Sinéad O'Connor
Encyclopedia
Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor (icon; born 8 December 1966) is an Irish singer-songwriter
. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra
and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U
".
Since then, while maintaining her singing career, she has occasionally encountered controversy, partly due to her emotional statements and gestures such as her ordination as a priest despite being female with a Roman Catholic background, and her expressed strong views on organized religion, women's rights
, war
, and child abuse
.
In addition to her solo albums, her work includes a number of collaborations with other artists, and appearances at charity fundraising concerts.
in County Dublin
and was named after Sinéad de Valera
, wife of Irish President Éamon de Valera
and mother of the doctor presiding over the delivery, and Saint Bernadette of Lourdes
. She is the third of five children, sister to Joseph, Eimear, John, and Eoin. Joseph O'Connor
is a novelist.
Her parents are Sean O'Connor, a structural engineer later turned barrister
, and Marie O'Connor. The couple married young and had a troubled relationship, separating when Sinéad was eight. The three eldest children went to live with their mother, where O'Connor claims they were subjected to frequent physical abuse. Her song "Fire on Babylon" is about the effects of her own child abuse
, and she has consistently advocated on behalf of abused children. Sean O'Connor's efforts to secure custody of his children in a country which routinely denied custody to fathers and prohibited divorce
, motivated him to become chairman of the Divorce Action Group and a prominent public spokesman. At one point, he even debated his wife on the subject on a radio show.
In 1979, O'Connor left her mother and went to live with her father and his new wife. However, at the age of 15, her shoplifting and truancy led to her being placed in a Magdalene Asylum, the Grianán Training Centre run by the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity. In some ways, she thrived there, especially in the development of her writing and music, but she also chafed under the imposed conformity. Unruly students there were sometimes sent to sleep in the adjoining nursing home, an experience of which she later commented, "I have never — and probably will never — experience such panic and terror and agony over anything."
One of the volunteers at Grianán was the sister of Paul Byrne
, drummer for the band In Tua Nua
, who heard O'Connor singing "Evergreen" by Barbra Streisand
. She recorded a song with them called "Take My Hand" but they felt that at 15, she was too young to join the band.
In 1983, her father sent her to Newtown School
, an exclusive Quaker boarding school
in Waterford
, an institution with a much more permissive atmosphere than Grianan. With the help and encouragement of her Irish language
teacher, Joseph Falvey, she recorded a four-song demo, with two covers and two of her own songs which later appeared on her first album.
Through an ad she placed in Hot Press in mid-1984, she met Columb Farrelly
. Together they recruited a few other members and formed a band called Ton Ton Macoute, named after the Haiti
an zombie
s. The band moved to Waterford briefly while O'Connor attended Newtown, but she soon dropped out of school and followed them to Dublin, where their performances received positive reviews. Their sound was inspired by Farrelly's interest in witchcraft
, mysticism
, and world music
, though most observers thought O'Connor's singing and stage presence were the band's strongest features.
On 10 February 1985, O'Connor's mother was killed in a car accident, which despite their strained relationship devastated her. Soon afterward she left the band, which stayed together despite O'Connor's statements to the contrary in later interviews, and she moved to London.
. She also acquired an experienced manager, Fachtna O'Ceallaigh, former head of U2
's Mother Records. Soon after she was signed, she embarked on her first major assignment, providing the vocals for the song "Heroine", which she co-wrote with U2's guitarist The Edge
for the soundtrack to the film Captive
. O'Ceallaigh, who had been fired by U2 for complaining about them in an interview, was outspoken with his views on music and politics, and O'Connor adopted the same habits; she defended the actions of the IRA
and said U2's music was "bombastic".
Things were contentious in the studio as well. She was paired with veteran producer Mick Glossop, whom she later publicly derided. They had differing visions regarding her debut album and four months'-worth of recordings were scrapped. During this time she became pregnant by her session drummer John Reynolds
(who went on to drum with the band Transvision Vamp
). Due largely to O'Ceallaigh's efforts of persuasion, the record company allowed O'Connor, 20 years old and by then seven months pregnant, to produce her own album.
The Lion and the Cobra was not enthusiastically embraced by the pop mainstream, but the album did eventually reach gold record status and earned a Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Grammy
nomination. The single "Mandinka
" was a big college radio hit in the United States, and "I Want Your (Hands on Me)" received both college and urban play in a remix
ed form that featured rapper
MC Lyte
. In her first US network television appearance, O'Connor sang "Mandinka" on Late Night with David Letterman
in 1988. The single "Troy
" was also released as a single in the UK and Ireland. A club mix of "Troy" would become a major US dance hit in 2002.
and 1990's I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
) gained considerable attention and mostly positive reviews. She was praised for her voice and her original songs. She was also noted for her appearance: her trademark shaved head, often angry expression, and sometimes shapeless or unusual clothing.
In 1989 O'Connor joined The The
frontman Matt Johnson
as a guest vocalist on the band's album Mind Bomb
, which spawned the duet "Kingdom of Rain."
The album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got featured Marco Pirroni
and Kevin Mooney
, of Adam and the Ants
fame, and contained her international breakthrough hit "Nothing Compares 2 U", a song written by Prince
and originally recorded and released by a side project of his, The Family
. Aided by a memorable and well received video by John Maybury
which consisted almost solely of O'Connor's face as she performed the song, it became a massive international hit, reaching #1 in several countries. In Ireland it hit the top spot in July 1990 and remained there for 11 weeks; it is the eighth most successful single of the decade there. It had similar success in the UK, charting at #1 for 4 weeks, and in Germany (#1 for 11 weeks). In Australia, it reached #1 on the Top 100. It also claimed the #1 spot on the Hot 100
chart in the USA. She also received Grammy nominations including Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. She eventually won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance
, but boycotted the award show.
