gain. His wakeup call, he told Muscle & Fitness, came when he saw himself in a movie trailer, on a giant cinema screen. "My daughter said, 'Jeez, Dad. You really need to do something,'" he recalled.
He took control by overhauling his diet and embarking on an intense exercise regimen. "We'll run the stadium stairs, the arena stairs, or the grass on an amphitheater," McGraw said of his pre-concert routine, noting he'll also work out with equipment in a gym trailer he brings with him, ranging from heavy ropes to kettlebells and tractor tires. "We'll do two hours of functional fitness," he said.
Thanks to all that training, McGraw — who turned 56 in 2023 — is now in his best shape ever. Maintaining that level of fitness, he told Men's Health, isn't just about looking and feeling good, but also contributes to his abilities as a performer. "I use my whole body to sing — my legs, my butt," he said. "And having more control over those things makes my voice stronger."
The wellness routine that powers Taylor Swift
In March 2023, Taylor Swift kicked off her Eras Tour, her biggest and most ambitious tour to date. For Swift, staying healthy and maintaining her energy to perform night after night is of paramount importance, particularly given that her performances typically last for three-and-a-half hours. While she's rarely discussed exercise and diet, back in 2010 she spoke with WebMD about her tendency to eat healthily during the weekdays, gravitating toward yogurt, salad, and even sandwiches. However, she tries not to maintain anything that's strictly delineated. "I don't like to create too many rules where I don't need them," she explained, admitting that on the weekends she'll allow herself to indulge a bit. "I love a burger and fries, I love ice cream so much, and I love baking cookies. Actually, I love baking anything," she said.
Swift is also a firm believer in working up a sweat with some cardio, which typically involves running on a treadmill — which also allows her to check out her musical competition while exercising. "For me, running is about blasting a whole bunch of new songs and running to the beat," she explained.
Meanwhile, Swift has also been known to enlist the services of Simone De La Rue, a former dancer who has trained such celebs as Reese Witherspoon, Sandra Bullock, and Selena Gomez. In fact, De La Rue shared an intensive video of the 20-minute workout routine that had become a favorite of Swift's.
Bob Weir of Dead & Co. maintains a vigorous workout regime in his 70s
Bob Weir joined legendary psychedelic rock group Grateful Dead when he was still a teenager. At age 75, Weir recently completed his final tour with Dead & Co., singing and playing guitar during marathon shows lasting in excess of three hours. For the lifelong exercise fanatic and former high school football quarterback, staying fit in his 70s is the key to allowing him to continue making music for as long as he can. "At my age, if you let it go, it ain't coming back," he told Men's Health. "I have a lot of stuff I want to get to. And I gotta f**kin' live to do it."
To stay in shape, Weir travels with a large cart full of workout gear that he brings with him on tour. Don't look for the typical barbells and dumbbells, though; Weir prefers workouts that focus on mobility, movement, and keeping his core strong, with a routine that includes swinging a heavy gada mace, or throwing a heavy ball at a trampoline and then catching it — and, of course, a lot of stretching. In fact, Weir regularly shares videos of his workouts on Instagram, which also includes trips to the gym. "[Exercise] is something guys my age can do, and it will make an immense difference in what they call your golden years if grace and happiness are goals of yours," Weir told Men's Health in a 2019 interview.
Exercise has been the key to Adele's 100-pound weight loss
In 2019, British singer Adele made a major lifestyle change that resulted in a weight loss of more than 100 pounds. Discussing the attention surrounding her weight loss in a 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, she says, "I was body positive then [before losing weight], and I'm body positive now."
There was no magic formula — simply a commitment to exercise regularly and eat sensibly. "So I do my weights in the morning, then I normally hike or I box in the afternoon, and then I go and do my cardio at night," she told British Vogue. In fact, she told Winfrey, lifting weights has become her favorite exercise. "I love it," she declared, revealing she could deadlift up to 170 pounds. She was also insistent that she never went on a crash diet. "No intermittent fasting. Nothing," she told British Vogue. "If anything I eat more than I used to because I work out so hard."
When she made her "Saturday Night Live" hosting debut in 2021, Adele jokingly referenced her svelteness in her opening monologue. "I know I look really, really different since you last saw me," Adele said. "But actually, because of all the COVID restrictions, the travel bans, I had to travel light and I could only bring half of me — and this is the half I chose."
Kickboxing helps keep Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen shredding
Phil Collen turned 65 in 2022, yet the Def Leppard guitarist belies his senior-citizen status with a ripped physique. As Collen told Inside Hook, he's long been a student of Muay Thai kickboxing, which became a big part of his regimen when preparing for a tour. "My Muay Thai coach would train me like I was going into a fight, 12 three-minute rounds in pads, then 30-second breaks but I'd have to do push-ups during the breaks," he explained. "That's a hard routine to maintain." When the pandemic hit and he no longer had access to a gym, Collen demonstrated that his flair for improvisation isn't limited to his guitar fretboard, devising his own at-home workout which he shared in a YouTube video inviting fans to join him for a 30-day fitness challenge.
