When The Cranberries got really big in Ireland, it became difficult for me to be there with all the photographers and paparazzi.

Only we were in The Cranberries. Only we know what it was like being in that crazy whirlwind of fame. We have children and spouses and lives, but there is only one Cranberries.

My father, I spent a lot of time with him at the hospital. I was with him when he took his last breath, but I felt something coming from him into my hand and into my body.

I think there's a difference between somebody who grows up in Paris or London and goes to Los Angeles. But if you grow up in the green fields, and you rarely go into the city, you're so overprotected that when you do go to L.A., it's almost a bigger slap in the head.

My husband Don's mother, Denise, was diagnosed with cancer, and she was given eight months to live. We decided to go and stay there and help live her days with her, 'cause you don't get those chances again, right?

I didn't get a lot of attention from my dad when I was young. That's a big part of it for girls. Because your dad is the first love of your life. If he doesn't put you on his lap and give you a pet, you do end up not really liking yourself that much.

I was 19 when I wrote 'Dreams,' and that would have been when it started to happen. The band got signed, and I was probably beginning to see different things besides my small town of Ballybricken.

It's very difficult to break in Europe unless you break in England, and it's very difficult to break in England if you're Irish.

When I was about 14, I got a tacky keyboard for 250 pounds and put on a drum machine and found I could write a song.

I worked myself into a frenzy. By 1996, I had a nervous breakdown just from working. I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, just getting anxiety attacks and all of that stuff because I was doing too much, too young, all the time.

It was different to what everyone else was doing. It was very hard to pigeonhole The Cranberries. And we were just huge; it was just sensational.

We have a certain bond that we don't have with anyone else on the planet. You just have that bond, that journey when you are in a band together.

For a while there, our writing got really edgy... I've always written about experiences, so when your life gets a bit crazy, you start to write songs that are a bit edgy.

There's always a party in my bus.

I hated singing, I hated being on stage; I hated being in the Cranberries. I was constantly crying. I was going insane. I wanted to be a shopkeeper, a hairdresser, anything. I was so desperate to have a reality, friends, a regular, boring life. I missed that.

When I got pregnant, I started singing again. It was my saving grace. I literally mean having this amazing human life, and our relationship in the sense of mother and child, redeemed my soul.

I missed a lot of family weddings and funerals because we were out on the road and had these big gigs, and you can't pull out of these gigs at the last minute because too many people are counting on it. It got to the point where I was consumed with that.

Each gig is brilliant and fun. When it becomes a routine, we'll take a break. There's no point in doing it if you don't enjoy it.

My parents were in the local church choir, and I used to go along and sing and play the organ at all the weddings and christenings.

It was great about the sizes of the audiences we were getting in America, but sometimes you feel like telling some of the men that you're not on stage to have your body looked at.

I write about what is getting to me at the time, about the things you need to talk about, but which would sound silly if you sat down and told them to your friend. I only write for myself, to get my emotions out. It's self-therapeutic.

I remember when MTV first put 'Linger' in heavy rotation, every time I walked into a diner or a hotel lobby, it was like, 'Jesus, man, here I am again.'

You get older and come to the conclusion that it's a great gig making music. Even if you turn into an old gnarly fart, no one cares what you look like if you write good songs - the only gig is to sing well and perform.

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.

The first album didn't become successful until the second was practically written.

We were never a frivolous band; we prided ourselves on having something to say, and I think that's what gives your songs longevity.

It's amazing to see anyone come out, let alone tell you they have been waiting so long. They are loyal people, our fans.

Luckily I don't have a sinful past, because there's nothing you can hide from your kids now.

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.

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.

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.

The writing became a hobby in the background: it took a back seat to parenthood and being a person and being a human being.

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.

I guess all bands get to that point where they run out of inspiration and just get bored with the chemistry.

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.

It's a great gig, really: getting on stage, playing the guitar, singing. For a living, it's super.

For me, you can't be a big fat pig up there, slovenly and singing croaky and whatnot. You have to work.

You want to be in control of a lot. You grow up. You sink or swim. I suppose I swam.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I didn't really know many girls, growing up, because there weren't many other people living around where I lived.

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.