Public Enemy's Hank Shocklee remixed the album's next single, "The Emperor's New Clothes," for a 12-inch that was coupled with the Celtic
funk
of "I Am Stretched On Your Grave." Pre-dating but included on I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got was also "Jump in the River," which originally appeared on the Married to the Mob soundtrack
; the 12-inch version of the single had included a remix featuring performance art
ist Karen Finley
. Also in 1990, O'Connor starred in a small independent Irish movie Hush-a-Bye Baby directed in Derry
by Margo Harkin.
In 1990, she joined many other guests for former Pink Floyd
member Roger Waters
' massive performance
of The Wall
in Berlin. (In 1996, she would guest on Broken China
, a solo album by Richard Wright
of Pink Floyd.) In 1991, her take on Elton John
's "Sacrifice" was acclaimed as one of the best efforts on the tribute album Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin
.
In 1990, she contributed a cover of "You Do Something to Me
" to the Cole Porter
tribute/AIDS
fundraising album Red Hot + Blue
produced by the Red Hot Organization
. In 1998, she worked again with the Red Hot Organization to co-produce and perform on Red Hot + Rhapsody. Red Hot + Blue was followed by the release of Am I Not Your Girl?
, an album of standards and torch song
s that she had listened to while growing up. Also in 1992, she contributed backing vocals on the track "Come Talk To Me", and shared vocals on the single "Blood of Eden" from the studio album Us
by Peter Gabriel
.
Also in 1990, she was criticized after she announced that she would not perform if the United States national anthem was played before one of her concerts. Frank Sinatra
threatened to "kick her ass". After receiving 4 Grammy Award
nominations she withdrew her name from consideration.
After spending nine years dividing her time between London and Los Angeles, O'Connor returned to her home town of Dublin in late 1992 to live near her sister and focus on raising her son Jake, then six years old. She spent the following months studying Bel Canto
singing with teacher Frank Merriman at the Parnell School of Music. In an interview with The Guardian
published 3 May 1993 she reported that her singing lessons with Merriman were the only therapy
she was receiving, describing Merriman as "the most amazing teacher in the universe."
The 1993 soundtrack to the film In the Name of the Father featured "You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart," with significant contributions from U2 frontman Bono
.
The more conventional Universal Mother
(1994) did not succeed in restoring her mass appeal. She toured with Lollapalooza
in 1995, but dropped out when she became pregnant. The Gospel Oak
EP
followed in 1997, and featured songs based in an acoustic setting. It too, did not recapture previous album successes.
In 1994, she appeared in A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who
, also known as Daltrey Sings Townshend. This was a two-night concert at Carnegie Hall
produced by Roger Daltrey
of The Who
in celebration of his 50th birthday. A CD and a VHS video of the concert were issued in 1994, followed by a DVD in 1998.
She appeared in Neil Jordan
's The Butcher Boy
in 1997, playing the Virgin Mary.
Faith and Courage
was released in 2000, including the single "No Man's Woman," and featured contributions from Wyclef Jean
of the Fugees and Dave Stewart
of Eurythmics
. On the eve of its release, O'Connor came out
as a lesbian
, and then retracted the statement.
Her 2002 album, Sean-Nós Nua
, marked a departure in that O'Connor interpreted or, in her own words, "sexed up" traditional Irish folk songs, including several in the Irish language
. In Sean-Nós Nua, she covered a well-known Canadian folk song, Peggy Gordon
, interpreted as a song of lesbian, rather than heterosexual, love. In her documentary, Song of Hearts Desire, she stated that her inspiration for the song was her friend, a lesbian who sang the song to lament the loss of her partner.
In 2003, she contributed a track to the Dolly Parton
tribute album Just Because I'm a Woman, a cover of Parton's "Dagger Through the Heart". That same year, she released a double album, She Who Dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High Shall Abide Under the Shadow of the Almighty
. The album contained one disc of demos and previously unreleased tracks and one disc of a live concert recording. Directly after the album's release, O'Connor announced her retirement
from music.
Collaborations
, a compilation album of guest appearances, was released in 2005 - featuring tracks recorded with Peter Gabriel, Massive Attack
, Jah Wobble
, Terry Hall
, Moby
, Bomb The Bass
, The Edge
, U2, and The The.
Ultimately, after a brief period of inactivity and a bout with fibromyalgia
, her retirement proved to be short-lived - O'Connor stated in an interview with Harp that she only intended to retire from making mainstream pop/rock music, and after dealing with her fibromyalgia, chose to move into other musical styles. The reggae
album Throw Down Your Arms
appeared in late 2005 and was greeted with positive reviews. It was based on the Rastafarian
culture and lifestyle, O'Connor having spent time in Jamaica
in 2004. She performed the single "Throw Down Your Arms" on The Late Late Show
in November. She also made comments critical of the war in Iraq and the role played in it by Ireland's Shannon Airport
.
On 8 November 2006, O'Connor performed seven songs from her upcoming album Theology
at The Sugar Club in Dublin. Thirty fans were given the opportunity to win pairs of tickets to attend along with music industry critics. The performance was released in 2008 as Live at the Sugar Club
deluxe CD/DVD package sold exclusively on her website.
