{"id":61935,"date":"2025-10-05T07:24:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T07:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/61935\/"},"modified":"2025-10-05T07:24:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T07:24:07","slug":"i-dont-smoke-and-i-cut-out-all-drink-when-im-going-on-a-tour-to-mind-my-voice-and-there-i-was-throwing-up-in-a-toilet-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/61935\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I don\u2019t smoke and I cut out all drink when I\u2019m going on a tour to mind my voice. And there I was, throwing up in a toilet\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tell people you\u2019re going to meet Lyra<\/a> and the reaction is warm, universally so. People know of her for all sorts of different reasons. \u201cShe was brilliant on that television show with Leo Varadkar. Really impressive,\u201d says one person, referring to Lyra\u2019s guest appearance<\/a> on Uncharted with special forces veteran Ray Goggins, where she and Varadkar battled through the mountains of Drakenberg in South Africa. \u201cWill you get a video of her?\u201d wonders another, complimenting her fashion sense. \u201cShe\u2019s doing the NFL performance, isn\u2019t she?\u201d says another, referring to Lyra\u2019s rendition of Amhr\u00e1n na bhFiann ahead of the NFL Dublin game<\/a> at Croke Park in late September.<\/p>\n

Lyra might have come to prominence for her music \u2013 her debut album went to No 1 in Ireland in 2024, pipping Beyonc\u00e9 to the top spot and giving her the \u201cBandon Beyonc\u00e9\u201d tag, but the Cork-born singer is what television producers call \u201crelatable\u201d in a way that stretches far beyond the world of the arts. Sweary, funny and candid, Lyra can\u2019t help telling \u201cjuicy\u201d or \u201ccringe\u201d stories from her life, any more than she can take the melody of Cork out of her earthy, robust accent. Perched today sipping tea in a private room of a five-star Dublin hotel, she grins at some superstar Elton John-style vibes she conjured up recently, when she and a few school pals went out for dinner in Bandon. Because the others were carrying cash, Lyra paid the bill on her credit card. \u201cThe girls were all breaking their holes laughing,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019ll be all around Bandon, \u2018Lyra is spoiling her friends for dinner!\u2019 Everyone thinks I\u2019m minted. I was like, \u2018Give me that cash money\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

She specialises in bursting bubbles even when she has been the one crafting them. Sure, she\u2019s the siren you\u2019ve seen stretched across a billboard, looking J Lo-level sexy to promote her eponymous album. She\u2019s the artist with the bottomless lungs, belting out hits such as New Day and Falling, which made it on to Grey\u2019s Anatomy and Love Island, in a sonorous, operatic style with hints of London Grammar by way of Lady Gaga. But don\u2019t believe the music videos or the Instagram reels: \u201cIt\u2019s smoke and mirrors,\u201d she says. What about the photos of Lyra wearing white shades on a private jet that surfaced recently on her social media accounts? Yes, she confirms, it\u2019s true she arrived by private plane to Ireland for the NFL game, but what you didn\u2019t see was that it was a lucky lift from a friend. \u201cI won\u2019t say who in case they\u2019d be mortified, but they said, \u2018Would you like to come?\u2019 and I was like: obviously!\u201d she says, in an accent so singsong it needs its own backing track.<\/p>\n

Today, as if to illustrate the point, she is wearing a mix of Dunnes Stores and H&M on her petite 5ft 3in frame: black, baggy, on-trend jeans, counterbalanced by pointy black shoes, a tight white top and thin gold jewellery. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love Dunnes,\u201d she says. When she introduces her song Queen live, she always says that the bridge, where she chants that she\u2019s \u201cdressed in Gucci and Bottega\u201d, is nonsense. \u201cI say openly: \u2018By the way, that middle eight is fake news: I do not wear Gucci, Miu Miu, Fendi or Prada.\u201d <\/p>\n

