United Kingdom, April 17 -- Van Morrison "pretends to be somebody else" on stage and all his emotion is "acted out".

The 80-year-old musician insisted he is naturally introverted and his public image is "absolutely nowhere" near who he really is because he feels he needs to hide his real self in order to put on the best possible show.

He told The Times newspaper: "Look up the word introvert and you'll get me. I'm an introvert working in an extrovert world

"The person on stage, that's a role I'm playing."

"I'm splitting myself up into two. I couldn't do the job as myself - I have to pretend to be somebody else."

And asked if he's happiest on stage, he added: "No, no, no. Whatever emotion is happening up there - sadness, anger, joy - I...