My kids mean more to me than anything I thought was important when I was younger.
— Dolores O'Riordan
I've come to the conclusion that life is for the taking and just too short to dwell on the negative.
When the band were really big and we had massive hits, I was always stressed-out and insecure. I thought I wanted the band to be really popular, but when that happened, there was so much pressure to keep it going.
People look at you and see a product. They don't see a soul. They see an empty hole.
Everyone at school knew I wanted to be a singer. I'd always be banging on the piano playing my new song. The teacher would gather us round, and the whole class would listen.
I enjoyed living in Canada, where my husband comes from, because I was treated like any ordinary person. I became a volunteer at my children's school; I went into the classroom. It was very grounding. I got sick of being famous.
The school I went to was so Gaelic that you learned how to play the tin whistle and how to Irish-dance in class.
It was tough. We went right from being teenagers to musical superstars with money and fame and attention. All of us had a hard time adjusting to it, especially me.
When everybody's looking at you, it does your head in. When you're always on the inside, sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees.
I love performing, and I love the idea of people buying records. I don't particularly like the idea of people knowing me or thinking they do, but that's a part of what I choose. I choose not to go to college; I choose to be a singer.
You want to be in control of a lot. You grow up. You sink or swim. I suppose I swam.
It's a great gig, really: getting on stage, playing the guitar, singing. For a living, it's super.
I try to think about optimism. I try to look at the beautiful things in life.
As you get older, it's good to open up and acknowledge that everybody has their scary moments, their negative moments. And in order to move on and find comfort and hope, you have to stop running from the darkness and face it. And when you face it, it's not that scary at all, and sometimes it actually turns around and runs away.
To me, life is a bit of everything. I have the band, I have my kids. Life is a big picture. It's not just your career.
Luckily I don't have a sinful past, because there's nothing you can hide from your kids now.
The first album didn't become successful until the second was practically written.
I thought the best thing to do to bring me back to reality would be to have a child, and by the time I had my first, Taylor, when I was 25, we'd sold 35 million records as a band, and I'd had enough; I knew my sanity was more important than success.
The feeling that's in your heart all the time comes out spiritually in your voice and the music.
Not everybody wanted a female to be the front face of a big band, you know... You had to be three times better than a man had to be.
I just block out the demons. I sing. I block them away. I put my pain into my music. I paint. I make my own videos. I direct myself. No one directs me anymore. I am in charge of my destiny.
Growing up, there was a lot of pressure for women to be good-looking, but my mum was very strict, and she didn't allow me to wear make-up. Looking back, it was good for me. It slowed me down from becoming an adult too quickly.
I didn't really know many girls, growing up, because there weren't many other people living around where I lived.
I don't appreciate people invading my privacy.
My mom always had a softer spot for boys, as a lot of Irish women do. If you were a girl, you'd have to sing or wear a pretty dress. But boys could just sit there and be brilliant for sitting there and being boys. It makes you that little bit more forward. Pushy. I was singing, always.
I got to a point where I referred to myself as Dolores of the Cranberries instead of myself because I alienated my real self from what I became so much.
One day we were in Limerick... and then, a few weeks later, we were being flown around to play. When we started, it was just a hobby. It wasn't any big ambition.
For me, you can't be a big fat pig up there, slovenly and singing croaky and whatnot. You have to work.
I went very close to the edge, but it's nice to have been strong enough to get through it. I'm lucky I had family, a good husband, and my mom. People like that help balance you. When you're feeling down and bad, it's the people that love you who kind of sort your head out for you.
There's no point in getting too worried about things, because life is too short.
The writing became a hobby in the background: it took a back seat to parenthood and being a person and being a human being.
I keep my children safe and protected from all my baggage. They get to have a normal childhood, and they're not affected by my life.
It's amazing to see anyone come out, let alone tell you they have been waiting so long. They are loyal people, our fans.
When you're on tour too much or on stage too much, you feel like you have to deliver and get this super-hyped vibe going.
I was so famous that I couldn't leave the hotel room. I remember looking out of the window at all these fans but just feeling so isolated.
When you're pregnant or living with an infant, there's a kind of sacredness around your body that affects everything you do.
You never find peace in this realm, but it's okay, because when my dad went to the other side, he looks after me now better than he did in life. He is with me all the time.
You can't be in a situation where you are not happy. It's as simple as that.
People don't look at you singing. They go within themselves and listen. Music is about listening, not looking. That's why I wore these huge baggy dresses on stage with The Cranberries.
People often ask me why I sing with a strong Irish accent. I suppose when I was five years old, I spoke with a strong Irish accent, so I sang with one, too.
We all got older, and we'd tell our children things like, 'Mommy used to be in a famous rock band,' but they didn't believe us. Part of the reason for our reunion was to show our children what we did to make the lives they have possible.
I guess the way to keep a grip on reality is just to take breaks in between albums like most normal bands do. Go home and be a person and hang out with your friends. Do separate things and get back to earth and write songs and go out there again.
It's pretty weird when you are just touring all the time and you don't have a normal life. You're out of touch with reality too much.
The things a young woman goes through between the ages of 18 and 20 are far different than what a young woman can go through between 20 and 22.
I was a full-time mom for seven years. You go back on tour, you're back in hotels, you're ordering room service, and you're getting an itinerary slipped under your door every,day. You're kind of thinking, 'Did I go home for seven years, or was that just a dream?'
I lived in buses. I didn't really have anything else. I didn't feel like a female, and I ended up really kind of isolated. Everybody thinks you're so happy and so wealthy and such a big star, but you're really kind of lonely and don't know how to stop it.
I guess all bands get to that point where they run out of inspiration and just get bored with the chemistry.
My priorities were taking the kids to school and being a mum and being a daughter and being a sister. Just spending a lot of that time with my family that I'd probably lost a lot of, touring with the Cranberries.
I was at that point where my children needed more than going around the planet in the back of a bus. They needed stability, they needed to build their own lives and relationships, and I needed to put my life on hold. I made my choice - I chose my children.
We were never a frivolous band; we prided ourselves on having something to say, and I think that's what gives your songs longevity.
