Sinead O'Connor confirms she will tour next year as she retracts retirement announcement

Over the weekend, the singer announced she would be retiring from music and touring in a series of tweets, adding that her upcoming album No Veteran Dies Alone will be her last release.

In a lengthy statement, Sinead admitted that her premature retirement announcement was a “knee jerk” reaction to some interviews with UK and Canadian broadcasters, who she referred to as “pigs in lipstick”.

She added that she will in fact be performing all shows scheduled for 2022.

Sinead warned that the statement included “colourful” language, writing: “Good news. F*ck retiring. I retract. Am not retiring. I was temporarily allowing pigs in lipstick to fuck my head up... here's my statement..... in the form of these three photos. It's 'colourful' but that's me : ) #LetOConnorBeOConnor.”

Part of the three-page statement read: “I said I was retiring. 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.

“The hugest misconception (I’m always asked this but never answer) of ‘Sinead O’Connor’ is that she is Amazonian. I’m not. I’m a five-foot, four-inch soft-hearted female who is actually very fragile.

“When people ridicule or invalidate or disrespect or abuse or misuse me on the grounds I suffer from severe long term effects of the barbaric physical and sexual abuse I grew up with, every time I go to sell a record, a show or in this case a book, it triggers me.

“I turn back into that hurt child. Or that appallingly treated young woman. And my job becomes something I’m terrified of.

“But I love my job. Making music that is. I don’t like the consequences of being a talented (and outspoken woman) being that I have to wade through walls of prejudice every day to make a living.

“But 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, as well as many 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.”