O'Connor released two songs from her album Theology to download for free from her official website: "If You Had a Vineyard" and "Jeremiah (Something Beautiful)". The album, a collection of covered and original Rastafari spiritual songs, was released in June 2007. The first single from the album, the Tim Rice
and Andrew Lloyd Webber
classic "I Don't Know How to Love Him
", was released on 30 April 2007. To promote the album, O'Connor toured extensively in Europe and North America. She also appeared on two tracks of the new Ian Brown
album The World Is Yours
, including the anti-war single "Illegal Attacks
".
produced by former A Tribe Called Quest
member Ali Shaheed Muhammad
entitled "This Is To Mother You". The proceeds of the song's sales were donated to the organization GEMS (Girls Educational and Mentoring Services).
O'Connor announced she was working on recording a new album, entitled Home, to be released in the beginning of 2012. On October 10, 2011 O'Connor announced that the release date for the album, now entitled How About I Be Me And You Be You, had been set for February 20, 2012. The first single and title track "How About I Be Me", a reggae love song produced by Kemar McGregor
, was released on 8 November 2011.
as a musical guest
. She sang an a cappella
version of Bob Marley
's "War
", which she intended as a protest over the sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church
, by changing the lyric "racism" to "child abuse." She then presented a photo of Pope John Paul II
to the camera while singing the word "evil
", after which she tore the photo into pieces, said "Fight the real enemy", and threw the pieces towards the camera.
Saturday Night Live had no foreknowledge of O'Connor's plan; during the dress rehearsal she held up a photo of a refugee child. NBC Vice President of Late Night Rick Ludwin recalled that when he saw O'Connor's action he "literally jumped out of [his] chair." SNL writer Paula Pell recalled personnel in the control booth
discussing the cameras cutting away from the singer. The audience was completely silent, with no booing or applause; executive producer Lorne Michaels
recalled that "the air went out the studio". Michaels, who ordered that the applause sign not be used, described the incident as "on a certain level, a betrayal", but also "a serious expression of belief."
A nationwide audience saw O'Connor's live performance, which the New York Daily News
s cover called a "HOLY TERROR". NBC received more than 500 calls on Sunday and 400 more on Monday, with all but seven criticizing O'Connor; the network received 4,400 calls in total. Contrary to rumour, NBC was not fined by the Federal Communications Commission
for O'Connor's act; the FCC has no regulatory power over blasphemy. NBC did not edit the performance out of the West coast tape-delayed broadcast that night, but reruns of the episode use footage from the dress rehearsal. On 24 April 2010, MSNBC aired the live version during an interview with O'Connor on The Rachel Maddow Show
. In 1993 issue of The Irish Times
O'Connor wrote a public letter where she asked people to "stop hurting" her.
As part of SNLs apology to the audience, during his opening monologue the following week, host Joe Pesci
held up the photo, explaining that he had taped it back together. Pesci also said that if it had been his show, "I would have gave her such a smack."
In a 2002 interview with Salon, when asked if she would change anything about the SNL appearance, O'Connor replied, "Hell, no!" In 2010, TV Guide Network listed the incident at No. 24 on their list of 25 Biggest TV Blunders.
's next appearance on SNL (on an episode hosted by Harvey Keitel
), after singing "Bad Girl", she held up a photo of Joey Buttafuoco
and, saying "fight the real enemy," tore it up. Madonna also roundly attacked O'Connor in the press for the incident, telling the Irish Times: "I think there is a better way to present her ideas rather than ripping up an image that means a lot to other people." She added, "If she is against the Roman Catholic Church and she has a problem with them, I think she should talk about it." The New York Times called it "professional jealousy" and wrote that: "After Madonna had herself gowned, harnessed, strapped down and fully stripped to promote her album Erotica and her book Sex, O'Connor stole the spotlight with one photograph of a fully clothed man. But the other vilification that descended on O'Connor showed she had struck a nerve." Bob Guccione, Jr.
in a 1993 SPIN editorial was adamant in his defense of O'Connor, writing, "...Madonna savaged her in the press, obviously to fuel publicity for Sex and sales of her new album, Erotica .... But when the Sinead controversy threatened to siphon some of the attention from the impending release of Sex, Madonna conveniently found religion again..."
In November 1991, a year prior to the incident, O'Connor had told Spin Magazine: "Madonna is probably the hugest role model for women in America. There's a woman who people look up to as being a woman who campaigns for women's rights. A woman who in an abusive way towards me, said that I look like I had a run in with a lawnmower and that I was about as sexy as a Venetian blind. Now there's the woman that America looks up to as being a campaigner for women, slagging off another woman..."
30th Anniversary tribute concert in Madison Square Garden
. She was greeted by a thundering mixture of cheers and jeers. During the booing, Kris Kristofferson
told her not to "let the bastards get you down," to which she replied, "I'm not down." The noise eventually became so loud that O'Connor saw no point in starting the scheduled song. She called for the keyboard player to stop and the microphone to be turned up, and then screamed over the audience with an improvised, shouted rendition of "War". This time, she sang the song, stopping just after the part in which the lyrics talk about child abuse, emphasizing the point of her previous action. She then looked straight to the audience for a second and left the stage. Kristofferson then comforted her, as she cried.
in Holmdel, New Jersey. The practice of the venue was to play a recording of the American national anthem before the show began. O'Connor, who said she was unaware of this practice until shortly before the show was to begin, refused to go on if the anthem was played. Venue officials acquiesced to her demand and omitted the anthem, and so O'Connor performed, but they later permanently banned her.
