That's the end of our web chat with Sinéad O’Connor
With that farewell, Sinéad is heading off and our webchat must end.
A big thank you to everyone who submitted questions and a very big thank you to Sinéad herself, for coming in to the Guardian building and doing her best to answer all your questions.
Sinead O’Connor performs at the Roundhouse as part of Summer Sessions on 12 August www.roundhouse.org.uk
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Seamus O’Riordan wants to know:
Did you read John Boyne’s love letter to you in the Irish Times? What did you think?
Guardian contributor I thought: how does he know Queen Elizabeth isn't better in bed than anyone on earth?
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John Flavell asks:
Have you found peace?
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Eranoo wants to know:
What’s your favourite insult? And least favourite compliment?
Guardian contributor In answer to your first question: Suck my dick, bitch.
To your second: I don't like people saying I look good because I'm skinny. I don't like words like 'good' or 'bad' being associated with female weight.
Galaxina asks:
Which celebrity that you’ve met is the biggest twat? (Don’t worry, I won’t tell them...)
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CarlRaincoat says:
You claimed in your interview with Tim Jonze at the weekend to have known ‘about other recent abuse scandals – from Jimmy Savile and Rolf Harris to the alleged child-abuse ring at the heart of the British government – before they were public knowledge.’ Why didn’t you inform the correct authorities?
Guardian contributor What I meant was I had read all the newspaper articles about the British government's involvement in child abuse, which had been available online for some years.
I did not state that I knew about Jimmy Savile. I did not know.
I did not state that I knew about Rolf Harris. I stated that I wasn't surprised.
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ninananna wants to know:
Do you think the Catholic Church should allow women to become priests?
Guardian contributor I don't think women should sit around waiting for permission. They should just get up and do it.
ThePriceOfCows asks:
Astral Weeks or Veedon Fleece?
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Frankie Galik asks:
You recorded the video to Take Me To Church a few weeks ago. Will it be available anytime soon?
Guardian contributor Updated
shupiwe says:
why are you such a cliche?
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1234Ramones asks:
Who are your favourite punk bands?
Guardian contributor Sex Pistols obviously. Crass. And Stiff Little Fingers. I like L7 as well.
Ooll Lopp asks:
Blur or Oasis?
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fauxtronic asks:
Do you ever participate on the internet anonymously? Commenting on social networks, beneath news stories, on forums, etc. via an unidentifiable pseudonym?
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CelticSaint asks:
Have you ever eaten a Phall curry? And if you have did you finish it all?
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rafanolike saw our photo of Sinéad in the Guardian building:
Why do you wear sunglasses indoors? Are you looking to become the female Bono?
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NoGolddigger says:
I think you should do something with Van Morisson (before it’s too late). Are you a fan of him?
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Hekim68 asks a very personal question:
Inney or Outey?
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CalmObserver asks:
7x8=?
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ThinkerX55 poses an abstract question:
Sinead, do you like a kickabout in the park ?
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MartynInEurope says:
Hi Sinéad, I am really looking forward to hearing your new album. Quick question, will you be doing any gigs in Spain this year? Cheers!
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neutralpaddy asks:
Sinead, how do you feel about Ireland’s constitutional position of “neutrality” ? Given our safety under the military umbrella of the USA, is it credible ?
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Galaxina asks:
Do you think you’d have made it as an artist if you’d started out in 2014?
Guardian contributor Yes, because of my enormous boob job. You can pump them up and down you know, depending on your mood.
neutralpaddy also has marriage on the mind:
Will you marry my wife ? She told me recently she was saving up for a change...
Guardian contributor This guy needs a dictionary. He should look up the dictionary definition of 'marriage'.
Or whatever, maybe that's not quite what he needs. Maybe he just need a light slap round the head.
lipslikesugar says:
Why don’t you use your undoubted talent to explore new possibilities? Go and record a track (what was called a single) with David Gedge from The Wedding Present. It would be a meeting of minds
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ManuePannunzio asks:
I want to know if you are planning a world tour to promote this album. If so, I would love to see you playing in Argentina, ‘cause I’m really in love with your music and it would be awesome if I can get the possibility to see you live.
