Sinéad O'Connor, gifted Irish singer dies at 56; 'nothing compares 2 u', says Twitter
Sinéad O’Connor, the gifted Irish singer-songwriter known for her intense and beautiful voice, who became a superstar in her mid-20s, has died at 56.
Connor was known for her strong political convictions, for being a non-conformist and also for her tumultuous personal life and provocative actions. Her recording of Prince’s song, ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’, was a worldwide hit in the 90s and it became the defining moment of her career.
The song about loss and heartbreak sung in her powerful voice thrust her unwillingly into the mainstream and she joined the league of popular female voices at that time like Tracy Chapman, Laurie Anderson and the Indigo Girls.
Beyond the hit song, she also made headlines for her trademark buzzed hairstyle and volatile public persona. Infamously, she ripped a picture of the Pope during a performance on Saturday Night Live in 1992 as she urged the audience to “fight the real enemy.”
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time,” the singer’s family said in a statement. The cause of her death was not revealed.
Battle with mental illness
Connor has however been open about her battle with mental illness, saying that she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In 2017, she had posted a Facebook video from a New Jersey motel where she had been living, saying that she was staying alive for the sake of others. And that if it were up to her, she’d be gone.
After her teenage son Shane died by suicide last year, O’Connor said she was like a ‘undead night creature’ in a desperate final Twitter post shortly before her death. O’Connor tweeted there was no point living without him and she was soon hospitalised. Her final tweet linked to a Tibetan compassion mantra, sent on July 17, read: For all mothers of Suicided children.
Her music was loved around the world and her talent was unmatched and beyond compare, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said in a statement on social media.
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Music saved her
O’Connor who was born on December 8, 1966 had a difficult childhood. She confessed in an interview that she had grown up in a ‘severely abusive situation’. She alleged that her mother was abusive and encouraged her to shoplift.
“So much of child abuse is about being voiceless, and it’s a wonderfully healing thing to just make sounds,” she told NPR.
As a teenager she spent time in a church-sponsored institution for girls. A nun gave O’Connor her first guitar, and soon she sang and performed on the streets of Dublin, her influences ranging from Dylan to Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Her performance with a local band caught the eye of a small record label, and, in 1987, O’Connor released her first album, ‘The Lion and the Cobra’. The cover to the album, was striking — not just because of her beautiful face. It was the picture of her bald head and her wrists locked defensively across her heart that seemed poignant and stunning. The album sold hundreds of thousands of copies and O’Connor, then 20 and pregnant, co-produced the album.
“I suppose I’ve got to say that music saved me,” she said in an interview with the Independent newspaper in 2013. “I didn’t have any other abilities, and there was no learning support for girls like me, not in Ireland at that time. It was either jail or music. I got lucky,” she added.
O’Connor then caught the attention of U2’s guitarist The Edge, and she got herself signed to the Ensign/Chrysalis label. Her second studio album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, went double platinum in 1990, partly because of the hit love song written by Prince: ‘Nothing Compares 2 U.
It got three Grammy nominations and she was named Artist of the Year in 1991 by Rolling Stone. She rejected the Grammy nominations because she found them too commercial.
O’ Connors other musical credits included the albums, ‘Universal Mother’ and ‘Faith and Courage’, a cover of Cole Porter’s ‘You Do Something to Me’, from the AIDS fundraising album ‘Red Hot + Blue’, and backing vocals on Peter Gabriel’s ‘Blood of Eden’. She received eight Grammy nominations and in 1991 won for best alternative musical performance.
O’Connor announced she was retiring from music in 2003, but continued to record new material. Her most recent album was ‘I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss’, released in 2014 and she sang the theme song for Season 7 of ‘Outlander’.
Political convictions
O’Connor married four times; her marriage to drug counsellor Barry Herridge, in 2011, lasted just 16 days. O’Connor had four children: Jake, with her husband John Reynolds; Roisin, with John Waters; Shane, with Donal Lunny; and Yeshua Bonadio, with Frank Bonadio.
In 2014, O’Connor said she was joining the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party and called for its leaders to step aside so that a younger generation of activists could take over. She later withdrew her application.
O’Connor was known for her ardent stance on politics and religion. Her criticism was always aimed at Ireland’s powerful Catholic church. She kicked up a storm in 1992, when she ripped a picture of Pope John Paul II on live TV in protest against child sexual abuse in the church.
“Ireland has lost one of our most powerful and successful singer-songwriter and female artists,” Sinn Fein vice president Michelle ONeill said.
While a Twitter user wrote in an apparent reference to Connor’s famous song: “Rest in peace Sinead O’Connor. Nothing compares 2 U and nobody ever will.”
RIP Sinéad O'Connor, I loved working with you making photos, doing gigs in Ireland together and chats, all my love to your family. pic.twitter.com/49ryuIhGTQ
— Bryan Adams (@bryanadams) July 26, 2023
Bryan Adams tweeted: RIP Sinéad O’Connor, I loved working with you making photos, doing gigs in Ireland together and chats, all my love to your family.
(With inputs from agencies)
