Sinead O’Connor, a talented Irish singer-songwriter who rose to fame in her mid-20s but was also well recognized for her provocative behavior and inner difficulties as well as her strong and expressive songs, has away at age 56. “We announce the demise of our dear Sinad with deep sorrow. Her family and friends are heartbroken and have asked for privacy at this very trying time, according to a statement from the singer’s family that was carried by the BBC and RTE.
In her Instagram stories, Kareena Kapoor Khan expressed her sorrow for Sinead O’Connor’s passing and referred to her as a “legend.” The Bollywood actress commented, “You legend…nothing compares to you.
O’Connor started her singing career on the streets of Dublin and quickly gained worldwide recognition. She is easily recognized by her shaved head and elfin looks. She gained popularity in 1990 with her cover of Prince’s ballad Nothing Compares 2 U, a seething, shattering performance that topped charts from Europe to Australia and was heightened by a promotional video featuring the gray-eyed O’Connor in intense close-up. She had been a star since the release of her debut album The Lion and the Cobra in 1987. She was named Artist of the Year by Rolling Stone in 1991 thanks in part to the success of her critically praised album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, which included the single Nothing Compares 2 U, which got three Grammy nominations.
According to the magazine, she demonstrated that a recording artist could remain uncompromising and yet connect with millions of fans thirsty for meaningful music. She was a lifelong rebel who said that the pressure from record companies to seem conventionally gorgeous caused her to shave her head, but her political and cultural opinions as well as her turbulent personal life sometimes overshadowed her music. She and Frank Sinatra got into a fight when she forbade the playing of The Star-Spangled Banner at one of her performances and claimed that Prince had threatened to hurt her. She proclaimed her support for the Irish Republican Army in 1989, a claim she subsequently withdrew. She missed the Grammy awards at around the same time because it was too commercialized.
O’Connor, who had been critical of the Catholic Church even before many reports of alleged sexual abuse, gained notoriety in October 1992 when, while performing live on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, she tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II and referred to the institution as the enemy. The next week, Joe Pesci, who was hosting Saturday Night Live, claimed that if O’Connor had been on the stage with him, he would have given her such a slap. He held up a restored picture of the Pope. She was booed when she performed at an all-star tribute to Bob Dylan a few days later at Madison Square Garden. She was meant to perform Dylan’s I Believe in You, but instead sang Bob Marley’s War a cappella, which she had previously performed on Saturday Night Live. She left the stage after breaking down, despite Kris Kristofferson’s comforting words and encouragement, and her performance was not included on the concert CD.
When O’Connor joined the Latin Tridentine Church in 1999, a sect that was not recognized by the mainstream Catholic Church, she raised controversy in Ireland. She advocated for a thorough inquiry into the scope of the church’s complicity in covering up priestly child abuse for many years. Pope Benedict XVI apologized to Ireland in 2010 to make up for decades of abuse, but O’Connor criticized the apology as not going far enough and urged Catholics to abstain from Mass until a thorough inquiry into the Vatican’s participation was conducted. By 2018, this probe was making headlines throughout the world.
I was thought to not believe in God. That is definitely not the case. She wrote in the Washington Post in 2010: “If the Vatican offered sincere reconciliation, I would be the first at the church door because I am Catholic by birth and culture.” O’Connor continued to maintain the professional name Sinad O’Connor even after she declared in 2018 that she had converted to Islam and would be going by Shuhada’ Davitt.