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belfastismymojo wants to know:
Do you believe that Irish people need to get their hand off their the pint, get off the bar-stool and wake-up, go along with the Kantian ideal of Free Will and go out their and do positive stuff rather than get fall-down drunk? As I used to do? Oops have to go - phone call! Answer if you can, Sinead.
Guardian contributor Sounds like perhaps do still get fall-down drunk, and actually in fact your phone didn't ring at all... Hello? Hello?
GoryDetails wants some advice:
If you had one piece of sterling advice to give to a twenty something singer/songwriter starting out on the road you’ve come so far along, what would it be?
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Radardodah says:
How many fingers am I holding up?
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Futurenoir asks:
How did your friendship with the terrific John Grant come about? He deserves to be absolutely massive.
Guardian contributor When I wanted to record Grant's song Queen of Denmark, I couldn't understand what he was saying on one of the sentences, so I tracked him down, and we just became friends immediately. We're very similar people. I love John because he's very funny. He's also a great hugger.
joseywalshe wants to know:
What’s your favourite place in London?
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Keith Lawrence asks:
You have collaborations with many other musicians - Willie Nelson, Jah Wobble etc. Which did you enjoy most and is there anyone - alive or dead - would you like to sing with?
Guardian contributor The person I would absolutely love to work with is the producer Mark Ronson. Because he's just so fucking incredibly brilliant, and so am I. I like the stuff he did with Amy Winehouse.
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seasiderdave wants to know:
you’ve worked with loads of different people... who was the worst? and mayo with chips or ketchup?
Guardian contributor mayo with chips or ketchup?
This has made me hungry, this question. Can someone send round some chips to the Guardian office? With mayo.
garrett8250 says:
I’d like to ask about your new collaboration with Seun Kuti. I think he’s amazing, and I was pleasantly surprised to see you have him featuring on “James Brown”. How were you introduced to Seun and his abilities, and will you feature on his next album? (please??)
Guardian contributor My producer John Reynolds produced an album for Seun about two years ago. So that's the connection. I haven't actually met Seun yet, I don't know if I'll feature on his next album yet but I'd be happy to.
BigE65 says:
I think your new image is the greatest reinvention since Kevin Rowland’s in the 90s. It’s brilliant. I still can’t believe that’s you in that photo.
Am I right in thinking that the new ‘SexKittenSinead’ image is your post-Miley-barney, postmodern trump card in the discussion of selling sex and music? That’s what I think, anyway, and that’s why I think it’s genius.
Or am I just talking bollocks?
Guardian contributor I think you're being harsh on yourself - give yourself a break. It's not my new image, as you can see, it was a cold-blooded publicity stunt. And it worked. I wanted to draw attention to my album, my absolutely fan-fucking-tastic album. And no-one's ever seen me looking remotely like a female, so I knew they'd run the shots if they saw me with the hair and latex. And they'd have to mention the album.
badflower says:
Chrissie Hynde once said that you could sing the phone dictionary - I think she meant it as a compliment. Has there ever been a time when you attempted to sing a song you loved -only to discover that your voice didn’t really suit the song?
Guardian contributor Yes - a few times. I can't think of the names of the songs at the moment, but yes. It's quite hard to sing Bob Dylan songs, unless they're the romantic ones. The ones that he refers to as 'finger-pointing songs' are harder to sing because he has a particular character or delivery, the way he enunciates things.
ID867685 asks:
Would you ever consider working with the great Van Morrison again....?
Guardian contributor (iii) Would you ever consider working with the great Van Morrison again....?
I never think of anything else. Well, sometimes I think of other things. Like bathing, shopping or eating. But not very often.
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DonnaWhite asks:
I was wondering which authors and books you like - and if you read your brother’s books? I love his work, especially Star of the Sea.
Guardian contributor My brother actually is my favourite author, and it's not actually because he's my brother. His book Redemption Falls is the only book I ever read where I really didn't want it to finish. I've never read anything like it in my life.
My other favourite book is by Neil Jordan, called Mistaken. It's about twin brothers who don't know about each others' existence. They live on separate sides of Dublin, and they meet up in a fucked up way and some fucked up stuff happens. The ending of it is the best ending I've ever come across.
liam Urell pops the question:
Will you marry me?
