Sinéad O’Connor has passed away at the age of 56 years old. Her son Shane O’Connor died in January 2022, and reportedly Sinead was never the same after his death. Her family released a statement after Sinead’s passing: “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.”
I’m from a generation which fell in love with her delicate Irish voice on her cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” and I’m also part of the generation which didn’t understand her protest against the Catholic Church. In 1992, she was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, and after a cover of Bob Marley’s “War,” Sinead ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II. The outrage was HUGE. It changed the course of her life, it changed the music industry. Years later, we understand. We understand what the Catholic Church did. We understand how many pedophiles and abusers were hiding in the Church. We understand how the Church destroyed lives and families in Ireland. Looking back on that SNL moment now, more than 30 years later… it was so prescient, so punk-rock, such a “burn this f–ker down” moment.
Sinead’s life in her later years was chaotic – she still released music under her birth name, but she converted to Islam and for a while, she changed her name to Shuhada’ Sadaqat. She was married four times and she was a mother to four children.
for all us street kids, for all us wildlings, when sinead got huge, it felt like one of us made it. It was incredible. im not trying to compare myself or anyone else to sinead, she is one of a kind, but thats what it felt like to me. like she was one of us. she was like billie…
— Flea (@flea333) July 27, 2023
Sinead was a force of nature. A brilliant songwriter & performer whose talent we will not see the like of again. Such passion, such intense presence & a beautiful soul, who battled her own personal demons courageously. Be at peace dear Sinead, you will forever be in our hearts. t pic.twitter.com/lJVhGfuTPA
— tori amos (@toriamos) July 26, 2023
The biggest impression Sinéad O’Connor made on me was her performance at the Bob Dylan tribute show a few days after she ripped up the pope’s pic on SNL. She doubled down on her criticism of the church even while being booed by all of Madison Square Garden – she was 26 & so brave pic.twitter.com/Q5vASO2Zs7
— c a i t l i n (@hello__caitlin) July 26, 2023
Sinead O’Connor played Gay Pride in 1988, alongside Erasure, just a month after Section 28 had been passed.
Pride back then was much more of a protest, lesbians and gays were treated as 2nd class citizens.
Performing at Pride was a sign of allyship, when there were few to be had. pic.twitter.com/vJOF8q7LX9— Matthew Hodson (@Matthew_Hodson) July 26, 2023
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- SINEAD O’ CONNOR PERFORMS IN ROME AT AUDITORIUM PARCO DELLA MUSICA ON 07/04/2013.,Image: 514458968, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights – Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@avalon.red London +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: VALERIA MAGRI / Avalon
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- 127174, Sinead O’Connor at ‘Che Tempo Che Fa’, an Italian TV Show, in Milan. Milan, Italy – Sunday October 05, 2014. NORTH AMERICAN USE ONLY,Image: 531053651, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kika Press, PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- Sinead O’Connor performs at Bestival, Robin Hill Adventure Park, Isle Of Wight, UK on 6th September 2013.,Image: 548730939, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- Camp Bestival on Sunday 3 August 2014 Persons pictured: Sinéad Marie Bernadette O’Connor,Image: 553618132, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Andy Sturmey / Avalon
One of a kind! Hope she’s at peace with her son now🙏🏼
Yes! RIP Sinead O’Connor ❤️❤️❤️
My you now rest in the afterlife with your daring, precious Shane who wil be waiting for you.
You were one of my hero’s!! You we exceptionally talented, fierce and unforgiving when it truly mattered. You will be sorely missed. We no longer have an activist laying the groundwork. We must follow in your footsteps to continue your voice.
I’ve spoken of it before. I was raised in a Catholic cult. Family based.
Anyway. I never knew she tore up a picture of the pope. Just that she hated Catholics and that she was in the Protestant half of the Irish people who hated Catholics. As an example early teen, I was given books on how to like take care of your body in the Catholic way? And so much emphasis was put on long hair. Long long long hair. So her shaved head was talked about with such derision – that she thought she was a man or worse she thought she was as GOOD and EQUAL to a man.
