The reality much different from the perception, as is often the case.
'In fact, years earlier, at the age of 23 and during the height of her band's fame, O'Riordan had an experience that closely resembled a nervous breakdown. "It was really bad, a bit like the film, Jacob's Ladder. I thought people were watching me all the time. Looking back, I went nuts for a while. I didn't want to go out or leave my room and even when I was in the room, I'd see faces looking at me."
Part of this anxiety was born, she thinks, from having "too much too young", but some of it was also cultural. In Ireland, she says, where she had grown up singing in front of audiences in pubs, "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," she says.'
She had a few problems in life. Sexually abused at aged 8 for four years and she tried to take her own life a few years back. Very sad if it was suicide.