Irish singer Imelda May separated from her husband guitarist Darrel Higham in 2015, after 13 years of marriage.
In a 2017 interview with Irish Independent, Imelda May revealed that it was her cousin’s untimely death that caused her to reexamine her life, and decide to part ways with Darrel.
“We were close when we were kids and she was the same age as me. That was my wake-up call. I thought [after Caroline died]: ‘Jesus, I need to grab life,” May said.
“Grab it by the balls and live it as opposed to make do”. I really needed to live after she died.
“You don’t know how long you have left. You presume you are going to live life to a ripe old age but who knows what is around the corner. So I had to live life – not half live it,” May added.
When asked what occurred in her “perfect marriage” to make her finally end it, she posited that: “I have no idea. Life. But is anything ever perfect? Isn’t that the illusion?
“When things go wrong people can be great actors for everybody, sometimes. Darrel and I are good. That’s the weird thing. We are still really, really good. We have to be for our child,” May told the Irish Independent.