O'Connor said that she had a policy of not having the national anthem of any country played before her concerts, explaining that these were often written and composed during wars and amounted to nationalist tirades. She pointed out that she meant "no disrespect," but added that she "will not go on stage after the national anthem of a country which imposes censorship
on artists. It's hypocritical and racist
."
The incident made tabloid headlines, and O'Connor drew tabloid-derived criticism. Her songs were banned from some radio stations.
In January 1995 O'Connor "was so interested in a (television) discussion about abuse and the Catholic church that she rang in to ask if she could appear. They sent a taxi to her home". The Evening Standard
wrote that After Dark "made a brief reappearance last Saturday night when, true to its unpredictable form, Sinéad O'Connor walked on to the set 10 minutes before closedown". Host Helena Kennedy described the event:
, Garret FitzGerald
, was sharing the sofas with a Dominican monk and a representative of the Catholic church. “While we were on the air, Sinéad O’Connor called in,” says Kennedy. “Then I got a message in my earpiece to say she had just turned up at the studio. Sinéad came on and argued that abuse in families was coded in by the church because it refused to accept the accounts of women and children,” says Kennedy.
, O'Connor shaved it off again. "I don't feel like me unless I have my hair shaved. So even when I'm an old lady, I'm going to have it."
, who co-produced several of her albums, including Universal Mother. They have one child together. They split up on good terms and Reynolds continues to work as her producer and drummer. Her second marriage was to journalist Nicholas Sommerlad in 2002. For a period during 2006 and early 2007, she had a relationship with Frank Bonadio, the father of her fourth child (see below). O'Connor acknowledged to Paul Martin in the Irish Daily Mirror that the two had separated as of the weekend of 17 February 2007, citing difficulties between Bonadio and his former wife, singer Mary Coughlan
. O'Connor married long-time friend and collaborator Steve Cooney on 22 July 2010.
, O'Connor outed
herself as a lesbian, "I'm a dyke ... although I haven't been very open about that and throughout most of my life I've gone out with blokes because I haven't necessarily been terribly comfortable about being a big lesbian mule. But I actually am a dyke." However, soon after in an interview in The Independent
, she stated, "I believe it was overcompensating of me to declare myself a lesbian. It was not a publicity stunt. I was trying to make someone else feel better. And have subsequently caused pain for myself. I am not in a box of any description." In a magazine article and in a programme on RTÉ
(Ryan Confidential, broadcast on RTÉ on 29 May 2003), she stated that while most of her sexual relationships had been with men, she has had three relationships with women. In a May 2005 issue of Entertainment Weekly
, she stated, "I'm three-quarters heterosexual, a quarter gay
. I lean a bit more towards the hairy blokes".
, O'Connor disclosed that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder
four years earlier, and had attempted suicide
on her 33rd birthday on 8 December 1999.
of the Irish Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church (an Independent Catholic group not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church
) ordained
O'Connor as a priest. The Roman Catholic Church considers ordination of women to be either invalid, impossible, or both and asserts that a person attempting the sacrament of ordination upon a woman incurs excommunication
. The bishop had contacted her to offer ordination following her appearance on the RTÉ
's Late Late Show, during which she told the presenter, Gay Byrne
, that had she not been a singer, she would have wished to have been a Catholic priest. After her ordination, she indicated that she wished to be called Mother Bernadette Mary.
In a July 2007 interview with Christianity Today
, O'Connor stated that she considers herself a Christian and that she believes in core Christian concepts about the Trinity and Jesus Christ. She said, "I think God saves everybody whether they want to be saved or not. So when we die, we're all going home... I don't think God judges anybody. He loves everybody equally". She also expressed a belief in pantheism
, viewing the physical universe as a body with divine "energy". In an October 2002 interview with Salon.com, she credited her Christian faith in giving her the strength to live through, and then overcome the effects of, her child abuse.
On 26 March 2010, O'Connor appeared on Anderson Cooper 360°
to speak out about the Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Ireland
. On 28 March 2010, she had an opinion piece published in the Sunday Edition
of the Washington Post where she wrote about the Catholic sex abuse scandal and her time in a Magdalene laundry as a teenager. She wrote an article for the Sunday Independent
newspaper of 17 July 2011 in response to the sexual abuse scandal in Cloyne diocese
in which she described the Vatican
as "a nest of devils". She wrote that an alternative church might have to be established because "Christ is being murdered by liars" in the Vatican.
- March 1991
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra
The Lion and the Cobra
The Lion and the Cobra is the 1987 debut album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. O'Connor, age 20 at the time, recorded the album while heavily pregnant with her first child....
and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U
Nothing Compares 2 U
"Nothing Compares 2 U" is a pop song written by American recording artist Prince for one of his side-projects, The Family. However, it wasn't until Sinéad O'Connor recorded her version for the album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got when it became a worldwide hit, topping charts in 15 countries,...
".
Since then, while maintaining her singing career, she has occasionally encountered controversy, partly due to her emotional statements and gestures such as her ordination as a priest despite being female with a Roman Catholic background, and her expressed strong views on organized religion, women's rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
, war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
, and child abuse
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
.
In addition to her solo albums, her work includes a number of collaborations with other artists, and appearances at charity fundraising concerts.
