Sinéad O’Connor, the Irish singer famed for her strong and beautiful voice, political views, and personal turmoil in her final years, has died. She was 56 years old at the time.
O’Connor’s rendition of “Nothing Compares 2 U” was one of the early 1990s’ biggest hits. Her family announced her death. Her cause of death and date of death were not made public. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad,” the statement added. Her family and friends are distraught and have asked for privacy during this difficult time.”
In the late 1980s, alternative radio was filled with the voices of female artists who challenged commercial assumptions of what women should look like and sound like. O’Connor stood out in a gathering that included Tracy Chapman, Laurie Anderson, and the Indigo Girls.
Her debut album cover, issued in 1987, was stunning – and not just because of her stunning looks. Her head was bald as an eaglet, and her wrists were defensively clasped across her heart. The album’s title, The Lion and the Cobra, is a reference to a Psalm 91 line regarding believers and the strength and resilience of their faith. Sinéad O’Connor was resilient throughout her childhood.
“I grew up in a severely abusive situation, with my mother being the perpetrator,” O’Connor told NPR in 2014. “So much of child abuse is about being voiceless, and it’s a wonderfully healing thing just to make sounds.”
After being kicked out of Catholic schools and constantly nabbed for shoplifting, O’Connor began creating noises in a juvenile delinquent home. But after a nun gave her a guitar, she began singing on the streets of Dublin and later joined the famed Irish band In Tua Nua.
O’Connor caught the attention of U2 guitarist The Edge, who signed her to the Ensign/Chrysalis label. In 1990, her second studio album, I Do Not Want What I Don’t Have, went double platinum, thanks in part to a popular love song written by Prince, “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
I Do Not Want What I Don’t Have was a synthesis of O’Connor’s prayerful musical sensibility and her rage at social injustice. She rejected its four Grammy nominations, calling it “too commercial” and “for destroying the human race.” She was barred from performing in a New Jersey arena after refusing to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” whose lyrics laud bombs exploding in the air.
According to rock journalist Bill Wyman, O’Connor was part of a proud Irish heritage of speaking out against the existing order. “You know she’s always on the side of the victims, vulnerable, and weak,” he observes.
Sinéad O’Connor performed on Saturday Night Live in 1992, at the height of her fame. During her presentation, she spoke out against racism and child abuse. When she ripped up a picture of then-Pope John Paul II to close the song, a version of Bob Marley’s “War,” there was complete quiet.
The media responded with a collective roar of anger. It drowned out an early warning about abuse in the Catholic church. Years later, in 2010, O’Connor told NPR that she knew exactly what she was in for.
“To be honest, it was fantastic,” she stated. “I mean, I understood how people were going to respond. I knew there might be complications. That was something I was willing to embrace. It was more crucial to me that I recognised what I will refer to as the Holy Spirit.”
Joan of Arc of rock music, as she became known, became increasingly unpredictable in her convictions. O’Connor was a feminist before she was not. She was a supporter of the Irish Republican Army until she wasn’t. A rogue cult ordained her as a Catholic priest. She became a Muslim. She went from celibacy to oversharing about her sexual preferences. After her conversion, she renamed herself Shuhada’ Sadaqat and continued to record music under her birth name. Her music was unpredictable, ranging from New Age to opera to reggae.
Even though O’Connor never had another hit, the tabloids continued to cover her: Her four marriages, four divorces, and four children; her feuds with celebrities ranging from Frank Sinatra to Miley Cyrus over the years.
“I think people lost respect for her credibility,” Bill Wyman says. “And her later records aren’t nearly as entertaining.” They’re strange and poorly manufactured. They’re just not as entertaining.”
O’Connor later took to Facebook and Twitter to discuss her battle with mental illness. She mentioned suicide — and she tried it more than once.
If you grew up in the 1980s, one song from Sinéad O’Connor’s first album that you heard over and over was “Never Gets Old.” If only she could have aged as powerfully as her most powerful songs.
Following her death, Ireland’s Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, made a comment on social media, stating, “Really sorry to hear of Sinéad O’Connor’s passing.” Her music was loved all throughout the world, and her brilliance was unparalleled. Condolences to her family, friends, and everyone who enjoyed her music. “Ar dheis Dé go Raibh a hAnam” (May her soul rest at God’s right hand).