Exercise is only part of the secret sauce to maintaining such an impressive build, with diet equally as important. "I got a phone app to count calories," Collen, who has been a vegetarian for more than 30 years, revealed. "Thankfully, I could eat as many veggies and as much fruit as I wanted."
Collen is insistent that, whatever one's level of fitness, the key to staying healthy while growing older is to remain consistent. "You don't have to go so hardcore, but you do have to do something," he told Muscle & Fitness. "Otherwise, it's like anything else. It'll atrophy."
Eminem substituted exercise for addiction
For veteran rapper Eminem, getting clean and embracing sobriety both changed and saved his life. Having survived an overdose and then subsequently undergoing rehab, however, had led to some weight gain. The solution turned out to be running, which not only contributed to his fitness goals, but also assisted with his chronic sleep problems, which he'd previously addressed medicinally. "So I started running. It gave me a natural endorphin high, but it also helped me sleep, so it was perfect," he told Men's Journal. "It's easy to understand how people replace addiction with exercise."
However, Eminem realized he'd been hitting it a little too hard when running as many as 17 miles a day on his treadmill led to damaged hip flexors. Cutting back on his running, he began to experiment with various workout techniques on DVD. "I need someone on the TV yelling to motivate me," he explained, revealing he settled on the Body Beast workout, which utilizes free weights (although he said he continued to hate pull-ups). "I guess I'm pretty compulsive working out," he admitted.
That compulsive streak has led him to make fitness a constant in his life, and consistency has been key. "Once you're at a place where you've made progress and you've got some time invested in it, you don't wanna quit and give up what you started," he explained.
Cutting takeout and adding cardio transformed Ed Sheehan's physique
Fitness wasn't something that had particularly concerned British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran until he entered his 30s. "It's the first time I've been, like, really healthy," he marveled during an interview with BBC Radio. That journey included some fundamental lifestyle adjustments, such as cutting back on the amount of takeout food he'd been eating, and carving time into his schedule for daily exercise. However, he admitted the process had been a gradual one. "It just happened," Sheeran shared. "And because, you know, I wasn't having chicken wings and two bottles of wine a night."
Sheeran's exercise routine typically involves running, something he took up after he quit smoking cigarettes. He also likes to mix things up, he told "Behind the Metal" podcast hosts, by adding cycling and swimming to the mix.
The results were certainly noticeable when Sheeran paid a 2021 visit to "The Late Late Show," with host James Corden asking him, "Are you on some kind of health kick?" According to Sheeran, his newfound focus on fitness was a direct byproduct of becoming a father, which had completely revamped the hours he was keeping. "Instead of going to bed at six [a.m.], I'm getting up at four," he joked. He confirmed he was still exercising each day, and was thrilled by how good he felt. "I'm healthier than I've ever been," he said.
Embracing surfing was a fitness game changer for Red Hot Chili Peppers' Anthony Kiedis
As fans of Red Hot Chili Peppers well know, frontman Anthony Kiedis has long boasted a buff body, and performed many a show sans-shirt — heck, in their early days, the band's uniform during performances consisted of just a strategically placed sock.
As he entered his 50s, though, Kiedis set new fitness goals for himself. "I like the idea of defying the convention of what it is to be in your 40s, or 50s, or 60s," he told Yahoo! Entertainment in 2012. In fact, Kiedis revealed he wanted to pattern himself on the late Jack LaLanne, the TV exercise guru who celebrated each birthday with an outrageous feat of strength, such as pulling 70 rowboats with his teeth during a mile-long swim to mark his 70th. According to Kiedis at that time, he'd recently embraced surfing, which he admitted had been something of a game-changer for him from a fitness perspective. "Discovering surfing at this stage of my life is definitely going to keep me active till the day I die," he declared.
During an appearance on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast, Kiedis admitted that he didn't really do much else, fitness-wise, other than surfing, riding his bicycle, and bouncing around onstage with the Chili Peppers during their exuberant concerts. "I don't have a discipline that I go to," he said. "Just engaging life, physically, always."
Bruce Springsteen's workout habits remain intense in his 70s
Bruce Springsteen made a physical transformation during the 1980s, hitting the gym to pack some muscle onto what had previously been a slight frame. Now that he's a septuagenarian, The Boss has continued to make fitness a priority, particularly given how high he's raised the bar when it comes to his legendary four-hour concerts.
In a 2012 interview with The New Yorker, he detailed the regimen he utilized to stay in concert-ready condition. "Think of it this way: performing is like sprinting while screaming for three, four minutes," Springsteen explained. "Your adrenaline quickly overwhelms your conditioning."