Early life
Sinéad O'Connor was born in GlenagearyGlenageary
Glenageary is an area in the suburbs of south County Dublin, Ireland, part of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County.While there is no officially defined boundary, it is surrounded by the areas of Sallynoggin, Dalkey, Dun Laoghaire, Glasthule and Johnstown...
in County Dublin
County Dublin
County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...
and was named after Sinéad de Valera
Sinéad de Valera
Sinéad de Valera, also known as Sinéad Ní Fhlannagáin and Sinéad Bean de Valera , was the wife of the Irish republican leader and third President of Ireland, Éamon de Valera.-Background:...
, wife of Irish President Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...
and mother of the doctor presiding over the delivery, and Saint Bernadette of Lourdes
Bernadette Soubirous
Saint Marie-Bernarde Soubirous was a miller's daughter born in Lourdes. From 11 February to 16 July 1858, she reported 18 apparitions of "a small young lady" who asked for a chapel to be built at that site at Lourdes....
. She is the third of five children, sister to Joseph, Eimear, John, and Eoin. Joseph O'Connor
Joseph O'Connor
Joseph Victor O'Connor is an Irish novelist. He is known for his 2002 historical novel Star of the Sea. Before success as an author he was a journalist with the Sunday Tribune newspaper and Esquire magazine...
is a novelist.
Her parents are Sean O'Connor, a structural engineer later turned barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, and Marie O'Connor. The couple married young and had a troubled relationship, separating when Sinéad was eight. The three eldest children went to live with their mother, where O'Connor claims they were subjected to frequent physical abuse. Her song "Fire on Babylon" is about the effects of her own child abuse
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
, and she has consistently advocated on behalf of abused children. Sean O'Connor's efforts to secure custody of his children in a country which routinely denied custody to fathers and prohibited divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
, motivated him to become chairman of the Divorce Action Group and a prominent public spokesman. At one point, he even debated his wife on the subject on a radio show.
In 1979, O'Connor left her mother and went to live with her father and his new wife. However, at the age of 15, her shoplifting and truancy led to her being placed in a Magdalene Asylum, the Grianán Training Centre run by the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity. In some ways, she thrived there, especially in the development of her writing and music, but she also chafed under the imposed conformity. Unruly students there were sometimes sent to sleep in the adjoining nursing home, an experience of which she later commented, "I have never — and probably will never — experience such panic and terror and agony over anything."
One of the volunteers at Grianán was the sister of Paul Byrne
Paul Byrne
Paul Byrne may refer to:*Paul Byrne , Irish footballer*Paul Byrne , Irish footballer, former Celtic and Southend United player*Paul Byrne , South African footballer, former Port Vale player...
, drummer for the band In Tua Nua
In Tua Nua
In Tua Nua was an Irish rock group who achieved a modicum of fame and success in both Ireland and Europe throughout the late 1980s.- Biography :...
, who heard O'Connor singing "Evergreen" by Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
. She recorded a song with them called "Take My Hand" but they felt that at 15, she was too young to join the band.
In 1983, her father sent her to Newtown School
Newtown School, Waterford
Newtown School is a multidenominational, coeducational independent school with both boarding and day pupils in Waterford, Ireland. It is run by a Board of Management, but owned by the Religious Society of Friends.- History :...
, an exclusive Quaker boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
in Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
, an institution with a much more permissive atmosphere than Grianan. With the help and encouragement of her Irish language
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
teacher, Joseph Falvey, she recorded a four-song demo, with two covers and two of her own songs which later appeared on her first album.
Through an ad she placed in Hot Press in mid-1984, she met Columb Farrelly
Columb Farrelly
Columb Farrelly was an Irish music producer and composer who first came to prominence during the mid-1980s in the music industry through his musical partnership with singer Sinéad O'Connor...
. Together they recruited a few other members and formed a band called Ton Ton Macoute, named after the Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
an zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s. The band moved to Waterford briefly while O'Connor attended Newtown, but she soon dropped out of school and followed them to Dublin, where their performances received positive reviews. Their sound was inspired by Farrelly's interest in witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
, mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
, and world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
, though most observers thought O'Connor's singing and stage presence were the band's strongest features.
On 10 February 1985, O'Connor's mother was killed in a car accident, which despite their strained relationship devastated her. Soon afterward she left the band, which stayed together despite O'Connor's statements to the contrary in later interviews, and she moved to London.
1980s
O'Connor's time as singer for Ton Ton Macoute brought her to the attention of the music industry, and she was eventually signed by Ensign RecordsEnsign Records
Ensign Records was started in 1976 by Nigel Grainge, as an independent Phonogram subsidiary.-History:Grainge had been the head of A&R at Phonogram in London for the previous two years and directly signed Thin Lizzy, 10cc, The Steve Miller Band, and a worldwide license for the successful All...
. She also acquired an experienced manager, Fachtna O'Ceallaigh, former head of U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
's Mother Records. Soon after she was signed, she embarked on her first major assignment, providing the vocals for the song "Heroine", which she co-wrote with U2's guitarist The Edge
The Edge
David Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
for the soundtrack to the film Captive
Captive Soundtrack
The soundtrack for the 1986 UK film Captive is the only solo album to date by The Edge, guitarist of U2. It is also the only solo album to date by one of the members of U2....
. O'Ceallaigh, who had been fired by U2 for complaining about them in an interview, was outspoken with his views on music and politics, and O'Connor adopted the same habits; she defended the actions of the IRA
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
and said U2's music was "bombastic".
