Musical years really don’t come any bigger than the one Imelda May is currently enjoying. From appearing at the Grammys with the legendary Jeff Beck to selling out two Christmas shows in the Dublin O2, the Liberties rockabilly queen has become a global phenomenon. Hell, she’s even met the President of the United States.

“Yeah, we were part of the College Green welcoming committee when he came back from Moneygall,” she beams. “He gave me some special presidential M&Ms, which will never be opened, and Michelle, who’s an absolutely gorgeous lady, chatted to me about Chicago and all the legendary musicians who come from there. I’d say you’d get some great tales if you went out on the tear with her!
“The whole day was amazing. We flew in specially to do the concert for them. From the stage you could see all the CIA men with the little microphones up their sleeves and the snipers on the roofs just in case. It was a massive operation.
“The meet-and-greet,” she continues, “took place in the Bank of Ireland Mint Room, which was an experience in itself. Before the President arrived, I had lovely chats with Gabriel Byrne, Brendan Gleeson, Daniel Day-Lewis, Saoirse Ronan, The Coronas and all these other brilliant people.”
Having been the featured vocalist on Jeff Beck’s Emotion & Commotion album, which got to number 11 in America, Imelda was deemed sufficiently A-List to appear on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Conan and The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson.
“I met all sorts of really cool people like Julie Bowen from Modern Family, Piers Morgan and Richard Patrick Harris who was Doogie Howser MD way back when,” she enthuses. “Best of all though was being on Jay Leno with the animal trainer David Salmoni and getting to make a fuss of the lion cubs, baboon, pelicans and sloth called Lola he had with him. She was so cute!”
The year wasn’t without its “ouch!” moments though.
“It was on the last day of the tour in Canada,” she winces. “We’d arrived at this festival early, the music hadn’t started yet, so I went for a ramble and discovered the most beautiful lake you ever saw on the other side of this fence. Anyway, I jumped over and heard a big crack, which was my tendon snapping away from the bone. I also tore my ligaments, but still managed to play the show.”
To ‘Irish Artist of the Year’, add ‘Trooper of the Year’! While we’ll probably have to wait until 2013 for a follow-up to Mayhem, there’s good news for Imelda fans desperate for new material.
“I’m very proud to have become an ambassador for the Make-A-Wish Foundation Ireland who told me about this little boy who wanted to be a rock star,” she reveals. “He’s been through an awful hard time, so they set up a big stage and made his dream come true. I wrote a lullaby called ‘Make A Wish’, which everybody worked on for free and I’m hoping will raise lots of money for the foundation who do brilliant work.”
As if that wasn’t enough to be getting on with, December 22 also finds Imelda making her DJ debut on BBC Radio 2.
“I don’t know what time it’s going out, but myself and Darrel have recorded a pilot for what will hopefully be our own series. I’m the heart choosing the songs, and he’s the brain telling people when it came out, who’s on it and all the rest. It’s mainly rock ‘n’ roll and rockabilly with a few additional surprises!”
Ms. May’s every move – well, almost! – this year has been captured by her bass-player Al Gare on his wonderful heregareandeverywhere.blogspot.com, which he’s very kindly allowed us to plunder for our Imelda photo special.