The one-time pop sensation took out a full-page ad in the Irish Examiner pleading for people to stop making fun of her.

O'Connor, who shot to international fame in 1990 with her biggest hit, "Nothing Compares 2 U," claimed she'd been "consistently ridiculed, lashed and called mad" for decades, particularly in her native Ireland.

"I don't think there can be any person male or female from this country who has been as consistently lashed as I have been and always am no matter what I set out to do," she complained during her 2,000-word essay.

"If ye all think I am such a crazy person why do ye use me to sell your papers? Please, I just want to be a little old lady now, and not be all controversial and not be bashed and called crazy and laughed at when I open my mouth to sing or speak."

During her career, O'Connor, 37, was known for her attention-seeking stunts. She refused to let "The Star-Spangled Banner" be played before a concert in New Jersey and ripped a picture of Pope John Paul II on live television in a protest against the Catholic Church.

In recent years, she's clashed with her own siblings - particularly her brother Joe, an internationally regarded author - about her allegations of an abusive childhood at the hands of her mother. Her siblings insist she's exaggerating claims of abuse.