We\u2019re meeting today because Lyra has a new tour to promote \u2013 it kicks off in mid-October in the Gleneagle in Kerry \u2013 but today is also the day before she performs Amhr\u00e1n na bhFiann at Croke Park. Tomorrow she has 90 seconds in which to capture and enrapture the crowd. For any artist, the challenge would be immense: to stand before an audience of 80,000, cameras and stadium lights trained on you, and sing for all you are worth. It\u2019s a moment that will make you reflect on your career, on perceived inadequacies, and all the things that have been said to you in the past. Lyra is fretting about her skin \u2013 she has forgotten some skincare at home \u2013 and naturally she\u2019s worried about the performance itself. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people tell you you\u2019re not good-looking enough, not skinny enough, your voice is too loud, do you ever lose things like that?\u201d she says. \u201cI was told at one point, \u2018You sound like you should be singing in a football stadium\u2019. Well, hang on, I am tomorrow actually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing up in Bandon, the daughter of a biochemist and a restaurateur, Laura McNamara was 11 when she first learned to brace herself before the sharp knives and cutting tongues of the industry. \u201cI went to go to a really well-known vocal coach. My parents were like, \u2018I think you have something, you gotta go to this guy\u2019. I went to him for the first introduction, where he susses you out. He wouldn\u2019t take me. So I\u2019ve never been trained.\u201d <\/p>\n

Why didn\u2019t he? \u201cHe didn\u2019t think I was good enough.\u201d Her throat catches on the last two words. She laughs to disguise her emotion. \u201cAm I cringing myself out? Maybe I was a bit too raw or rough and not ready.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ireland has a culture of singer-songwriters, but not of female pop stars. There wasn\u2019t an obvious path for someone like Lyra, aside from the Louis Walsh school of manufactured pop (she tried that route too, auditioning for RT\u00c9 talent show You\u2019re a Star as a teen). When she moved as a young hopeful in her 20s to London, sharing a flat in Hackney with her sister Sarah, she had great ambitions and crippling doubts. She got it into her head that she could be a pop star if she could just get thinner. Thinness mattered: the magazines on news-stands at the time sported covers where Britney Spears\u2019 cellulite was pointed out; circles drawn around areas of flesh to shame stars publicly. The messaging was impossible to ignore. <\/p>\n

\"LyraLyra performing at the NFL game in Dublin. Photograph: Mikey Aldridge <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the feeling of not feeling good enough,\u201d she says. \u201cBut if you\u2019re skinny, if you look like a pop star, you will be good enough.\u201d Early advisers piled on pressure. \u201cI thought, They must know best. They\u2019ve made pop stars before. Maybe I am a bit on the broken side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feelings of self-disgust took hold. \u201cI did have bulimia, and I didn\u2019t realise I had it because I was so deluded that it was a way to get to what I thought I had to be, what I was told I had to be,\u201d she says. \u201cLooking back, I\u2019m like, Oh my God, how did you put yourself through it? But you do because you think it\u2019s the right way.\u201d <\/p>\n

In the throes of her eating disorder, her periods stopped. \u201cI was skin and bone. It was disgusting and my teeth felt weird because of the acid. It\u2019s acid all the time. It\u2019s not good for your vocal cords. I was like, what the f**k are you doing? You\u2019re trying to be in this music industry. You\u2019re going to have no voice. I don\u2019t smoke. I cut out all drink when I\u2019m going on a tour. I\u2019m very strict on myself. And there I was, throwing up in a toilet.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an odd thing, to talk to someone who is so witty and charismatic and capable \u2013 who can so easily make people laugh \u2013 and then still see the deep insecurities. Lyra can throw out one-liners with the ease of a professional comedian. But she carries with her a harsh and striking tendency to do herself down. Half of it seems to be due to the usual Irish trope of not having any airs or graces about yourself, and the other half seems to be a genuine struggle within for self-worth. <\/p>\n

\u201cI might look in the mirror and be like, Oh my God, what is that? Your hair is rank or your skin is awful. I\u2019m really bad at being able to be like: you\u2019re fine, it\u2019s just a bad day.\u201d <\/p>\n

