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Since then, Sinead has converted to Islam, but at this time, she was fully on board with a Christian project. There were murmurings of \u201cTheology\u201d hitting Christian stores, but my editor wisely doubted that outcome. So this interview never published, other than here on my blog. I have always remembered it fondly, not only because of her status as a music icon, but also because of the kind words she had about Christian media.<\/p>\n
What was the reason for releasing \u201cTheology\u201d on two discs, one live and one studio?<\/strong> Then what happened was the guy who was producing the London end of the record, Ron Tomm, an English producer, he tracked me down in Dublin and begged me to demo some songs with him. The only songs I had were the ones I was doing for Theology. In my mind, it was just to see how we got on working together. The plan was for a future record. I said, \u2018let\u2019s work on a future record\u2019 and he literally burst into tears and begged me to let him make the record, but I had already started recording the acoustic record. I didn\u2019t want to let them down. My friend Ron would never have gotten over it.<\/p>\n Why did you choose to record \u2018I Don\u2019t Know How to Love Him?\u2019<\/strong> What do you think about picking up a new Christian audience?<\/strong> I\u2019ve actually always wanted to work in the religious music arena. I actually came out of the rock and pop arena in 2003 and I was pretty disillusioned spiritually and in all kinds of ways after 20 years or so. I took time away from music altogether because I felt being in that business was destroying me spiritually. It\u2019s not an arena that cares about anything other than money. After five years, I wondered how to get back into music in a way that wasn\u2019t going to be damaging to me and that could actually be nurturing to me. The people I look to for guidance said to me \u2018look back at why you wanted to be a singer in the first place.\u2019 And what I wanted to do was records like this.<\/p>\n The long and short of it is I couldn\u2019t find the words to express how happy I am at the idea that I could work in the religious music arena. I actually have a lot to offer in that arena. It\u2019s an arena that can be nurturing to me and I can have a better sense of purpose. People want to be inspired by the work they do. One of my dreams is to one day be writing songs for church choirs. I\u2019d love if one or two of the songs from \u2018Theology\u2019 ended up being sung in school choirs. One of the things I\u2019ve been offered, which I\u2019m thrilled about, is to do is the opportunity to do the song \u2018Something Beautiful\u2019 at the Crystal Cathedral. I\u2019ve sung songs with everyone you could think of on earth but that is just the best thing!<\/p>\n It\u2019s been very interesting for me because I\u2019ve been doing all this promo around this album, some rock and pop promo, and some religious promo. And when you do the rock and pop stuff, all they want to know about is any controversy and trouble and anything apart from music. When I\u2019ve done interviews with the Christian magazines, not one of them have asked me about that, they\u2019ve been incredibly respectful. And I was very nervous because I know it\u2019s hard for the religious scene to accept somebody like me. But they\u2019ve been so respectful and so nice and they don\u2019t ask you things that are upsetting or off the point.<\/p>\n Can you talk about your religious upbringing?<\/strong> Do you think the crossover climate allows for an easier transition for you to do this record?\u00a0<\/strong>You do get asked (from rock-pop interviews) about why I would do this record. About three or four interviews were really angry about it, actually. That amuses me, why would anybody get angry with it? A lot of people have issues with religion and God. I suppose that\u2019s understandable in some ways. A lot of damage has been done and there\u2019s a cleanup job that needs to be done. Generally rock and pop media, though, they just care about the music.<\/p>\n Sinead recently appeared on the Late, Late Show with a beautiful arrangement of her most famous song. Watch it below:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nDoing shows over the last 20 years, I always do 15 minutes at the end of a show with just me and an acoustic guitar and the audience just goes nuclear. That was their favorite part of the show. I\u2019ve been thinking for a long long time that\u2019s just guitar and voice. My own fan base would love that. I\u2019ve also since I was a kid, been dying to do a record that was based around Scriptures. My favorite part of Scriptures is in the Old Testament, particularly the books of the prophets. The things I love about those books is that alone quality of the prophets, they have this lone-wolfish quality. It seemed to me that was very fitting for a record that would be one voice, one guitar. That\u2019s how I started putting together the songs for the acoustic record.<\/p>\n
\nI was eight years old when I first heard that song and I thought \u2018That\u2019s my song.\u2019 When it came to do this record, I know I\u2019m an Old Testament person, I really love it. I think it appeals to musicians, it\u2019s very colorful and dramatic. When we finishing the record, I realized I hadn\u2019t really touched the New Testament at all so I figured it would be good to pay some respect to the New Testament and then I remembered how much I loved that song. It\u2019s a lovely song and amongst religious songs, it\u2019s very unusual in that\u2019s it also just a love song. I love the idea of Jesus being just a man. That\u2019s what\u2019s so magical about Jesus is that at the end of the day he was a man.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019m so grateful for the opportunity of it, because really since I was a kid, that\u2019s the arena I wanted to work in. When you get into the music business you get dragged along this whole rock and roll course. What you want to do yourself often isn\u2019t paid attention to. For years, I was wanting to get out of the rock and pop arena and of course, all your business people are like \u2018no, you mustn\u2019t.\u2019 but they\u2019re making a living.<\/p>\n
\nI was born in Ireland in 1966 and at that time, Ireland was very much a theocracy. We had a version of Catholicism that was really different than other countries. The church really ran the country and people lived in a lot of fear of the church. Despite that, Irish people were very religious and loved God a lot. Personally, I never took on any of the negative aspects of Catholicism, I just took on the good aspects. The whole country was like a church, there were statues of Mary, pictures of the Pope.<\/p>\n