I haven’t darkened the doorway of a church except for the occasional wedding or funeral since I was 18. But there was so much unlearning and learning that had to be done that Sinead didn’t make the list.
I am truly inspired to see how strong and how brave she was from such a young formative age. I am glad that I’m getting the real story now.
And when I saw that her son died …. It seemed only a matter of time.
The loss of a child is a mortal wound. Sometimes it takes a year. Sometimes decades. But in the end – regardless of other diagnosis – I always feel that that’s what someone died from.
May she rest in peace. And May the Catholic Church get every thing it deserves.
Sinead O’Connor was raised Catholic in Dublin. She spoke later in life of her mother’s abuse, and how her mother allowed her to be routinely sexually abused by a local priest. Her father also sent her to one of the Magdalene Laundries in her teens when she was acting out.
Her protest against the Pope and the Church very very much came from inside the house.
@Charlotte – are you sure she said she was abused by a priest? I only ask because I watched the video embedded and she said she endured horrific childhood abuse, but not clerical. I knew she protested the Catholic Church and I knew why, but I didn’t really follow her, so I never knew her story of abuse before this article.
RIP to a poor tortured and beautiful soul. She was a trailblazer in so many ways. My mum is an atheist and she was shocked when she saw the clip of Sinead tearing the Pope’s picture on TV, it was such a defiant, groundbreaking act at the time.
That picture used to hang on the wall in her mother’s house.
She was so brave to do this, and she suffered for it so much. It was a shocking gesture at the time and the backlash was enormous. Even Madonna was awful to her about it. But it turns out she was right about ALL of it. I do think it helped move the needle on discussing the abuses in the church, eventually.
Rest in Power, Shuhada. You deserved so much better. We will never see the like.
Loved Sinead’s albums, particularly Lion & Cobra— did NOT understand the pope incident. Seriously relieved she’s forgiven us in the US. Madonna wore crosses & thought Sinead was doing something similar? Rest in Peace Sinead- misunderstood & gone too soon
That song was a huge part of the soundtrack of my college life. She captured the sound of heartbreak unlike no other.
I hope she is at peace with Shane now, and her other children are being supported. She was a true force of nature. I will always love her song “No man’s woman”
I don’t want to be no man’s woman
I’ve other work I want to get done
I haven’t traveled this far to become
No man’s woman
This is heartbreaking but entirely unsurprising. Her mental health struggles are decades long but her son’s death was so hard. She’s a super talented, beautiful, heartful soul. I’m so sorry for her family and friends. As a friend who also lost an adult child to suicide said, when is mental health going to be normalised?
I talk about mental health a lot in my online spaces, but I get tremendous push back which I guess is age related :people my age don’t ‘ruminate’.
RIP. I know you’re with your beautiful boy again.
The Old Chick, don’t allow any pushback from anyone. If they refuse to discuss it, tell them that they are part of the problem within the mental health space. We will normalize mental health as we keep talking about it and never allowing it to become a secret. It’s time that we offer the resources and the safe spaces to share your thoughts openly.
Mental health is the most important aspect of the human mind, and body, that needs the greatest care and support.
Our son went through a dangerous period in high school and we got him the help he needed. After college he stumbled again, but we got him back into therapy and his drug use came about at that same time. I am always scared that my children will feel that they can’t talk to be but I remind them often that they can.
This is unhelpful. Yes we should talk about mental health but we shouldn’t be pushing people against their will. For some of us it’s triggering to hear about other people’s struggles and it doesn’t help.
@msd — what? Of course BothSidesNow’s comment is helpful and she certainly hasn’t encouraged pushing people into therapy against their will. She had struggles with her son and is willing to talk about it in order to make it acceptable to talk about it and not just hide mental health problems away because people think it’s triggering. I am sorry you seem to have had your own mental health issues but she is not suggesting forced therapy in any way.