Does she have tools for dealing with those feelings? \u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t think I do,\u201d she says, after a pause. <\/p>\n

\"LyraLyra performing at the NFL game in Dublin. Photograph: Mikey Aldridge <\/p>\n

One of the important things that happened for Lyra in the late 2010s was a gradual understanding that the path people were sending her down was not the best for her. She parted ways with her management; she asked for a meeting with Caroline Downey, who represents Hozier<\/a> (and is now her manager too), and signed with respected record label Rubyworks. She began doubting the doubters. Initially with earlier advisers, her demos had been policed for her heavy Cork accent: \u201cI\u2019m pretty certain that on certain sections of the demos it wasn\u2019t me singing,\u201d she says. She had been instructed not to talk between songs on stage. \u201cLike, \u2018Don\u2019t talk. Be mysterious\u2019. That\u2019s so bloody boring. I\u2019d leave.\u201d <\/p>\n

She decided to talk and be more open, on Instagram and in her stage shows. \u201cIt\u2019s taken a while for me to be comfortable,\u201d she says. \u201cI was like, people want to see me in the amazing outfits and in the photo shoots; they want to see the polished side of me. I convinced myself of that until I started doing shows and talking to people. A girl came up to me and said, \u2018Oh, I thought you would be up your own ass, but you\u2019re gas craic, just like us\u2019. So I started introducing myself a bit more. I didn\u2019t want to dilute how hard working I am, but I also wanted them to see I\u2019m not just the girl in the photo shoots or, you know, prim and proper.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reality suits Lyra. It makes sense that Uncharted, which saw her in a hoodie, soaked to the skin, trekking uphill with a pony and an ex-taoiseach, was a hit for RT\u00c9. Not many women would choose to trudge up a mountain in South Africa in the rain \u2013 and glue on acrylic nails for the task. \u201cThey were like, \u2018Are you taking those nails off?\u2019 I was like, No. You have to have the nails. I couldn\u2019t have anything else.\u201d <\/p>\n

She also forgot Varadkar wasn\u2019t a close personal friend. \u201cI\u2019m an awful bum smacker. I gave him a little bum smack and I was like, \u2018That\u2019s the former taoiseach of Ireland\u2019. I went back and I said, \u2018Leo, I\u2019m a very affectionate person. If I\u2019m in your personal space or anything, please let me know.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

She cites CMAT<\/a> as an example of a pop star she admires, and Charli XCX. Both artists are known for being honest and straightforward \u2013 showing off glamour but also the side to them that is vulnerable and messy and unvarnished. Lyra enjoys looking sexy \u2013 she loves sparkles and sequinned microphones and customised glam \u2013 but she can\u2019t keep that up all the time. \u201cI dress up. I do have the laugh. And I put on this brave face. But I\u2019m also very vulnerable and human.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Cork singer Lyra on domestic violence: \u2018We have all heard the stories, but it\u2019s now about getting the action\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

She acknowledges that the eating disorder isn\u2019t something that can simply vanish. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s a thing you fully get over,\u201d she says. And you can hear it in the corners of her conversation, when she mentions cellulite on her thighs \u201cfront and back\u201d. Her \u201cjiggly bingo wings\u201d. When she talks about \u201cstarving herself\u201d into an outfit. It\u2019s like hearing the dialogue in her head out loud. Sometimes it\u2019s jokey, sometimes not. \u201cSome days I have to pull myself up and be like, \u2018You\u2019re not going back there. Stop.\u2019\u201d The way she characterises it, it\u2019s a fight. <\/p>\n

I bring up a subject that has surfaced recently online: the chatter about the many people who are microdosing Ozempic<\/a> and other weight-loss drugs. As she ping-pongs between her base in Brighton and her mother\u2019s home in Rochestown in Cork, Lyra sees it in her own circles. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is going on? It\u2019s mad. It\u2019s a fashion fad in London at the moment. We don\u2019t even know the long-term effects. These people don\u2019t need this medication. It\u2019s bonkers. I have friends that are doing it. One of my friends said, \u2018Are you on the [jabs]?\u2019 I was like, no I\u2019m not. I\u2019m stressed off my head and I\u2019m trying to write my second album.\u201d<\/p>\n

