Sinead O’Connor has announced her retirement from her music career in a series of tweets on Friday night. “This is to announce my retirement from touring and from working in the record business. I’ve gotten older and I’m tired. So it’s time for me to hang up my nipple tassels, having truly given my all. NVDA in 2022 will be my last release. And there’ll be no more touring or promo,” O’Connor wrote, referencing her upcoming album, No Veteran Dies Alone. She continued, “It’s not sad news. It’s staggeringly beautiful news. A wise warrior knows when he or she should retreat.” She also added, “It’s been a forty year journey. Time to put the feet up and make other dreams come true.”
In a final tweet, O’Connor also apologized for “any upset caused to booking agents or promoters or managers due to my tweeting about my retirement.” She explained that her recent memoir, Rememberings, made her realize “I’m my own boss,” and she “didn’t wanna wait for permission from the men, as to when I could announce it.” O’Connor also replied to a fan asking about upcoming tour dates, writing, “Yes, all shows which were originally set for 2020, rescheduled to 2021 and then to 2022 are going to be pulled. Because this soldier woman has grown old quicker than COVID.” No Veteran Dies Alone, O’Connor’s 11th album, is slated for a January 2022 release.
Update, June 8: Sinead O’Connor is back with “good news”: She’s no longer retiring from music, as she previously announced. “Fuck retiring,” she tweeted on June 7. “I retract. Am not retiring. I was temporarily allowing pigs in lipstick to fuck my head up … ” In a longer statement attached to the tweet, O’Connor explained that her previous announcement was a reaction to coverage of her memoir, Rememberings — specifically invoking her June 1 interview with Emma Barnett, host of BBC’s Woman’s Hour, in which the host mentioned a previous Telegraph description of O’Connor as “the crazy lady in pop’s attic.” “when people wonder what derailed my career?” O’Connor wrote in her statement. “The UK and Irish UK papers constant abuse and invalidation of me on the grounds I may or may not be have been diagnosed by them as ‘mad’. As if mad makes you invalid.” The musician went on to mention being triggered by invasive questions about her experience of abuse, related to her memoir.
“I said I was retiring,” O’Connor added. “As I have said many times before in knee-jerk reactions when I was young and made the butt of media abuse on the grounds I’m legally vulnerable.” O’Connor continued, “I am born for live performance and with the astonishing love and support I have received in The last few days and will continue to receive from Rob Prinz and all at ICM [Partners, her agency] as well as my managers and buyers and fans, I feel safe in retracting my expressed wish to retire and I will in fact be doing all shows currently booked for 2022.” O’Connor went on to apologize “to all fans, buyers, promoters, venues, and hot dog sellers for the fright I’ve given you.” And, as she assured fans, “Im gonna keep on being fabulous : )”