Guardian contributor No. And he should be very glad about that, because I'm not wife material.
gellio_sf asks:
Of all the music you have created, if it’s possible to answer, I am wondering what you consider your greatest song and album? I have always felt that both Universal Mother and Faith & Courage were greatly underappreciated.
Guardian contributor My favourite song that I wrote is If You Had A Vineyard / Isaiah, which is on the album Theology.
Haigin88 says:
For me so far, your work in concert always comes as much more interesting, exciting and true. When recording albums, do you ever have the feeling that you’re ‘chasing your tail’ and that, because there’s always so many options, that there’s a danger that a sense of immediacy and raw emotion can sometimes get lost in translation?
Guardian contributor I always record vocals as soon as possible after writing a song. I sing the songs when I'm still in the mood that made me write them, so I don't lose any of the immediacy or raw emotion - it can't get lost if you record it as it's happening, or as soon as possible after.
It's not financially viable to fuck about with lots of options in the studio. So we don't go into the studio until we are very focused, so we don't need to chase our tails.
ID9982923 asks:
If you were marooned on a remote desert island all by your lonesome self what (apart from family and friends) would you miss in the whole wide world ?
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fibionaccisequence has a request:
Dear Sinead.
Can I be your butler.
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Flo Oe wants to know:
What was your own favourite Album? Mine is Universal Mother, because it took me through hard times.
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Frankie Galik asks:
How do you perceive the situation between Israel and Palestine when you wrote the song If You Had A Vineyard and now? Thanks.
Guardian contributor The entire lyrics of the song are scriptural, I took them from the Tanakh, which is the Judaic scriptures. I like to argue people on their own theology.
There's no scriptural support for the way that Israeli authorities treat the Palestinian people. In fact, quite the opposite.
In the book of the prophet Isaiah, the God character states the following: "Sadness with come to those who build house to house and lay field to field, until there's room but none but you to dwell in the land."
He then goes on to state "sadness will come to those who call evil good, and good evil, who present darkness as light, and light as darkness."
By creating the song, I wanted to show that as I said, there's absolutely no scriptural support for any practising Jewish person to perpetrate the behaviour the God character refers to above.
The Boss is in the building
Sinéad O’Connor is here, ready to answer your questions
Guardian contributor The Irish singer-songwriter is back with her 10th studio album, the feminist battle cry I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss, and in the Guardian building to answer your questions. So, ask away!
Post your questions for Sinéad O’Connor
Nothing compares 2 Sinéad O’Connor. Since she burst on the stage with her trademark buzzcut, mournful eyes and penchant for billowy clothing, the Irish singer-songwriter has been an enduring and unique presence in music.
O’Connor rocketed from a difficult childhood, when she was abused by her mother and sent away to a Magdalen Asylum, into a successful music career with her first album, The Lion and the Cobra, which the singer self-produced when she was 20 years old and seven months pregnant.
Over the past 27 years years, she’s built an extensive back catalogue of hits and a notable list of collaborators, including Wyclef Jean, U2, Peter Gabriel and Moby. Since the beginning, she’s been a fiery and outspoken figure onstage and off: Frank Sinatra once threatened to “kick her ass”, and when she tore up a picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live Madonna called her “disrespectful”.
O’Connor has always been vocal about big issues that other musicians refuse to touch: tackling child abuse, war and organised religion in her lyrics and interviews. Most recently, her passion for women’s rights made international headlines when she warned Miley Cyrus in an open letter that Cyrus was being pimped by the music industry.
Sinéad O’Connor’s 10th studio album is a continued battle cry for female empowerment. When Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg called for the banning of the label “bossy” against women at work, O’Connor renamed her album I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss, saying, “It can be tricky being a female boss, and I think Sheryl’s campaign is a terribly important one.”
I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss is out on 11 August. Ahead of its release, O’Connor will be answering your questions in an hour-long live webchat on Wednesday 30 July at 1pm BST. Post your questions in the comments section below.
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Now the clock has struck two, my tampon is turning into a pumpkin. I gotta run.