In a move that caught a lot of people off guard, Irish singer-songwriter Sinead O’Connor announced via her Twitter account on Friday that she would be retiring from recording, touring, and promoting her music effective immediately. Of course, she still has No Veteran Dies Alone releasing next year, but it sounds like her final album won’t be getting a tour or round of promotion along with it.
The “Nothing Compares 2 U” singer recently made headlines for detailing how Prince terrorized her despite writing the chart-topping hit ahead of the release of her memoir, Rememberings. Now in the wake of the book’s release, the iconic vocalist realized she could be her “own boss” and decided she wasn’t going to wait for anyone else to tell her when it was time to walk away.
“This is to announce my retirement from touring and from working in the record business,” O’Connor tweeted. “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.” Following it up with “It’s been a forty year journey. Time to put the feet up and make other dreams come true” and “It’s not sad news. It’s staggeringly beautiful news. A wise warrior knows when he or she should retreat: #MeTime”
Nipple tassels or not, the three-tweet streak clearly made some waves, as O’Connor followed up the next day with a bit of an explanation.
“PS re retiring…. have always wanted to be one of the artists involved in presenting and mentoring on the The Voice of Ireland … But never was free to do it. Am now. So if they ever want me they can contact my managers,” O’Connor tweeted. “Apologies if any upset caused to booking agents or promoters or managers due to my tweeting about my retirement. I guess the book made me realise I’m my own boss. I didn’t wanna wait for permission from the men, as to when I could announce it. Also, I’d had a few whiskeys.”
Will the retirement stick? Only time will tell. But hopefully, O’Connor is finally doing what’s right for her.
See the tweets in full below:
