Sinead O'Connor was well-known for her controversial outbursts, including her misunderstood decision to rip up a photo of Pope John Paul II on US TV show Saturday Night Live in 1992.
It provoked massive worldwide reaction as she declared: “Fight the real enemy.”
"Sinéad, She Devil!" screamed The Sun.
At the time, O’Connor said she had ripped up the photo in protest at sexual abuse of children by the Catholic Church. However, she later revealed in her memoir that the story went deeper.
“My intention had always been to destroy my mother’s photo of the pope,” she writes. “It represented lies and liars and abuse."
O’Connor wrote that she visited her mother’s home after her death and “took down from her bedroom wall the only photo she ever had up there, which was of Pope John Paul II".
"I never knew when or where or how I would destroy it, but destroy it I would when the right moment came. And with that in mind, I carefully brought it everywhere I lived from that day forward. Because nobody ever gave a shit about the children of Ireland."
p>Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor dies aged 56
O’Connor, who frequently spoke out about the child abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, was later ordained a priest by a bishop from an independent Catholic group and announced that she wanted to be known as Mother Bernadette Mary. October 2018 saw her announce she had converted to Islam and changed her name to Shuhada’ Davitt.
But the knives were already out for the determinedly non-conformist star by the time of the 'Pope moment', mostly in America.
Grammys boycott
In 1990, O'Connor's decision not to allow the US national anthem to be played before her concert in New Jersey during the height of patriotic fervour over the Gulf War earned the Dublin musician an avalanche of criticism from conservative cultural pundits, radio stations and fans alike.
The following year, at the peak of her fame and nominated for Best Record in The World at the 1991 Grammys for the global smash Nothing Compares 2 U, O'Connor shocked the US music industry by boycotting the ceremony, penning an open letter condemning the organisers for their obsession with celebrating "material gain" while marginalising black artists. Rap legends and fellow Grammy nominees Public Enemy joined O'Connor in her boycott.
All this culminated in the Irish star's records, CDs and tapes being publicly destroyed by a steamroller in New York's Times Square in October 1992, shortly before a good 50 per cent of the audience at a star-studded Madison Square Garden concert honouring O'Connor's hero and musical inspiration, Bob Dylan, unsuccessfully attempted to boo her off stage.
Ah shite, Sinead O’Connor has died. That’s just very sad news. Poor thing. I hope she realised how much love there was for her.
— Dara Ó Briain (@daraobriain) July 26, 2023
Magdalene asylum
Born Sinead Marie Bernadette O’Connor in Glenageary, County Dublin, in December 1966, the singer had a difficult childhood.
One of five children, O’Connor spoke out about being subjected to physical abuse at the hands of her mother, who died in a car crash in 1985.
At the age of 15, she was placed in a Magdalene asylum for shoplifting and truancy.
But her musical talents were discovered while she was there and she released her first critically acclaimed album, The Lion And The Cobra, in 1987.
Sinead O'Connor's missing son found dead aged 17
Belfast director Kathryn Ferguson on why Nothing Compares to Sinead O'Connor
Her recording of Nothing Compares 2 U earned O’Connor multiple Grammy Award nominations and, in 1991, she was named artist of the year by Rolling Stone magazine.
Throughout her career, she recorded 10 solo albums, wrote songs for films and collaborated with other artists.
Belfast-born Kathryn Ferguson, who made a documentary on Sinead O'Connor's life, told The Irish News last year that her motivation in making Nothing Compares was to highlight the injustice of how O'Connor was punished for being 'outspoken' and refusing to play by the rules – the very qualities which made her so appealing to many young fans, including the director herself.
"We felt as soon as we'd found this incredible icon of ours, she was just really publicly destroyed, and it left a huge dent on me as a young woman. And I think that's honestly where the seeds for the film were sown, it had such an effect that stayed with me for the following decades. And then I became a film-maker."
Row with Miley Cyrus
The singer-songwriter attacked other celebrities in the press – including Madonna and Prince – and, in 2013, she published an open letter on her website to Miley Cyrus, warning the young star to avoid being sexually exploited by the music industry.
In 2016, US comedian Arsenio Hall revealed he was suing O’Connor after she accused him of supplying Prince with drugs and drugging her.
Her former manager Fachtna O’Ceallaigh and his company tried to sue her for €500,000 in July 2017 for alleged breach of contract by terminating their agreement and defamation after she was said to have published an open letter about him on her website.
Married four times, O’Connor came out as a lesbian in 2000. However, in 2005 she said that she was bisexual, adding: “I’m three-quarters heterosexual, a quarter gay. I lean a bit more towards the hairy blokes.”
Gerry Adams
In 2014, she revealed she had joined Irish political party Sinn Féin and called for the then leader Gerry Adams to stand down.
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Bipolar disorder
O’Connor worried fans in August 2017 when she posted a video to Facebook in which she tearfully spoke about feeling “suicidal” because of her mental health issues.
The world has lost an artist with the voice of an Angel. Ireland has lost an iconic voice and one of our absolute finest, by a long shot. And I have lost a friend. Sinead’s music will live on and continue to inspire! Rest In Peace, Sinead you are home with your son I am sure ❤️ pic.twitter.com/9hvpwxuUyP
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) July 26, 2023
During an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2007, O’Connor revealed that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had suffered with suicidal thoughts.
The mother-of-four told Winfrey that medication had helped her find more balance, but said it was “a work in progress”.
In 2012, O’Connor cancelled a planned tour, saying her doctor had told her to rest after a “very serious breakdown”.
And, in December 2015, she said she had been detained in a hospital for mental health evaluation.
O’Connor was reported missing in the US in May 2016 when she failed to return from an early morning bike ride after making a series of Facebook posts about her family.
October 2018 saw her announce she had converted to Islam and changed her name to Shuhada’ Davitt.
In January 2022, her 17-year-old son Shane was found dead in Wicklow after being reported missing two days previously.
The singer described him as “the very light of my life” and said he had “decided to end his earthly struggle today and is now with God”.
She is survived by three children.
