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.
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 look like that in the morning: my hair's all greasy - it's not, 'Hey, look at the babe of the band!' I hate that kind of thing, the way women are always pushed forward as beauties... it's very easy: you can make the ugliest pig look lovely in a photograph.
People don't look at you singing. They go within themselves and listen. Music is about listening, not looking. That's why I wore these huge baggy dresses on stage with The Cranberries.
Everyone at school knew I wanted to be a singer. I'd always be banging on the piano playing my new song. The teacher would gather us round, and the whole class would listen.
Not everybody wanted a female to be the front face of a big band, you know... You had to be three times better than a man had to be.
'Linger' was the first song I wrote after joining the Cranberries. I was 18, and the youngest member of the band was 16 at the time. We never imagined it'd be such a big hit.
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.
I lived in buses. I didn't really have anything else. I didn't feel like a female, and I ended up really kind of isolated. Everybody thinks you're so happy and so wealthy and such a big star, but you're really kind of lonely and don't know how to stop it.
There's always a party in my bus.
In Canada, anything that's not in the city is referred to as a cottage. Or a log cabin.
You know that band that are all over 'Melody Maker,' Huggy Bear, they're just a load of crap, right? Riot grrrl group - y'know, it's all sexism and stuff, women standing up for their rights: 'This girl said this at the gig off the stage.' It's nothing got to do with music. They're probably untalented gits when it comes to the crunch.
In 1997, we took time off, and that's when Oasis broke and Princess Diana died and I was home with my baby hating the music industry. People asked what I thought about the Spice Girls, and honestly, I was so happy to tell them I couldn't be bothered to care.
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.'
Once you succeed at what you're doing, your parents see that what you were doing wasn't so bad after all, though they'd prefer to see you in a secure lifestyle where you have a contract for years and years, or you have a diploma or degree.
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.
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 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.
We were never a frivolous band; we prided ourselves on having something to say, and I think that's what gives your songs longevity.
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.
