Country Superstar's Stuttering Nearly Upstaged Career

Posted September 27, 2007, 5:23 pm in Music by Growing Bolder


For anyone who has ever felt self-conscious about being different, country music superstar Mel Tillis wants you to know that what you are isn't as important as who you are.

And that's not easy for Mel to say.

For more than 50 years, he has been entertaining audiences with his charming voice and quick wit. But he's also struggled to keep his stuttering in check.

He tells Growing Bolder that he never would have appeared on a stage if it weren't for the legendary Minnie Pearl.

"I told her, 'Miss Minnie, I can't do it. They'll laugh at me.' She said, 'No, they won't laugh at you. They'll laugh with you,'" Mel recalls. "And I stuttered then, and the stutter became part of the show."

That piece of advice launched his career, and thousands of songs and 36 Top 10 singles later, he's still going strong ... and still stuttering.

Along the way, Mel smashed stereotypes about performers overcoming speech impediments and learned to use his affliction to his advantage. He appeared on NBC's "The Tonight Show" nearly 30 times, and even host Johnny Carson was no match for his wit.

"Johnny Carson asked me one time, 'Mel, if you really stutter, how come you only stutter on the punchlines?' I said, 'It's a blessing.'"

Mel isn't the only famous voice to struggle with stuttering. The Stuttering Foundation of America says about 1 percent of the population -- more than 3 million Americans -- stutter, including velvet-voiced actor James Earl Jones, America's sweetheart Julia Roberts and golfing great Tiger Woods.

Did you know that screen icons Marilyn Monroe and Jimmy Stewart also stuttered? Not bad company to be in.

Mel tells Growing Bolder that he was determined to never let stuttering hold him back, particularly on the stage.

"I did a TV show once with a UCLA speech professor," Mel told the Growing Bolder radio show. "He said, 'Your speech comes from one side of the brain and your creativity and your music comes from the other side of the brain.'"

That nugget of knowledge helped Mel understand how it was that he could barely get through on-stage bantering without stuttering, but as soon as the music started for classics like "I'm Tired" or "Coca Cola Cowboy" his voice was smooth as glass.

If stuttering didn't slow him down, don't expect his age to either. He celebrates his 75th birthday this summer, and Mel says he's never felt better or more alive.

"I'm in good shape. I don't smoke. I have a beer every now and then, but I also eat a lot of greens. I'm in good health. I can outrun all my band members," he tells Growing Bolder.

He's also keeping his mind active. A few years ago, he took up oil painting. Sales of his "Masonic America" have generated more than $80,000 for the Scottish Rite Foundation, which benefits speech and hearing clinics across the nation (To see and order the print, click here). Plus, he's writing a novel.

Mel says older people aren't what they used to be -- and that's a good thing.

Want to know more? Click the play button below his photo on the right to listen to Growing Bolder's conversation with Mel Tillis.


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