Things were contentious in the studio as well. She was paired with veteran producer Mick Glossop, whom she later publicly derided. They had differing visions regarding her debut album and four months'-worth of recordings were scrapped. During this time she became pregnant by her session drummer John Reynolds
John Reynolds (musician)
John Reynolds is a record producer. He was the first husband of singer Sinéad O'Connor; they have one child, Jake. Reynolds, formerly a drummer for Jah Wobble, met O'Connor and recorded her first album, The Lion and the Cobra...
(who went on to drum with the band Transvision Vamp
Transvision Vamp
Transvision Vamp were a British alternative rock group. Formed in 1986 by Nick Christian Sayer and Wendy James the band enjoyed chart success in the late 1980s...
). Due largely to O'Ceallaigh's efforts of persuasion, the record company allowed O'Connor, 20 years old and by then seven months pregnant, to produce her own album.
The Lion and the Cobra was not enthusiastically embraced by the pop mainstream, but the album did eventually reach gold record status and earned a Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination. The single "Mandinka
Mandinka (song)
"Mandinka" is a song by Sinéad O'Connor from her 1987 album The Lion and the Cobra.The video for "Mandinka" was shown heavily after debuting January 24, 1988 on 120 Minutes on MTV. The single was a mainstream pop hit in the UK, peaking at #17 in the singles chart, as well as her native Ireland.The...
" was a big college radio hit in the United States, and "I Want Your (Hands on Me)" received both college and urban play in a remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
ed form that featured rapper
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
MC Lyte
MC Lyte
MC Lyte is an American rapper who first gained fame in the late-1980s becoming the first solo female rapper to release a full album with 1988's critically acclaimed Lyte as a Rock.-Early life:...
. In her first US network television appearance, O'Connor sang "Mandinka" on Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
in 1988. The single "Troy
Troy (song)
"Troy" is a song written and recorded by Sinéad O'Connor, the first single from her 1987 debut album, The Lion and the Cobra. In 2002, a dance version of the song released as "Troy " becoming a top 10 hit on several international dance charts including the US.-Background:The song uses the story of...
" was also released as a single in the UK and Ireland. A club mix of "Troy" would become a major US dance hit in 2002.
1990s
O'Connor's first two albums (1987's The Lion and the CobraThe Lion and the Cobra
The Lion and the Cobra is the 1987 debut album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. O'Connor, age 20 at the time, recorded the album while heavily pregnant with her first child....
and 1990's I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got is the second album by Sinéad O'Connor. It was released in 1990 on Chrysalis Records.-Description:The critically acclaimed album contains her most famous single, "Nothing Compares 2 U", and was one of the best selling records in the world in 1990, topping the charts...
) gained considerable attention and mostly positive reviews. She was praised for her voice and her original songs. She was also noted for her appearance: her trademark shaved head, often angry expression, and sometimes shapeless or unusual clothing.
In 1989 O'Connor joined The The
The The
The The are an English musical and multimedia group that have been active in various forms since 1979, with singer/songwriter Matt Johnson being the only constant band member.-Early years :...
frontman Matt Johnson
Matt Johnson (singer)
Matt Johnson is a musician best known as the founder and only constant member of the group The The. Johnson is known for his often deeply introspective lyrics. Musically he ranges from slow acoustic hooks to techno-pop....
as a guest vocalist on the band's album Mind Bomb
Mind Bomb
Mind Bomb is the 4th album by The The, released by Some Bizarre/Epic on July 11, 1989 and recorded between October 1988 and May 1989.For this album, instead of recording with numerous session musicians as he did previously, Matt Johnson assembled a genuine band behind him to play the bulk of the...
, which spawned the duet "Kingdom of Rain."
The album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got featured Marco Pirroni
Marco Pirroni
Marco Francesco Andrea Pirroni is an English guitarist, songwriter and record producer...
and Kevin Mooney
Kevin Mooney
Kevin Mooney is an English rock bassist and guitarist who has worked with Adam Ant, Sinéad O'Connor, and others.-Career:...
, of Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants were a British rock band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The original group, which existed from 1977 to 1980, became notable as a cult band marking the transition from the late-1970s punk rock era to the post-punk and New Wave era...
fame, and contained her international breakthrough hit "Nothing Compares 2 U", a song written by Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
and originally recorded and released by a side project of his, The Family
The Family (band)
The Family is a band formed by Prince, and one of the first signed to his record label, Paisley Park Records. The band renamed themselves Fdeluxe in 2009.-History:...
. Aided by a memorable and well received video by John Maybury
John Maybury
John Maybury is an English filmmaker. In 2005 he was listed as one of the 100 most influential gay and lesbian people in Britain.-Early life:...
which consisted almost solely of O'Connor's face as she performed the song, it became a massive international hit, reaching #1 in several countries. In Ireland it hit the top spot in July 1990 and remained there for 11 weeks; it is the eighth most successful single of the decade there. It had similar success in the UK, charting at #1 for 4 weeks, and in Germany (#1 for 11 weeks). In Australia, it reached #1 on the Top 100. It also claimed the #1 spot on the Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart in the USA. She also received Grammy nominations including Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. She eventually won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance
Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album
The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative rock genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
, but boycotted the award show.
Public Enemy's Hank Shocklee remixed the album's next single, "The Emperor's New Clothes," for a 12-inch that was coupled with the Celtic
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
of "I Am Stretched On Your Grave." Pre-dating but included on I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got was also "Jump in the River," which originally appeared on the Married to the Mob soundtrack
Married to the Mob (soundtrack)
Married to the Mob is a soundtrack album for the 1988 film Married to the Mob. It features early songs by Sinéad O'Connor and Chris Isaak as well as a Brian Eno cover of William Bell's soul classic "You Don't Miss Your Water".- Track listing :...