RIP to a true force of nature. Her voice was so powerful and soft and vulnerable and pure and strong–everything in between. So many emotions in just a few notes. I knew her son had committed suicide but had not known the whole history and custody battle there, so much sadness and trauma. I hope they are both at peace, and her surviving family know how much she was loved and respected.
My introduction to sinead was her performance of Mandinka at the Grammy’s for her debut of Lion and the Cobra. I was absolutely blown away and that album was always on repeat. Take a moment to listen to Troy from that album. Will absolutely punch you in the gut with her raw power.
Her struggles with mental health were public and I always hoped she would find the help she needed. That she didn’t makes me so very sad.
It breaks my heart for her. Sinead was so young too and she has 3 other children left to pick up the pieces. May they all be there to support each other.
RIP. Such a force. Almost unreal to think about.
My introduction to Sinéad O’Conner was Mandinka. As someone raised Catholic, I (and friends forced through confirmation classes) cheered her tearing the Pope’s visage to bits. I didn’t quite understand her shaving her head back then though. She’s had such a difficult life with so much stacked against her. I hope she’s now at peace and surrounded by real love. RIP❤️🩹
Such talent, such courage. Rest in peace.
I first saw her on 120 minutes on MTV when the video for Mandinka came on, and I was blow away. I had that album and I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got on repeat for years and years. What a beautiful voice and talent.
RIP
Damn. Her voice gave me the goosebumps. She was mesmerising.
Though I was too young to remember her SNL controversy firsthand, I read about it when I was a bit older and asked my dad, a Third Order Franciscan, what he thought. He pointed out the irony of so many Catholics being outraged over it, when she was really just the latest in a long history of people (some of them venerated!) who spoke out about the corruption in the Church not to destroy it, but because they valued its core principles over its dogma. Her courage always made me think of a quote from Catherine of Siena (really a simplified variant): “Preach the Truth as if you had a million voices. It is silence that kills the world.” That’s what Sinead did, and she never wavered even in the face of all the hatred and threats from the ignorant. It’s a rare quality. I hope she’s finally found the peace that she so deserved.
She told the world the truth that night on SNL and lost her career for it but I don’t think she regretted it for one moment. I had a feeling this was going to happen but am still devastated. The most beautiful voice inside the bravest woman.
There’s a scene in Euphoria playing Does Any Body Want a Drink Before the War that just wrecks me. Euphoria does that anyway because it’s such a powerful show but the music director is a genius for working in that song. Sinead’s voice units us in our collective emotional pain.
I remember that episode, Drink Before the War made those scenes so incredibly powerful. RIP.
She didn’t. She was being interviewed sometime later and the interviewer asked her about that moment destroying her career. She clarified that Nothing Compares 2 U destroyed her career and the ripping up the Pope’s picture gave it back to her.
She felt that other people wanted a bug platform for her and a pop level career but she did not, she wanted to make meaningful music and to connect to an audience in an intimate way. So for her, it was a rebirth and return to the career she wanted for herself.
I can’t remember who the interviewer was though.
She actually said that having her album become #1 was disturbing to her, and that the effects of her SNL protest got her back on track. She never wanted to be a pretty popstar. She had things to SAY.
She was punk AF. Pure in her intentions, fearless, and deeply committed to her activism.
She was ridiculed, belittled, and threatened when she made that stance against the Catholic Church — even by other celebrities. And years later, we now know she was right. She spoke out against the abuse, she spoke out in support for abortion rights, she spoke out against racism, she spoke against the Gulf War. She was deemed troublesome and “controversial” because she actively voiced her views on the injustices of the world around her during a period where the media and the industry just wanted her to shut up and sing. I hate this world. I cried when I heard about her passing and Chuck D’s tweet remembering Sinead broke me.
