Carly Simon Did Something On Saturday Night Live That Will Likely Never Be Done Again

As a child, Carly Simon had a speech impediment that caused her a tremendous amount of anxiety. "I developed a very serious stutter at about the age of 6, and had tremendous difficulty in saying anything," she told Brain & Life. "It was agonizing when I was asked questions at school and knew the answer — but couldn't say anything because I was scared to distort my face and voice." Simon said her mother helped her out of the impediment by teaching her to tap out a rhythm on her leg while she sang her sentences, per The Washington Post. Although singing her requests and replies helped her at home, the condition still caused a tremendous amount of anxiety in front of others at school.

When Carly Simon released her eponymous album in 1971 at the age of 26, she was convinced she would never go on tour to support that or any other album. "Why? Stage fright, pure and simple, or more to the point, my fear of stage fright. I had no interest in facing down my various phobias," Simon wrote in her 2015 memoir, "Boys in the Trees." "I wanted only one thing: for my album to serve as a demo and showcase for my songs, so that other singers might someday want to record them." However, Simon did go on tour, sometimes canceling concerts and even collapsing on stage, according to The New York Times.

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