Now leave me alone, asks 'retiring' Sinead

Controversial singer Sinead O’Connor has announced she is quitting the music business for good – and no longer wants to be “famous”.

The Irish star wants to be left alone to return to a “normal” life and will “pursue a different career”.

She made her retirement announcement in a message to a fan website and will make her final recordings next month.

The star has been an outspoken figure in the music business throughout her career, notably tearing up a picture of the Pope on TV.

At one point she was ordained as a priest and on another occasion she declared she was gay – shortly before marrying for the second time in 2001.

In the message posted on the website, she said: “As of July 2003 I shall be retiring from the music business.

“The last recordings I will make will be (believe it or not) a track for Dolly Parton’s upcoming tribute album and a track for Sharon Shannon’s forthcoming album.

A live DVD release – called Goodnight, Thankyou. You’ve Been A Lovely Audience - will mark the end of her career in July.

“I would request that as of July, since I seek no longer to be a ‘famous’ person, and instead I wish to live a ‘normal’ life, could people please afford me my privacy,” she said.

“By which I mean I would like not to have exploitation of myself or my name or anyone connected with me by newspapers.

“I also mean that (with love) I want to be like any other person in the street and not have people say there is Sinead O’Connor. As I am a very shy person, believe it or not.”

She asked that she could be “left in peace and privacy by people who love my records”.

O’Connor, 36, said she hoped her request did not sound “rude”.

And she advised fans of any celebrity to afford them more privacy.

“If u see them in the street, don’t even look at them. If u love them, then the lovingest thing u can do to show them so is leave them alone and don’t stare at them. Or bang on restaurant windows when they (are) in there. Or make them get their picture taken, or write their names on bits of paper. That’s pieces of them.

“And one day they wake up with nothing left of themselves to give.”

O’Connor, in the music business since her teens, first hit the charts in 1988 with the single Mandinka. Two years later she scored a number one with the Prince song Nothing Compares 2 U.

She last threatened to retire more than a decade ago and has rarely dented the charts since then.

She recently worked with Asian Dub Foundation as guest vocalist on new single 1000 Mirrors.

Her management company confirmed today that the message on the website was genuine and posted by the singer.