Voice Loss: The Truth

It’s the first day of rehearsal. The six of us have three weeks in the United States to begin learning six shows before we fly to Nantes, France, to board our cruise ship. We’ll be sailing it across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal, across the Pacific, to Tahiti, where we’ll spend the next nine months entertaining passengers on 10-day cruises in the Tahitian islands. Little did I know this would be the beginning of my journey of voice loss and recovery.

I was so excited. There were three guys and three gals, and I was the top soprano line/melody in all the songs. I was also the belter in the group, which meant I got to sing the highest in all the group portions of our songs. I sang the bulk of the big, belty solos and the solos with the highest notes.

Cords of Steel

During those first three weeks of rehearsal, the other cast members lost their voices, but I didn’t. Because of that (and all my singing in the stratosphere and belting my face off), I earned the nickname “Cords of Steel” from my fellow cast members and music director. 

Most of the cast continued to experience voice loss periodically during our 9-month contract, and it was something I – the assigned vocal captain for our shows – had to anticipate. I had to have a backup plan in place to continue with a show if someone had to call out because of voice loss or illness. Voice loss, after all, was something the industry expected would happen.

Around late November of 1999 – about halfway through my contract, I noticed my voice sounding a little “husky.” I brushed it off, justifying that I was tired and was probably spending too much time with my friends in the smoky crew bar, and I kept singing in the shows.

But the problem started to worsen. I noticed I required considerably more air to sing than I usually did and that, no matter how hard I tried, specific notes didn’t seem to want to come out at all. There was a scene in a show where I had to play this obnoxious, cartoon-y cheerleader, and my voice for this role had suddenly become very squeaky. I couldn’t brush it off anymore; something wasn’t right.

No Voice At All

Then, one morning, I woke up to no voice at all. I’d developed polyps on my vocal cords. I felt like I was having a nightmare that I couldn’t wake myself from. The doctor recommended vocal rest so I could heal, but the only way I could go on vocal rest would be to break my contract early and go home.

When I got home, I decided that while I was resting my voice, I would do some research to figure out how I got myself into this crazy mess and make sure I never found myself in it again. That research led to what I later formalized into my Unlimited Vocal Health™ method, which is currently patenting.

My Little Secret for Voice Loss

I had no idea at the time that what I had discovered on my own and put into practice was my little SECRET; that voice loss prevention was unknown to the singing industry. I assumed I uncovered information everyone already knew that I somehow hadn’t yet learned. However, once I started coaching singers, I saw that the steps I put together to form my vocal method weren’t common knowledge and that singers were suffering as I had without any prevention method. I decided that everyone needed to learn what I had uncovered because of my own devastating experience with voice loss. Decades later, I’m proud to report that not only have I never lost my voice again, but 100% of my clients over the past two decades haven’t lost their voices either since doing this work with me.

NEVER Experience Voice Loss Again

I’m on a mission to show as many people as possible that voice loss is NOT inevitable. On September 16th, I’m offering a free class called “Unlimited Vocal Health™: The Secret To NEVER Losing Your Voice Again.”

I’m also in the process of writing my second book by the same title, which will be out before the end of the year and which I’ll be telling you more about soon.

You’ll learn the difference between what you’ve heard and the truth about your voice. You’ll also walk away with some new things to try.