As he's gotten older, Springsteen has come to the conclusion that it's diet, not exercise, that's become most effective. "I don't eat too much, and I don't eat bad food, except once in a while when I want to have some fun for myself," he told Tim McGraw during an interview for Apple Music. "So I think anybody that's trying to get in shape, exercise is always important, of course, but diet is 90 percent of the game." In fact, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, interviewed by Conan O'Brien, revealed that Springsteen's wife, Patti Scialfa, told him Springsteen only eats one meal per day, something he was aspiring to attempt. Of course, he teased, that one meal is a doozy. "The chef came out and said, 'Today we have flank of buffalo with a steroid sauce,'" Martin joked.
Good nutrition and regular exercise are key to Selena Gomez's physical and mental wellbeing
Selena Gomez takes a holistic approach to staying in shape, recognizing that eating well and exercising regularly both contribute to maintaining her physical and mental health. That's something that becomes even more important when the actor-singer delves into the musical part of her career by going on tour.
According to Gomez's personal trainer, Amy Rosoff Davis, she would often whip up a protein-rich rice bowl for Gomez prior to a performance when she hit the road for her 2019 Revival tour. "It helped give her energy and stamina, which she needed to get through her shows," Rosoff Davis told Byrdie. "I also made healthy chicken salad with grapes and celery — it quenched her thirst and the protein filled her up."
When it comes to exercise, Rosoff Davis revealed that pilates, which focuses on strengthening the core, had become Gomez's go-to. "We do a lot of Pilates, and although not everyone has access to a Pilates Reformer [machine], you can do the workout anywhere, without it," she told Hollywood Life. Gomez also builds her core strength by doing planks, as well as engaging in some cardio workouts along with plenty of stretching and yoga-inspired movement. "I incorporate yoga into almost every session as well, so Selena definitely gets her share of downward dog and stretching," Rosoff Davis added.
Mick Jagger rocks a keto diet and interval training as he enters his 80s
Mick Jagger has certainly enjoyed his fair share of rock-star indulgences over the years, yet he's also been a firm believer in fitness since childhood — not surprising given that Sir Mick's father was a physical education teacher. Having celebrated his 80th birthday in July 2023, Jagger shows no signs of slowing down. A big part of this is his commitment to eating right. According to The Express, Jagger has embraced a keto-style diet that focuses on fresh vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, with protein coming from chicken, fish, and legumes.
According to The Rolling Stones' dressing room coordinator, Heather Foster Kjollesdal, Jagger approaches each concert like an athlete preparing for a big game. "Before the tour, he'll do serious training for four or five minutes and then he'll bring his heart rate down," she explained on the "Talk is Jericho" podcast, via The Express. "So it's very much interval training. That's why he can sing a song, run across the stage, and then the song ends and he's talking to the crowd and he's not out of breath."
In fact, as Jagger told The Times (via Yahoo! Life), he'd typically embark on a rigorous six-week exercise regime prior to a tour — and that's before the band even started rehearsing. "And I do dancing, gym, every day of the week," Jagger said, admitting, "I don't enjoy it very much, but it has to be done."
Lenny Kravitz trains six days a week to maintain his rock god physique while pushing 60
Lenny Kravitz has made headlines for posting Instagram photos showcasing his chiseled six-pack abs. According to Kratviz — who turned 59 in 2023 — his impressive physique doesn't come easy. In fact, Kravitz spoke with Men's Health to share the routine he sticks with when he's at his home in the Bahamas, where his gym setup is outdoors and he uses the base of a coconut tree for a bench. For his workouts, Kravitz prefers to go old-school, utilizing free weights and basic exercises such as curls and bench presses with dumbbells.
In addition to weight training, he also gets regular cardio exercise by hopping on his bike for some pedal power. "That's been my form of cardio that I enjoy the most here, rather than being on a treadmill," he said in an interview with Vogue. "It's getting out in the sun and riding on the road with a lot of it on the ocean. It's so beautiful, and it gives you time to meditate." Also contributing to his overall health and wellness is his vegan diet.
With his 60s right around the corner, Kravitz continues to defy expectations. "My best shape is not behind me," Kravitz told Men's Health. "It's in front of me right now. We keep moving that bar as we get older."
Carrie Underwood tours with her own workout trailer
Given that she's married to a professional athlete — retired NHL star Mike Fisher — it shouldn't be surprising that health and fitness are woven into Carrie Underwood's life. Plus, it also makes her feel good. "To me, working out — my husband has said it — he was like: 'You're, like, a more pleasant person to be about when you have a workout in the morning.' And I was like, 'I know! I feel better,'" Underwood told Women's Health.
When she's on the road, she travels with a mobile gym – spacious trailer that includes all manner of fitness equipment, ranging from a treadmill and elliptical machines to an assortment of free weights and kettlebells. She's also a devotee of the Tabata workout, a high-intensity interval training program renowned for burning calories, and eats a mainly vegetarian diet that leans toward veganism but doesn't quite get there. She does not, however, cut carbs. "Most of the time I eat more quinoa, rice, veggie carbs, but I eat my cake too," she told People.
According to the "American Idol" alum, her fitness goals have never been about getting thin. "It's been more about health, and being strong, and setting a good example for my kids, and working out because it makes me feel good," she added.