Sinead O’Connor has gone through a very public battle with bipolar disorder. She married a guy in Vegas this December within a few weeks of knowing him, split up with him a couple weeks later and blogged about it, and then got back together with him and tweeted about it. You can view a more thorough recap in this story from early January. At that time, Sinead asked on Twitter for help finding a psychiatrist in Dublin who could see her right away. She also admitted to The Sun that she had taken an overdose of pills in an apparent suicide attempt. She said “God obviously wants me around – though I can’t think why.” It was sad, and it was easy to witness Sinead’s downward spiral as she was tweeting and blogging incessantly.
In an appearance in February on the Graham Norton show to promote her new album, Sinead admitted that executives at her record company wanted her to keep quiet about her problems. She also said that mental health issues are serious, essentially, and are not something to be mocked. “Everybody [is] treating me like a crazy person and it’s a great source of amusement and entertainment. We live in a world where crazy is a term of abuse, which I frankly think should be outlawed.”
Sinead just cancelled her planned tour entirely. I checked her last personal Twitter account, @vampyahslayah and the website she was using most recently, SineadOConnor.com and both are wiped out. At some point they just got deleted. She has a new website, Sinead-Oconnor.com, through which she posted this news.
With enormous regret I must announce that I have to cancel all touring for the year as am very unwell due to bi polar disorder.
As you all know I had a very serious breakdown between December and March and I had been advised by my doctor not to go on tour but didn’t want to ‘fail’ or let anyone down as the tour was already booked to coincide with album release. So very stupidly I ignored his advice to my great detriment, attempting to be stronger than I actually am.
I apologise sincerely for any difficulties this may cause.While touring will be cancelled I do hope and plan to appear at the Curtis Mayfield tribute in The Lincoln Centre in July.
[From Sinead-OConnor.com]
I really hope she gets the help that she needs and that she’s able to perform again if that’s what she wants. She still has her incredible voice. In that appearance on the Graham Norton show she performed her new single, “The Wolf is Getting Married,” and I was blown away. Here is video of that performance. Get well soon, Sinead.
Sinead is shown performing in Paris on 4-15-12. Credit: Bruno Autin/WENN.com
Poor Sinead. She’s so talented. I hope she find treatment that works for her.
Absolute and amazing talent! No matter the drugs, the hard life, the abuse, NOTHING can hide the fact that she so f-cking talented it tears at my heart.
And if those “executives from her label company” had encouraged her to seek treatment, rather than try to hide behind a wall of shame and silence, Sinead by now would doing much-much better, and would be preparing for her tour.
See, it costs you a lot less money to take good care of your talent, than trying to bury all troubles with shame. Hope they’ve learned something out of this mess.
Good for her. The industry could care less about her health so it’s good to see se has the sense to step away.
poor woman. i hope she’s getting the help she obviously needs and that she gets better.
“I really hope she gets the help that she needs and that she’s able to perform again if that’s what she wants.”
ITA. And it’s encouraging to see that she seems to be taking steps in the right direction. Her story recently was indeed sad.
So does anyone know if she’s on or off with her husband?
Last I heard, they were together, and she wasn’t going to talk about it. Of course, that situation could change in a heartbeat.
I hope they are together, and he is caring for her.
Wow….Sinead is very brave in being so straightforward with and to the public about her battle. I have to tip my hat to her and wish her nothing but the best…also Godspeed w/her recovery/healing from such.
She is such a brave and talented woman. She was the first high profile person I ever heard demand justice for victims of Catholic Clergy child sex abuse. Many Irish people dismissed it then as Sinéad being “attention seeking”. She was proven right countless times over. She deserves to be happy and well, and I wish her the very best.
She is still one of my favorite singers!
I feel sorry for her kids. Her behavior over the years has been disturbing. It’s good she is seeking help again.
she might regret this decision as well. i remember she quit music at least twice and regretted it. maybe she should be on tour, maybe making music could make her feel saner. then again she does have 4 kids that she had to attend to. i mean not the oldest one so much because he probably flew out of the nest long ago. my how the time passes…
Touring and working is probably good for you when you’re stabilized. But this woman has been going through a full-on mental breakdown for quite a well exhibiting extremely bizarre behavior. She needs to focus on her mental health at this point.
yeah i don’t disagree i think she should go under full treatment this time and keep taking her medicine. she quit it before and i know from bipolar friends irl that is not a good idea at all… all the progress just stops and things go the way they were before, if not worse
Why doesnt she just do albums and stay home and get the treatment she needs – tours are not needed especially for someone with her mental issues.
All the best to Sinead, I admire her courage to face this in public as that cannot be easy.
I am glad she finally admitted to herself that she has bi-polar. She had been denying that forever. Hopefully, acknowledging it will help her to receive the correct care.
I wish her all the best. She is a talented, lovely, fragile soul.
She has an incredible voice. I always remember “Nothing compares to you” when i hear anything about her;great song.
That video is stunning, filmed in Pere Lechaise cemetery in Paris. Her face was so beautiful. Take a look:
http://youtu.be/iUiTQvT0W_0
FYI for non-Sinead fans-Prince wrote that song….
I just went and bought her new album because of this post – I loved the vid above so much that I went straight to iTunes and got it for $7.99. Listened to it this morning while driving on my errands and it is so beautiful, fierce and raw. Now that I’ve heard the whole thing “The Wolf Is Getting Married” isn’t even my favorite track, that would be “Reason With Me” or “Take off Your Shoes” or “I Had A Baby” or “VIP”… it’s packed with amazing original songs. Thanks, Celebitchy! Been lurking here for years, but this got me to step out of the shadows 🙂
hey thanks for the review. i’m thinking of buying her new record.
After working in the entertainment business for a number of years it amazes me how many talented creative people suffer from this disorder. And addiction problems.
Very true I work in the mental health field & we had a print out of two pages single space of entertainers who are dx with a mental illness. Kudos to her for doing what she needs to do to get stable.
Waaah!!!! I was getting ready to buy tickets on Friday. I was talking to the barrista chick at Starbucks about the concert in July-she was in her mid 20’s-and she didn’t even know who Sinead was-that’s a pop culture crime!
Get the rest and the care you need, Sinead. We love you.
I simply adore this woman and feel so bad for her struggles.
We love you Sinead!!!
Hang in there and feel better soon!
Such an incredibly forthright and honest human being (not to mention ultra talented)… be well Sinead.
So sad. I hope she finds a treatment that works for her.
her voice is astounding. i hope she gets the help she needs.
I love her voice so much. I hope she gets the care she needs and does with her career whatever’s right for her. If it comes down to just putting out albums and not touring, fine. Good enough for me! She is so unique, so powerful, it would be a shame to lose her from the music scene. Fie on those execs for shushing her. They should be helping her…performers make money for them, after all.
I wish her the best, I truly do, but I feel for her kids. Her entire focus is on herself and there seems to be no room for them as she swings back and forth. I hope they’re okay. And I’m a fan from way back- I have her first two records on albums. Her talent is undeniable. But she brought 4 children into this world and where exactly are they?