She’s famous for Nothing Compares to You, but she had a whole litany of great music. Her lyrics stand today. If you don’t know her, check out The Lion and The Cobra. Check out Black Boys on Mopeds. My favorite song is her powerhouse Mandinka. RIP Sinead — you’re with Shane now and I hope you and him are together in everlasting happiness and peace.
I’m so choked up right now. And it’s simply amazing how revered she is by musical geniuses from all different genres. It’s like everyone, regardless of what they stood for, just respected the hell out of both her talent and her activism. RIP Sinead. This is a great loss to music but also to the world.
I loved her so much when I was 15, and there’s no music you’re more loyal to than the music that helped you survive adolescence. I was watching that episode of SNL live and remember the booing. I’m not Catholic and I didn’t understand her message, but I figured she understood her message and that was fine. Now it’s hard to imagine ever being so naive.
This exactly.
Sinéad has been one of my musical heroes my entire life. Her voice is something to aspire to. (I am a singer) I was raised Catholic. In 1992 I was 7. I remember watching the performance live. My mother flipped out. Although I didn’t know it at the time, Sinéad and I had much in common pertaining to our mothers. When I saw my mom’s negative reaction I knew I was meant to revere this singer. Even at 7 I knew I didn’t believe in a god so watching this woman rip up a photo of Pope John Paul II was mind blowing and liberating to me.
30+ years later and I’m still in awe of her. One of my favorite podcasts did an episode about her recently which was very eye opening. (You’re Wrong About) When I heard the news yesterday I like many the world over cried. I then put her albums on repeat. Seeing another of my musical heroes (Tori Amos) pay tribute to her was comforting to see as Tori, even more than Sinéad, was the soundtrack of my adolescence when my parents were in the midst of a very nasty divorce (I was technically homeless most of my high school career because of it) – a family friend had all of her CDs and I found them and played them for hours and hours daily.
Sinéad, Tori, Stevie Nicks, Jewel, Natalie Merchant…so many others, but I was lucky that they were huge in the late 90s and early 00s when I needed music like theirs the most.
I never knew her. But I’m mourning all the same. I hope she finally has some peace after all the pain she endured.
I ❤️ the title description “Punk Protest Singer”…That’s EXACTLY what she is❣️
The WAIL 😭 my SOUL gave! It wasn’t a SURPRISE…but it WAS A SHOCK!
Love her❤️🥀😪
Inna lillahi wa Inna ilayhi rajioon.
To God we belong and to Him is our return.
I know none of you meant any harm, but later in life she wore hijab, and it makes me so sad that hardly any of her tribute pictures are of her wearing hijab. This isn’t a dig at this website, so please don’t take it that way. I just can’t help but notice that when a man converts to Islam, no one questions it. The media refers to him as Muhammad Ali and not Cassius Clay. He is Kareem Abdul Jaffar. A woman, however, does not get the same respect. Even in death, she isn’t getting the respect she deserves.
I, too, am a convert to Islam, just like Sinead/Shahuda. Her death has hit me hard, not only because she’s a fellow convert, but because I am old enough to remember that moment in SNL and the aftermath. She was brutally criticized and ostracized. Joe Pesci threatened her with violence. I remember all of that publicly bullying very well.
May Allah accept her into Jannatul Firdos.
Well said Asiyah.
It may be because she still operated professionally as “Sinead O’Connor” (and she kept her full Irish name on her Twitter) that a lot of people aren’t focusing on her life as a Muslim. I understand what you’re saying though. A person converting to a different religion often makes others uncomfortable, for whatever the reasons. The convert often has to really push for their conversion to be accepted. Muhammad Ali experienced a LOT of pushback for years when he went public with his conversion to Islam and his new name.
@Boxy Lady this is very true about Muhammad Ali. But nowadays, Andrew Tate says he converted to Islam and that’s all people talk about, whereas Shahuda/Sinead is visibly Muslim (and the media knows this) and it isn’t mentioned upon her demise.
