Remembering Sinéad O’Connor
On July 26, singer Sinéad O’Connor passed away. At the time of writing, there is no reveal of a cause. O’Connor had her big break in the ‘90s when she gained millions of fans. While she has had a rocky path since then, there is no denying her musical talents. Her voice captured a generation. Society may not have treated her properly, which could also be an examination of women sharing their voices. The world will surely miss O’Connor.
Sinéad O’Connor and Her Break
Sinéad O’Connor grew up in Ireland with her parents divorced, living with her father in her teenage years. Her upbringing was Catholic, and due to some misbehaving, she went to a Magdalene laundry for improvement. She formed a band when she was a teenager, which led to attention from record labels, signing with Ensign Records. Her first big record was with The Edge, singing the song “Heroine” for the film Captive. This song was the beginning of her success.
Becoming a Star
Sinéad O’Connor saw a lot of success and positive reviews with her first album, The Lion and The Cobra, which earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Performance. Her second album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, repeated that success. This album had her biggest hit song to date, “Nothing Compares 2 U”, which was written by Prince. This was a number-one hit and the number-three song of 1990. The song had three Grammy nominations, including Record of the Year. “Nothing Compares 2 U” has made many Greatest Songs of All Time and caused her fame to rise higher than ever before.
Sinéad O’Connor on Saturday Night Live
One of Sinéad O’Connor’s performances she was most known for was not even related to her music. On October 3, 1992, the singer was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. For her second song, she performed an acapella version of Bob Marley’s “War.” At the end of the song, she held up a photo of the current pope, Pope John Paul II, and ripped it up. She then declared, “Fight the real enemy.” This decision was in response to the sexual abuse occurring in the Catholic Church. The incident led to a huge backlash, as these accusations did not have a lot of weight or notoriety in the early 90s. The Catholic Church was too strong. Some may say this hurt her later career.
Subsequent Career
After the SNL incident, her career was still successful, but not as big as it once was. She collaborated with Peter Gabriel for a while, who she was dating in the early 90s. She had Grammy nominations for her music video for “Fire on Babylon”. In the 2000s, she was more experimental with her music, doing songs in the style of reggae, adapted Irish folk songs, and more. While she no longer had mainstream success, she had a dedicated following. She retired in the early 2020s, which was also when her well-reviewed memoir Rememberings came out.
Sinéad O’Connor’s Tragedies
O’Connor has had some sour moments in her life. A recent one was in January 2022. Her 17-year-old son Shane took his own life. O’Connor had lost custody of Shane a few years prior, but she was still distraught. Right after this incident, she went to the hospital due to some alarming behaviors. O’Connor had been through four marriages and four divorces, which is a lot of love to have lost. She has been open about her mental health issues and what she has gone through, showing that her life has not been easy.
The World’s Responses
Many people online have expressed their sorrow for the loss of O’Connor. She touched many lives with her songs and actions. Celebrities like Jamie Lee Curtis, Russell Crowe, Bryan Adams, Tori Amos, and more expressed their grief for the singer. Millions of more fans also had a lot to say. This death was sudden and unexpected and brought together so many people.
Featured photo from Thesupermat/Wikimedia