In school I was told ‘try for factory job' – making it in music was much more difficult for working class, says Imelda

The Irish Sun

a day ago

'I remember trying to get into art college, and one of the nuns was making a laughing stock of me, you know, saying, 'Who do you think you are? You? Trying to get into art college?''
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS In school I was told 'try for factory job' – making it in music was much more difficult for working class, says Imelda
IMELDA May has opened up about her battle to make it as a singer, having come from a working class area in the heart of Dublin city.
The star has worked with some of the great musicians and songwriters of all time, and is currently receiving rave reviews as the star in Mother of All The Behans at the 3Olympia Theatre.
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Imelda May has worked with some of the greatest musicians and songwriters of all time
Credit: Getty
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Imelda is starring in the play Mother Of All The Behans,which moves from Dublin to Belfast's Grand Opera House next week
Credit: PR Handout
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Imelda May with music legends Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart
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Imelda told us she accidentally interrupted Noel Gallagher in the middle of a recording session
Credit: Redferns
But she admits it was a hard graft to get where she is today and many in her community never believed it would happen for her.
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Imelda, 51, said: 'When I was in school, we were told you'd be lucky if you get into the local factory, do you know? Aim for Guinness'. Don't get pregnant. You might be a secretary — it was that kind of stuff.
'And I remember trying to get into art college, and one of the nuns was making a laughing stock of me, you know, saying, 'Who do you think you are? You? Trying to get into art college?' This is me trying to do a portfolio to get into art college and she said, 'You're not doing it in school time, are you joking, who do you think you are?'
'It's much easier for people who have either had a few bob to fall back on, parents that would help fund buying instruments and having the space, even the garage — we didn't even have a garden — to rehearse in. Things like that, like practicalities like that are tough.'
Imelda stars as acclaimed author Brendan Behan's mammy Kathleen in an evening of songs and stories celebrating her life in Mother of All The Behans, which was adapted for the stage by Peter Sheridan from the book by Brian Behan.
And she said she identifies with the character as someone who is from a working class background herself, having been born and raised in The Liberties in Dublin — and called for more support for people from the same background.
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'I THINK THE ARTS GIVES YOU FREEDOM'
Imelda explained: 'I think there should be way more working class kids in the arts.
'So really, I'm a big believer in the arts and for working class people, because it's very, very difficult.
'You know, Brendan Behan and Kathleen Behan were working class. Sean O'Casey was working class. I'm working class. The Liberties was kind of known as an underprivileged area and I think the arts gives you freedom. The arts saves.
'The arts can save any soul in the world, but you have to be dedicated and you have to be ready to educate yourself.'
Imelda May opens up on friendship with late Irish icon
She added: 'I was 15 when I started. I was properly gigging and working at it for a long time. It wasn't that I was only doing it to break through, whether it worked for me or not I'd still be doing it.
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'It's not a choice. It's something that I have to do or I die inside.
'The only problem is obviously paying your bills. So I was working during the day and gigging at night. I was working as a waitress, I was working in a garage, I worked in a launderette, I worked in a nursing home as a carer.
'And I loved that job. I loved being a carer. It was such a privilege to look after people, especially as they left this world.
So really, I'm a big believer in the arts and for working class people, because it's very, very difficult"
Imelda May
'That made you really see the world in a different way.
'I'd sing to them actually, I'd sing to them in the bed if they wanted, but I'd gig at night, I'd be writing songs over the weekend.
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OASIS INTERRUPTION
'So I think it's difficult for people when you are trying to make ends meet. Music is a tough business. The arts, it's really hard. You have to have a backbone of steel.'
The star also told of the time she accidentally interrupted Oasis great Noel Gallagher in the middle of a recording session as he worked on a song with her and Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood four years ago.
She recalls: 'I thought he was just rehearsing, I walked in on him asking did he want a cup of tea! I was like, 'I've made a bit of cake, do you want a bit?'
'He's like, 'F*** sake, Imelda! I was in the middle of the best solo I've ever done!' But he's very proud of being Irish.'
Imelda's show moves from Dublin to Belfast's Grand Opera House next week, opening on August 18 the day after the Oasis double-header in Croke Park.
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She added: 'I'd love to see them, of course, they're flying high.
'My own show has been going phenomenally well, it's been incredible.
'The tickets are flying out the door and I've been having a standing ovation every night, which is phenomenal.
'It's just wonderful that it's been received so well.
'You know, people are just jumping up to their feet before I'm nearly finished the end of the song.
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'So that's great after all the work that went in, to have that response is really fantastic.'
'QUEEN OF IRELAND'
It is her latest career highlight. But she wants to set the record straight over a reported claim Bono called her 'the queen of Ireland' when she guested at a U2 concert in Dublin.
She laughs: 'Bono called me 'the other queen of Ireland'. And that went all over the place, and everybody was saying, 'How dare he, we don't have a queen of Ireland!'
'It was all taken out context, because what he had was, before me, he had Panti Bliss on, the best drag queen in Ireland. And when Panti Bliss came on he says, 'Welcome the queen of Ireland, Panti Bliss'. And then when I came on he went, 'And the other queen of Ireland, Imelda May!'
'Well, they cut out that front bit. You can imagine the ructions that caused — the other queen of Ireland? Hang on a second!
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'But you learn and watch from these brilliant legends, Rod Stewart and Robert Plant and all of these gorgeous people that I've got to work with. You take it in like a sponge and you work really hard and then you feel like, 'Yeah, I'm all right to be here'.
'And like with this play, I've worked and worked and worked on it. I'm constantly going over the lines and putting the work in, so I think if you put the effort in and you're in a comfortable place, work extra hard with it and know your stuff, know your songs, then you get to enjoy it.'
MOTHER of All The Behans takes place at Belfast's Grand Opera House from August 18-23. Visit www.goh.co.uk for tickets and further details.