; the 12-inch version of the single had included a remix featuring performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
ist Karen Finley
Karen Finley
Karen Finley is an American performance artist, whose theatrical pieces and recordings have often been labelled "obscene" due to their graphic depictions of sexuality, abuse, and disenfranchisement...
. Also in 1990, O'Connor starred in a small independent Irish movie Hush-a-Bye Baby directed in Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
by Margo Harkin.
In 1990, she joined many other guests for former Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
member Roger Waters
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
' massive performance
The Wall Concert in Berlin
The Wall – Live in Berlin was a live concert performance by Roger Waters and numerous guest artists, of the Pink Floyd studio album, The Wall, itself largely written by Waters during his time with the band. The show was held in Berlin, Germany, on 21 July 1990, to commemorate the fall of the Berlin...
of The Wall
The Wall
The Wall is the eleventh studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. Released as a double album on 30 November 1979, it was subsequently performed live with elaborate theatrical effects, and adapted into a feature film, Pink Floyd—The Wall.As with the band's previous three...
in Berlin. (In 1996, she would guest on Broken China
Broken China
Broken China is a progressive rock solo album by Pink Floyd keyboard player Richard Wright.- Overview :The album is a four-part concept album which documents Wright's then wife Mildred's battle with depression, and is very much like a classic Pink Floyd concept album in its structure and overall feel...
, a solo album by Richard Wright
Richard Wright (musician)
Richard William Wright was an English pianist, keyboardist and songwriter, best known for his career with Pink Floyd. Wright's richly textured keyboard layers were a vital ingredient and a distinctive characteristic of Pink Floyd's sound...
of Pink Floyd.) In 1991, her take on Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
's "Sacrifice" was acclaimed as one of the best efforts on the tribute album Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin
Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin
Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin is a 1991 tribute album consisting of interpretations of sixteen songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. The title refers to the song on Elton John's album 21 at 33, "Two Rooms at the End of the World", to the duo's unusual...
.
In 1990, she contributed a cover of "You Do Something to Me
You Do Something to Me
"You Do Something to Me" is a song written by Cole Porter. It is notable in that it was the first number in Porter's first fully integrated-book musical Fifty Million Frenchmen...
" to the Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
tribute/AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
fundraising album Red Hot + Blue
Red Hot + Blue
Red Hot + Blue is the first in the series of compilation albums from the Red Hot Organization. The recording was the first in the Red Hot Benefit Series...
produced by the Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...
. In 1998, she worked again with the Red Hot Organization to co-produce and perform on Red Hot + Rhapsody. Red Hot + Blue was followed by the release of Am I Not Your Girl?
Am I Not Your Girl?
Am I Not Your Girl? is the third album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor and the follow-up to the hugely successful I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. It is a collection of covers of mostly jazz standards, which Sinead describes as "the songs I grew up listening to [and] that made me want to be a...
, an album of standards and torch song
Torch song
A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affected the relationship...
s that she had listened to while growing up. Also in 1992, she contributed backing vocals on the track "Come Talk To Me", and shared vocals on the single "Blood of Eden" from the studio album Us
Us (Peter Gabriel album)
Us is the sixth studio album by British rock musician Peter Gabriel, originally released in 1992. It was remastered, with most of Gabriel's catalogue, in 2002...
by Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
.
Also in 1990, she was criticized after she announced that she would not perform if the United States national anthem was played before one of her concerts. Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
threatened to "kick her ass". After receiving 4 Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations she withdrew her name from consideration.
After spending nine years dividing her time between London and Los Angeles, O'Connor returned to her home town of Dublin in late 1992 to live near her sister and focus on raising her son Jake, then six years old. She spent the following months studying Bel Canto
Bel Canto
Bel Canto may refer to:*Bel canto, an opera term that literally means "beautiful singing"*Bel Canto , a novel by Ann Patchett*Bel Canto , a Norwegian pop/electronica band*Bel Canto , 2006 Roberto Alagna album...
singing with teacher Frank Merriman at the Parnell School of Music. In an interview with The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
published 3 May 1993 she reported that her singing lessons with Merriman were the only therapy
Therapy
This is a list of types of therapy .* Adventure therapy* Animal-assisted therapy* Aquatic therapy* Aromatherapy* Art and dementia* Art therapy* Authentic Movement* Behavioral therapy* Bibliotherapy* Buteyko Method* Chemotherapy...
she was receiving, describing Merriman as "the most amazing teacher in the universe."
The 1993 soundtrack to the film In the Name of the Father featured "You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart," with significant contributions from U2 frontman Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
.
The more conventional Universal Mother
Universal Mother
Universal Mother is the fourth album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. It was released in 1994, and sold 1.5 million copies worldwide.-Track listing:# "Germaine" – 0:38...
(1994) did not succeed in restoring her mass appeal. She toured with Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...
in 1995, but dropped out when she became pregnant. The Gospel Oak
Gospel Oak EP
Gospel Oak is an EP by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. The album sold 250,000 worldwide.The cover photograph of the album shows the two brick skew arch bridges adjacent to Gospel Oak railway station in north London, UK.-Track listing:...
EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
followed in 1997, and featured songs based in an acoustic setting. It too, did not recapture previous album successes.
In 1994, she appeared in A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who
A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who
A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who, also known as Daltrey Sings Townshend, is a music event and later album documenting a two-night concert at Carnegie Hall in 1994. It broke Carnegie Hall's two day box office gross record, and was the fastest sell-out in the historic venue's...
