July 13, 2012 13:23

Sinead O'Connor: 'Music saved me from life of crime'

Singer says that her career prevented her from following the wrong path

Photo: Press

Sinead O'Connor has claimed that music saved her from a life crime.

The singer, who came to prominence in 1987 with her debut 'The Lion And The Cobra', reckons that if it had not been for the success of her career, she would have "ended up in trouble".

She made the admission in an interview with The First Time on BBC 6Music. Talking about how she has coped with constant attention from a young age, she said: "There were a lot of good things about it – I was going to make a living being a singer, which was great, because I couldn't do anything else and I was headed down a sort of, pretty criminal path and if I hadn't got rescued by music, I probably could have ended up in trouble."

O'Connor also revealed that the dress she wore on her infamous Saturday Night Live appearance in 1992 had belonged to Sade. She provoked outrage by tearing up a photograph of the Pope while singing Bob Marley's 'War'.

She said: "I was wearing Sade's dress! She may not know this, but when I came to England in 1985 I went to a rock'n'roll auction and I bought a dress for £800 that used to belong to Sade. It was one of Sade's favourites, one of her famous white dresses and I was wearing it on Saturday Night Live and now my daughter wears it and she's going to wear it as her wedding dress. So I've said to my daughter, 'This is a dress for women to cause trouble in'. Of course, Sade is a lady and behaves herself at all times."

The full interview goes out this Sunday (July 15) on BBC 6Music. March saw O’Connor release her ninth album 'How About I Be Me (And You Be You?)'

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