The average Joe might not know her faith, which is why if some random person posts her picture without hijab as a tribute, I wouldn’t think anything of it, but the very media that was quick to mention her conversion as a dig to her sanity or inference about it are now pretty quiet.
I think the least they could do is lead with a recent picture. I’m guilty of posting an older one myself, and I understand that the indelible image of her in most people’s minds is of her punky, 20-something self, but we need to remember that she didn’t stay that way forever.
As someone else pointed out, she did go by Sinead O’Connor in the media and by her full Irish name on Twitter. That interested me because she had changed her name to separate herself from her painful past. Maybe she had become more flexible about its use of late.
Still, I completely agree that they shouldn’t shy away from showing pictures of her in hijab. There are a lot! She did a fair amount of press for her book, so it isn’t as if they’re hard up for material.
I was deeply sad to hear this. Also read in one of her obituaries that the Pope’s portrait she tore up was her mother’s. Her mother beat her when she was a child and apparently her diagnosis of bipolar disorder was improperly diagnosed PTSD from the abuse she suffered. Her protest was religious but also personal–she felt things deeply and her activism came from a place of solidarity with those who also suffered. Another obit said that she attended some music awards with her head painted with the symbol of Public Enemy in solidarity with the fact that Black groups were left out.
I’m so sad that her tragic life has ended, but I hope in death she finds the peace she was always seeking. There really wasn’t anyone quite like her.
I hope her Spirit finds healing and peace
I’m the same age as Sinead. She and the Hothouse Flowers (also from Ireland) were on constant play on my CD player and mixed tapes. Raised Catholic in the states and I didn’t understand her message on SNL either, not until much later. Listening to her song Black Boys on Mopeds and thinking not a damn thing has changed in the last 33 years. I send her love.
Someone sent me a screenshot of a twitter post about Sinead. It was in response to Piers Morgan asking her to be on his show. It was brilliant – she talked about the sick obsession Morgan has for Meghan Markle. I don’t know how to link it here but if anyone can find it it’s worth reading!
I posted that and tagged Kaiser on Twitter. I mean, there have been so many outstanding Sinéad O’Connor moments I’ve enjoyed but that email refusing to be on his show was incredible. Irish Twitter is in mourning since the news broke.
it’s too sad fam
It was August of 1993 in Milwaukee, and Peter Gabriel was headlining at WOMAD. I was a newly-minted reporter with a press pass and a camera, allowed to stand at the base of the stage and photograph the first three songs of the show. It was me with my newsroom-issued 35 mm around my neck and a bunch of national press photographers with tripods and attitudes.
I was in my desperate hungry single mother days then, and life was a sustained exercise in crisis management, punctuated by just enough victories to keep me from giving up entirely. The show started, the band came out and I about fell over – Sinead O’Connor was up there! I was overjoyed to see her back on a stage after the huge brouhaha over her SNL appearance the previous fall, when she’d torn up that photo of the Pope and gotten ripped up everywhere and then some for it. I forgot about my camera. I forgot about Peter Gabriel (one of the brighter stars in my personal solar system). I forgot about everything except how damn happy I was that Sinead O’Connor was standing on a stage and getting ready to sing, that she hadn’t let the haters bully her out of where she wanted to be if she wanted to be there.
I just stood there, grinning like an idiot when she looked straight at me and we locked eyes. I don’t remember if I gave her a thumbs-up, or whether I nodded, but I will never ever forget the radiant smile I got back, and the extended moment we gazed into each other’s eyes and said everything we needed to without exchanging a word.
Rest well, Sweet Sinead. You’ve earned it.
Thank you for sharing this achingly powerful, beautifully written remembrance.
And, rest in peace Sinéad O’Connor
Sinead was brilliant and fierce. I heard her perform in London decades ago and was moved by her voice and the tiny, but powerful and resolute, figure standing before us on the stage. She was vilified for her protest against the Catholic Church but we should have listened to her.
Her passing made me so sad. Like Lala L11_7 says above, I was shocked but not surprised.
