Sinead O’Connor is as much about the controversy as she is about the music, in a career spanning almost three decades she has rarely been out of the limelight. She burst onto the scene in 1987 with the album The Lion and the Cobra achieving gold status, earning her a Grammy nomination, fast forward to 2014 and the release of I’m not Bossy, I’m The Boss shows she is still producing music to critical acclaim. The interview comes on the back of her announcing her concert at the Irish Village this weekend and leaves me wondering what to expect. Is she going to be serious, surly and difficult to handle or am I just latching onto a media stereotype? I decide to go down the road of flattery coupled with statistics for my first question.
We know you did Prince better than Prince and I have worked out through my own mathematical formula how much better you are than him.
Really?!
You see when you look at your video of Nothing Compares 2 U and Prince’s version on YouTube yours has 124,764,199 views and his 74,000, that makes you 1,686 times better than Prince.
That’s insane isn’t it. Absolutely incredible!
(I sense now I am speaking to someone who is warm and genuine, my preconceived ideas of her begin to melt away.)
Do you think the media portrays you as overly serious?
I don’t think so but often when you are interviewed in print you come across as serious. You can’t get a sense of how something is said if it is in print. I mean Bob Dylan is a good example of this he comes across as very serious but when you meet him he is funny and childlike in a great way.
You have been nominated for Grammys, won Grammys, and also turned them down. Which gave you the most satisfaction?
The Grammy I didn’t show up for was the one I won, which was very nice. I don’t believe in the materialism of the music industry, I am not one for awards. I am always quite flattered when I get nominated but I feel uncomfortable as often they are for whoever has sold the most records rather the what the artist stands for.
You have a tough image combined with the voice of an angel. It’s almost a juxtaposition between the two?
It wasn’t my intention for the hair to make me look tough and I don’t see it that way. I am not a tough person, I am a strong one but also fragile like many musicians.
Is it true that you decided to grow it and then stopped when someone said you looked like Enya.
Yeah someone in a club thought I was Enya, I mean I like Enya but I just don’t want to get mixed up.
Your new album is blues-based?
It’s based on the blues style of writing music and it’s something I learnt using YouTube for my record I’m not Bossy, I’m The Boss.
How much do you enjoy live performance?
I love it, I get excited just rehearsing and can’t sleep the night before. I love being in the studio but live performance is everything for me.
