Lindsey Stirling Talks Positivity & Doing Good on ‘Behind the Setlist’

The multi-billion-dollar self-help industry might go into a slump if more people went to a Lindsey Stirling concert. 

“I want [the audience] to have a great time and, like, smile and feel all that joy,” the effervescent violinist tells Billboard’s Behind the Setlist podcast while on tour to support her latest album, Duality. “But I also want people to leave the concert always feeling empowered. I want them to be like, ‘Oh my gosh, if this random girl decided once upon a time to dance around and play her violin and make her own costumes, if she can do it, I can do it. I can believe in myself. I can be better. I can be happy.”

Other than the yoga sessions at Coachella or Bonnaroo, a Lindsey Stirling concert may be the only place to you get an inspirational message and communal relaxation interspersed with genre-bending music and a dazzling stage show. “I actually do a guided breath work for the audience” during the song “Between Twilight,” she says, “where as I play, they close their eyes, and there’s a voice that guides them to breathe in and out in different breathing patterns.” It’s an opportunity to slow down the pace after a “very heavy” opening part of her performance, she explains, and has become “something fun that’s cool for me to get to share from my own life.”

Stirling first caught America’s attention as a contestant on the America’s Got Talent TV show in 2010, reaching the quarterfinals before being dismissed. Her mix of classical-influenced pop music and dancing — while playing violin — didn’t connect with judge Piers Morgan. But by 2013, Stirling had built a YouTube following and was managed by Troy Carter, Lady Gaga’s then-manager. 

A decade later, Stirling has a string of successful albums, tours the world and uses her popularity to fund her non-profit, The Upside Fund, that to date has paid off $15 million of people’s medical debt. Stirling says she donates $1 from each ticket sale and 10% from her tour merchandise sales to the charity, and will donate the entirety of the proceeds from her Master of Tides Cruise in May 2025. “It’s something I’m really passionate about after watching people I love go through the stress of the medical system,” she explains. 

Listen to the entire interview with Lindsey Stirling at the embedded Spotify player below, or go to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Amazon Music or Everand.