She laughs. She\u2019s been agonising about the new record. Her summer single Weird Club delivered staccato vocals over skinny electro-pop synths, claiming different sonic territory from hits such as Falling. Lyra isn\u2019t sure if it\u2019s the direction she wants to go in. \u201cYou have to be brutally honest with yourself.\u201d She won\u2019t be playing many new songs on the upcoming tour, because she firmly believes in giving her audience the hits they have paid to come and see. \u201cPeople want to hear what they know,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be too self-indulgent.\u201d <\/p>\n

For the tour, she\u2019ll give the audience her all. \u201cI\u2019m not holding back just to make money,\u201d she says. \u201cI got the bill for the lights the other day. Are you shitting me? It\u2019s a year\u2019s rent. A lot of money. It better be special. I will always invest in my live show for the people who show up for me.\u201d <\/p>\n

The same is true of her NFL performance, a high bar she clears effortlessly the following day. She worked with a designer Phoenix V to make a bespoke outfit. She went to an Irish-language coach to improve her pronunciation. She did the hard yards. <\/p>\n

Lyra\u2019s lifestyle isn\u2019t for everyone. You wonder if it will always be right for her. She is sacrificing a lot to succeed. There are days when she cries from sheer loneliness; the sense of \u201cwhat am I doing with my life?\u201d She loves being around her sister\u2019s children. Her thirtysomething school pals are doing the things people do \u2013 hens, weddings, christenings \u2013 and she has missed many of their big moments. \u201cThey\u2019ve stayed friends with me,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying I want the Brady Bunch, but I would like somebody to hand down my costumes to<\/p>\n

Her boyfriend is a former professional rugby player who stays out of the spotlight but offers a lot of support. \u201cI go away for weeks on end and he\u2019s like, \u2018We\u2019re hopefully going to have the rest of our lives together. We have time\u2019. Well, your nails are done. She laughs. \u201cTaylor, could we borrow the ring there, hon? Drop the knee! <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a hard industry, especially as a female. We grow humans because we have the superpower,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t know what life holds for me in that sense. I\u2019m hoping I\u2019ll be able to do both. I know people say, \u2018Why can\u2019t you?\u2019 But doing this at 110 per cent, it\u2019s full-on. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping that maybe I\u2019ll have worked so hard that it will pay off and I will be able to have the best of both worlds. I will be able to have my music career and that family that I want at one point in my life. I\u2019m not saying I want the Brady Bunch, but I would like somebody to hand down my costumes to.\u201d <\/p>\n

As we\u2019re leaving, in a deft move that many of us who have been faced with an all-inclusive hotel buffet will recognise, she scoops the white sugared croissants that have been left out in a basket on the table for us into a napkin, so she can enjoy them upstairs in her room later. \u201cThey know you\u2019re doing it, they don\u2019t mind,\u201d she says cheerfully \u2013 and you remember that her mother ran a restaurant for 23 years, with Lyra and her sister helping out in the family business. As ever it\u2019s very relatable. Very Lyra. <\/p>\n

Lyra\u2019s Members Only tour starts on October 18th. ticketmaster.ie<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Main photographs: Mikey Aldridge; Make-up: Sue Brophy; Hair: Stephen James Hennessy; Dress: Phoenix V<\/p>\n

If you are affected by the issues in this article, the Bodywhys<\/a> helpline is 01-2107906.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tell people you\u2019re going to meet Lyra and the reaction is warm, universally so. People know of her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[14975,893,764,93,631,1338,61,60,42640,709,19147,4370],"class_list":{"0":"post-61935","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-charli-xcx","9":"tag-cmat","10":"tag-croke-park","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-for-you","13":"tag-hozier","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-lyra","17":"tag-magazine","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-ozempic"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}