Celebrating Sinéad O’Connor: A Talented Career of Beauty and Suffering

Sinéad O’Connor passed away at age 56 after decades of beautiful music, activism, controversy and emotional pain. O’Connor is a complicated figure who represents a hero to some and a villain to others, but always put out thought provoking and emotionally powerful music. For me, O’Connor is a brave artist that I have always loved and has inspired me since I was in high school. At this moment it is unclear the cause of death; however, her public statements since her adolescent child’s suicide in 2022 were cryptic and described to feelings of hopelessness. Emotional pain was something that hung over O’Connor since a young age when she was physically and emotionally abused by her mother. In later interviews she spoke about this abuse and how it fuelled both her creativity and activism.

O’Connor burst onto the music scene almost immediately with a moderate hit with her debut record Lion and the Cobra. This record from 1987 was a proof of concept where someone with O’Connor’s punk aesthetic could have moderate mainstream success. Songs like Mandinka and Troy showed that she had true pop potential; however, these songs still felt unfinished and raw. After hearing this record you were left thinking about what she could be with tighter production and songwriting muscle.

This potential was realised when Prince, Nellee Hooper and O’Connor teamed up to release I do not want what I haven’t got. in 1990. O’Connor’s vocal is totally unleashed and front of the mix in a pop / punk tour de force. This record would go on to sell over 7 million copies and define music for a decade. Tracks like Nothing Compares 2U, I am Stretched on Your Grave and Last Day of Our Acquaintance became timeless classics that would shape alternative music moving forward. While others like Black Boys on Mopeds showed O’Connor’s political and activist side, which she always stated was key to her music.

O’Connor described herself as an activists artist, which brought her both admirers (namely me) as well as controversy. She infamously told the SNL audience in 1992 to “fight the real enemy” and tore a picture of Pope John Paul II in half in protest of the church covering up child sexual abuse. O’Connor would be vindicated years later when the church finally, and half heartedly, acknowledged purposefully covering up decades of child sexual abuse and exploitation. Pope John Paul II himself took 9 years to acknowledge abuse he knew was going on for decades. However, this along with publicly supporting the IRA would prove to hurt O’Connor’s image for years.

However, all controversies have a comeback and O’Conner’s came with her most personal, feminist and critically acclaimed records Universal Mother in 1994. Tracks like Fire on Babylon were heartfelt songs about abuse, while others like Red Football tackled women’s reproductive rights and feminism. She also covered Nirvana with All Apologies and finished the record with one of the best closing tracks in Thank You For Hearing Me. This record is amazing and put O’Connor back on the map and she continued to put out another 7 records, but nothing would approach the creative heights of Universal Mother.

Sinéad O’Connor lived a creative, inspiring, controversial and painful life. Her resilience as a child abuse survivor is to be commended, while her activism and bravery is inspirational. We will see if her death was due to emotional suffering she felt she could no longer outrun, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the impact she had on the world. Her unique and beautiful voice gave words to those in pain, spoke for women and people who experienced abuse and gave us all a glimpse into the sublime.