Sonu Nigam says childhood anger fuelled his passion and shaped his singing career

Playback singer Sonu Nigam revealed that he had a bad temper as a child but channelled his inner fire into building a successful singing career. Speaking on Game Changers: The Music Series, he also credited his father's advice for shaping his disciplined approach to life

Mumbai: Playback singer Sonu Nigam has shared how he channelised his anger to shape the contours of his legendary singing career.

The singer recently appeared on the ‘Game Changers: The Music Series’ hosted by trade expert Komal Nahta, and shared that he struggled with temper issues as a child.

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Opening up about the intense drive behind his endurance on stage, Sonu talked about an extraordinary milestone at one of the world’s most prestigious venues, He said, “I’ve done three-hour shows, and then, just two hours later, I performed another three-hour show. I did that at the Sydney Opera House- one three-hour afternoon show and another three-hour evening show on the very same day. I was able to do that because there’s a lot of fire inside me. And within that fire, there’s anger”.

He further mentioned, “There’s compassion. There’s hard work. There’s consideration. That fire needs to exist. The important thing is that I’m using it the right way. That’s what matters, I haven’t let it consume me or make me irrational. In fact, when I was a child, I used to have a very bad temper”.

Elsewhere during the conversation, the singer shared that he was once a romantic guy but his ambition kept him on track to chase excellence.

He said, “My father used to say, ‘You have two choices, either enjoy yourself now and struggle later, or struggle now and enjoy life later’. He used to say that all the time, and I listened to him. So, I chose to struggle then, and today I’m living a comfortable life. I worked hard after the age of 18 instead of going to college and hanging out with girls. I really wanted to, I was a romantic guy. I wanted to have girlfriends, I wanted to have affairs”.

“But then I thought, ‘My father is saying this for a reason. Let’s not waste time. Let’s work hard’. So, after completing my 12th grade, I came to Bombay when I was 18. That turned out to be the right decision. If I hadn’t come then, I probably wouldn’t have gotten work until I was 19. By the age of 21, I was doing ‘Sa Re Ga Ma’. I came at the right time, and the right things happened. I also witnessed the beginning of television and caught that wave”, he added.