Imelda May: 'Losing my dog was hideous – he toured with me, he had a Glastonbury pass'

'Great love': May, pictured here reciting poetry

Singer Imelda May has opened up about the “hideous” experience of losing her beloved dog Alfie during lockdown.

The Irish star, 45, relayed the traumatic experience of losing her dog – who toured with her and was even a regular at Glastonbury Festival – last week.

She said: “Obviously, people are losing human family members, but he was certainly a family member. It has been horrible. When it happened, we couldn’t go inside the vets. It was me kneeling on the ground of a car park in the dark. He [Alfie] had a stroke or something. He lost the use of his back legs. But we couldn’t go in [to the vets] due to social distancing. He was lying on the ground and I was lying with him. It was horrible. It is hideous, especially during this time.”

She said the dog: "Had an extraordinary life. He has travelled and toured with me, he had a Glastonbury pass. He was the only dog allowed in to the Royal Albert Hall. I wasn’t allowed to tell anybody because it was against all regulations but everyone fell in love with him. I brought him everywhere – BBC radio, Terry Wogan loved him. So he has had a good life, for sure. An interesting one."

Last week, May announced her latest album of poetry, Slip of the Tongue.

She said poetry was on of her “great loves”, but admitted she’d struggled to be creative during the pandemic.

“I would love to say that I had loads of time to sit and write and I would have been writing if I wasn’t home schooling. That is taking up a lot of time. I am a single Mum, so I am constantly doing the schooling and the cooking and the cleaning.”

About the album, she said: “I hope people enjoy it. These are nice moments to reflect.”

Her last album Life Love Flesh Blood was written following the breakdown of her 13-year marriage to Darrel Higham in 2015. She said the work was: “The most me of all the albums I have done. It is only one I would actually listen to.”

Slip of the Tongue is released on June 12, on Decca Records

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