The Script’s Danny O’Donoghue revealed he no longer speaks to any of his “friends” who didn’t call him when his mother died.
The singer’s mum Ailish O’Donoghue passed away at her home in February, 10 years to the day after dad Shay.
Opening up about the band’s new album, Sunsets & Full Moons, which features raw new songs based on the heartbreaking period in his life, the 39-year-old said he’s proud of the band’s “no bulls**t” attitude.
Speaking at an exclusive playback of the album, the Dubliner told the Irish Mirror: “There is a lyric at the end of Run Through Walls that says, ‘I have got friends that would run through walls, I’ve got friends who don’t text, they call.’
“And anybody who texts me after my mum’s passing, I don’t call them anymore.
“And anybody who called me, I’ll call around to their house. Because that was the time I needed them to call.
“That was the time I wanted them to call. And like I said, things become very sharp-focused around times like that.”
Danny also reflected on the tough year the band has endured, including his own break-up with ex-girlfriend Anne de Paula.
He said: “This year we’ve all been through really tough personal situations and I think it really centred us back to what was really important about The Script.
“It’s about being honest and being emotional.”
Likening the songwriting process to the likes of Eric Clapton’s Tears In Heaven, which was inspired by the death of his four-year-old son, he added: “What I realised about that type of song is that that song was written at probably one of the most important times in an artist’s life, when they are hurt.
“Because what else, what other justification would we have for pain and what other justifications would we have for anything in this world only to try and make something beautiful out of something that was terrible.
“So I think looking back at it, I think this year for me particularly, I went through a break-up at the start of last year and then moving into this year I lost my mum.
“I think this body of work and with the positivity of the songs, I’m really proud of the band because we couldn’t give a s**t anymore.
“There’s no bulls**t with us anymore. We are just going to tell us how it is. If you like it amazing, lean in, come to the gigs. If you don’t, go f*** yourself.”
- Sunsets & Full Moons is released November 8, while the arena tour will come to the 3Arena Dublin on March 6 and 7.
