What's On Your Rider?

Bettye Lavette

What's on your rider?Snacks and Moët champagne.

What would be on your fantasy rider?Better snacks and more Moët champagne.

What's your pre-gig routine?I'm old, so I have to stretch before I perform.

What's the best gig you've ever played?I played the Lincoln Centre in New York for President Obama's inaugural celebration, and it takes a long time to get there. It took me 48 years.

And the worst?My first 25-30 years were the worst. Every time I got paid $50 for a show was the worst.

Most embarrassing on-stage moment?Back in '78 I was playing a club and I was wearing silk slacks and silk panties. I was singing pretty hard with my eyes closed, and dancing, and then the slacks slid all the way down. All I could say was "who's buying the drinks?"

What's your crowd-pleasing number?My job is to please the crowd, so the whole show is a crowd-pleaser.

Chatting between songs – good or bad?I've got a lot to say. I've just debuted a new album, so I like to talk about that.

Groupies. Would you?Well, I started out as a groupie, and then someone realised I could sing. So . . .

Have you a special stage wardrobe?I do. I like to wear clothes that fit close so that I can move in them. I was on TV recently and I got a call from my grandson. "You can't wear that, Grandma, you can't gyrate like that!"

Do you like to meet and greet the fans after the gig?I like to rest, but I am willing to meet fans and sign a few CDs.

Any useful stage tips?It takes more than 18 months to practise for a tour.

What's the worst thing ever thrown at you?Recording an album in 1972 and it not being released until last year.

If you could be in any other band, which one?I'd never want to be in any other band. I'd never want to be in a band full stop.

Who's invited to your aftershow party?I think most of them are dead. I'd have Otis Redding. The Temptations – but all of those are dead except one. I'd have Sam Cooke.

• In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea. Bettye LaVette plays the Village, Dublin, tonight