Shirley Manson: 'Fame made me miserable'

Singer Shirley Manson was miserable at her most successful.

The Garbage frontwoman has been in the spotlight since her band formed in 1994, producing hits such as Stupid Girl and Only Happy When It Rains. Fame didn't bring happiness though, as the singer found the more 'perfect' her life appeared, the more discontent she felt.

"When I was most successful I was never more miserable," she sighed to Q magazine. "I had everything I thought I wanted and it didn't make me feel good in any way.

"When attention and success fell away I had to engineer a lovely life, independent of external validation. Find small things that make you happy - a great cup of coffee, meditation, walking the dog, dancing - and inject them into your life. What's the secret to a great coffee? I don't know but I married a man who does (laughs)."

Shirley was talking to the publication about her rules for living, and encouraged women not to be a "good girl". Rather than ladies acting in a certain way which they feel pressured to, the flame-haired star insists they should be whoever they want to be and write their own rules.

Carrying on this idea of self-empowerment, she urges people to always speak up.

"Far too much is made of keeping your opinions to yourself," she sighed. "A healthy culture comes from debate and tolerating different opinions. I don't want to be a passive participant in my life, I want to be an active one. I want to stand up against injustice rather than quietly be outraged from afar. I don't think that's helping anybody."

That said, she believes both men and women should be feminists as until both genders are evenly balanced, the world is operating at a "disadvantage".