Pulp keyboardist Candida Doyle says joining the band was a case of “do or die”, after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis as a teen.
The 61-year-old Irish musician put up a fight after being told she had the chronic autoimmune disease and refused to let the condition stop her.
She told Mojo magazine: “It was kind of, do or die. And I did. I fought it. They said, you know, I could be in a wheelchair in my thirties and in my head, I was instantly like, ‘No, I’m not having this.’”
Candida – sister of Magnus Doyle, who was Pulp’s drummer between 1983 and 1986 – said that despite being “constantly uncomfortable” and her body being “sore”, she “still went to nightclubs and stayed up ’til 2am”.
She continued: “I just went about living my life without a care.”
Candida joined Pulp in 1984 and instantly clicked with her bandmates.
She recalled: “I knew the band anyway, because in Sheffield, if you were a bit unusual, you all kind of went to the same clubs.”
Candida was training to become a nursery nurse at the time, and kept quiet about being in the band – because she thought her colleagues would judge her.
She admitted: “I’d see posters for Pulp concerts, and think, ‘Oh, my God.’ The people I worked with thought I was pretty weird anyways.
“I mean, it was very rare for a woman to be in a band in Sheffield. That’s partly why I stayed. I thought, ‘I’ve got to stay in because there’s hardly any women doing it.’”
Pulp would go on to achieve widespread success nearly 11 years later after their defining Glastonbury Festival performance in 1995.
The Britpop rockers are set to release their first album in 24 years, ‘More’, this June, and will also embark on a UK tour.