Her live performance of Óró ‘Sé do bheatha ‘bhaile (can watch it on youtube) is one of my favorites. When she performed in my city I couldn’t afford tickets but it was an outdoor show so I sat outside the venue and listened to her amazing voice. She was so fierce.
I like the image of someone (or many people?) still enjoying her singing even from outside the venue.
She probably would have liked that
She was so courageous and so young to be the voice of truth against a centuries-old institution of such wealth and power. I’ve always admired Kris Kristofferson for being one of the few (the only?) who publicly supported her against the public-outrage machine. I love the lyrics of his song, Sister Sinead.
I was so struck by Kristofferson’s show of support onstage at Madison Square Garden – he earned a fan for life in that brief moment.
I really only knew her from Nothing Compares 2 U, which is in my music library and something I belt (terribly) along with in the car any time it comes on. I remember seeing the SNL incident live, and not really getting it, we were in high school and all thought it was just a weird thing. How sad she was so RIGHT, and everyone attacked her for it.
I feel like I missed out on a great musician. I hope she found peace, and healing to her loved ones.
icon.
It breaks my heart that she suffered so much. I remember watching her tear the Pope’s picture and seeing her career get shut down. She spoke the truth, always.
I watched a video interview in WaPo yesterday where she said the trigger for her mental health problems was the hysterectomy. According to her, her hormones were all over, creating erratic behavior and back then there was not that much knowledge about hormones and how they affected mental health.
Yeah, she would have gone into instant menopause and the resultant lack of hormones would have been ugly. I had a complete hysterectomy in my early 40s and went immediately on HRT. Fast-forward to 2016 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to go off HRT immediately. At age 63 I went through the most grueling menopause imaginable and had I not found a great naturopath who got me on some supplements to mitigate the hot flashes, sleeplessness and feeling like I wanted to murder everyone I think I would have lost my mind.
This really hit me. I’d recently been re-listening to her albums, you know how you forget how good an artist is and you wonder why you hadn’t played their records for a while?
Having read tributes etc, I was shocked to find out that after the SNL incident, Danny de Vito actually state he wanted to hit her?
Madonna also mocked her gesture and made fun of her physical appearance. Nice.
As a palate cleanser Annie Lennox posted the most beautiful tribute on Facebook.
That was Joe Pesci, not Danny DeVito! Sinatra also said that he would’ve kicked her ass if she were a guy.
The last time a famous person’s death hit me this hard was Robin William’s. I spent yesterday feeling so sad and spent the night quietly listening to her records. Sinead was a poweful woman, the kind who has always known where to stand with conviction and bravery.
Those of us in catholic countries have always known, like her, what hides behind the Church’s/Nun’s coats. The hurt, devastation and evil they still spread.
RIP Sinead, I hope you’re at peace forever.
This poor woman. She fought so hard for so long. I hope she finally has peace.
She was an enormous talent.
Sinead RIP.
Yes, she’s respected now, but where were all those celebrities years ago who stood by as she was being ridiculed. She could have used all that support back then. Too little, too late. Did she ever know how much she was loved?
I’m surprisingly sad about this. I didn’t think it would hit this hard… I couldn’t help but cry when I heard the news. and again while watching her videos last night. There was something about her voice that I always loved. She had such a calming voice for one so fiery. I’d worried about this happening after her son died, but as they say, no news is good news, and after 18 months, I’d hoped that maybe she was just getting along and doing a bit better. I was not entirely shocked, but it was not a headline I’d ever wanted to read. 🙁 I hope that she’s at peace now.
Ugh – i couldn’t stand her in the 90s and still cant with her…. She had one hit song and it was actually Prince’s song…
If your appreciation of music is limited to commercial “success”, you are denying yourself much beauty.
💔
The irony of s@x offender Flea from the RHCP saying words about a feminist icon who suffered terribly from being SA-ed by men like him in the music industry.
“Jackie” remains my all-time favourite song of hers. Haunting.