Camille O’Sullivan has described a cancer diagnosis during Covid as the singer prepares a new Dublin show. In an interview, O’Sullivan said the illness was discovered by chance during a routine health check.

The singer and actor underwent an operation and a full hysterectomy after a diagnosis of womb cancer. O’Sullivan told The Irish Times that treatment left difficult physical effects while performances continued.

Speaking in The Irish Times interview, O’Sullivan recalled being frightened while waiting for answers. The account says O’Sullivan has been cancer free since treatment.

Archival portrait of Camille O’Sullivan
Archival portrait of Camille O’Sullivan.

Camille O’Sullivan Describes Treatment’s Effect On Performing

O’Sullivan said doctors contacted the singer’s parents after unanswered calls. A further five months of waiting brought uncertainty about the illness.

“I had cancer during Covid,” O’Sullivan said. “I was so scared. It was caught by chance.”

The singer also described long Covid, shingles in an eye and post-herpetic neuralgia. Fatigue sometimes meant sleeping for three or four days.

For a performer, those effects were particularly difficult, O’Sullivan said. The singer recalled steroids helping make performances possible.

During Piaf at Dublin’s Gate Theatre in 2022, O’Sullivan struggled with concentration and learning lines. Nausea was among the problems described.

The full hysterectomy also brought immediate menopause, which O’Sullivan described as disorientating. The interview recounts distress and depression alongside the physical changes.

Camille O’Sullivan Prepares The Art Of Falling Apart

The new show, The Art of Falling Apart, will take place at the 3Olympia Theatre on Saturday, November 21st. David Bowie’s guitarist Earl Slick is the special guest.

O’Sullivan described the production as a new creation still taking shape. The planned material includes Jacques Brel, Nick Cave and David Bowie.

The singer said the show concerns embracing life’s difficulties and expressing joy, grief and fear. O’Sullivan described its intended character as “hymnal” and “spiritual.”

The production will be a cousin of the recent show Loveletter, according to O’Sullivan. That show celebrated friends and artistic figures lost in recent years.

Loveletter is also scheduled at Monroes, Galway, Oct 8th, and St. Luke’s, Cork, Oct 10th. The interview places those performances alongside the forthcoming Dublin production.

Camille O’Sullivan Connects Nerves With The Stage

A serious car crash when O’Sullivan was 25 preceded a move from architecture into singing. The singer began performing cabaret in Dublin coffee houses.

O’Sullivan described intense nervousness before appearances and vulnerability during performances. A recent ADHD diagnosis also helped explain social anxiety and difficulties with everyday tasks.

The singer takes encouragement from Jacques Brel, who stopped performing live because of stage fright. For O’Sullivan, nerves do not determine the quality of a performance.

O’Sullivan has performed at the Sydney Opera House and the Royal Albert Hall. The Telegraph named the singer among the best 25 acts to appear on Jools Holland in 2018, the interview notes.

Related arts coverage includes JMSN’s dispute over song use, the Tokyo Film Festival lineup and Verity’s opening forecast.

Despite the fear surrounding upcoming gigs, O’Sullivan described singing as joyful. The Art of Falling Apart will bring that approach to the November 21st performance.