, also known as Daltrey Sings Townshend. This was a two-night concert at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
produced by Roger Daltrey
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE , is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also...
of The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
in celebration of his 50th birthday. A CD and a VHS video of the concert were issued in 1994, followed by a DVD in 1998.
She appeared in Neil Jordan
Neil Jordan
Neil Patrick Jordan is an Irish filmmaker and novelist. He won an Academy Award for The Crying Game.- Early life :...
's The Butcher Boy
The Butcher Boy (film)
The Butcher Boy is an 1997 Irish tragicomic drama film adapted to film by Neil Jordan and Patrick McCabe from McCabe's 1992 novel of the same name....
in 1997, playing the Virgin Mary.
2000s
Faith and Courage
Faith and Courage is the fifth full-length album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor, released in 2000 on Atlantic Records. It was O'Connor's first release in three years, her previous album being the greatest hits package So Far.....
was released in 2000, including the single "No Man's Woman," and featured contributions from Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
of the Fugees and Dave Stewart
David A. Stewart
David Allan Stewart , often known as Dave Stewart, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics. He is usually credited as David A. Stewart, to avoid confusion with other musicians named "Dave Stewart".-Early life:Stewart was born in Sunderland,...
of Eurythmics
Eurythmics
Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...
. On the eve of its release, O'Connor came out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
as a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, and then retracted the statement.
Her 2002 album, Sean-Nós Nua
Sean-Nós Nua
Sean-Nós Nua is the sixth full-length album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. It consists of traditional Irish songs, the title meaning "new old-style".The album sold 225,000 copies worldwide.-Track listing:#"Peggy Gordon" – 5:45...
, marked a departure in that O'Connor interpreted or, in her own words, "sexed up" traditional Irish folk songs, including several in the Irish language
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
. In Sean-Nós Nua, she covered a well-known Canadian folk song, Peggy Gordon
Peggy Gordon (song)
Peggy Gordon is a Canadian folk song that has become popular in many English-speaking countries. As a folk song it was first collected in the 1950s and 1960s in Canada, mainly in Nova Scotia. Versions of this song, in the form of a vaudeville song, were published in New York from 1880.It has been...
, interpreted as a song of lesbian, rather than heterosexual, love. In her documentary, Song of Hearts Desire, she stated that her inspiration for the song was her friend, a lesbian who sang the song to lament the loss of her partner.
In 2003, she contributed a track to the Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
tribute album Just Because I'm a Woman, a cover of Parton's "Dagger Through the Heart". That same year, she released a double album, She Who Dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High Shall Abide Under the Shadow of the Almighty
She Who Dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High Shall Abide Under the Shadow of the Almighty
She Who Dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High Shall Abide Under the Shadow of the Almighty is a 2003 double album by Sinéad O'Connor.It is a two-CD set...
. The album contained one disc of demos and previously unreleased tracks and one disc of a live concert recording. Directly after the album's release, O'Connor announced her retirement
Retirement
Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours.Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions don't allow the person to...
from music.
Collaborations
Collaborations (Sinéad O'Connor album)
Collaborations is a compilation album released by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor in 2005. The album contains songs recorded throughout O'Connor's career on which she collaborated with a variety of artists, spanning several different genres of music. Many of these tracks appeared on the albums of...
, a compilation album of guest appearances, was released in 2005 - featuring tracks recorded with Peter Gabriel, Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...
, Jah Wobble
Jah Wobble
Jah Wobble is an English bass guitarist, singer, poet and composer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but left the band after two albums...
, Terry Hall
Terry Hall (singer)
Terry Hall is the lead singer of The Specials, and formerly of Fun Boy Three, The Colourfield, Terry, Blair & Anouchka and Vegas. He has released two solo albums and has also collaborated with many artists including David A...
, Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
, Bomb The Bass
Bomb the Bass
Bomb the Bass is the umbrella title for the output of British musician and producer, Tim Simenon. The band, which has evolved its style over the years, has been classed as electronic or dance....
, The Edge
The Edge
David Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
, U2, and The The.
Ultimately, after a brief period of inactivity and a bout with fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a medical disorder characterized by chronic widespread pain and allodynia, a heightened and painful response to pressure. It is an example of a diagnosis of exclusion...
, her retirement proved to be short-lived - O'Connor stated in an interview with Harp that she only intended to retire from making mainstream pop/rock music, and after dealing with her fibromyalgia, chose to move into other musical styles. The reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
album Throw Down Your Arms
Throw Down Your Arms
Throw Down Your Arms is a 2005 album by Sinéad O'Connor and shows influence from Jamaican roots reggae and the Rastafari tradition. Throw Down Your Arms is a collection of classic roots reggae songs performed by O'Connor and produced by Sly and Robbie....
appeared in late 2005 and was greeted with positive reviews. It was based on the Rastafarian
Rastafari movement
The Rastafari movement or Rasta is a new religious movement that arose in the 1930s in Jamaica, which at the time was a country with a predominantly Christian culture where 98% of the people were the black descendants of slaves. Its adherents worship Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia , as God...
culture and lifestyle, O'Connor having spent time in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
in 2004. She performed the single "Throw Down Your Arms" on The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...
in November. She also made comments critical of the war in Iraq and the role played in it by Ireland's Shannon Airport
Shannon Airport
Shannon Airport, is one of the Republic of Ireland's three primary airports along with Dublin and Cork. In 2010 around 1,750,000 passengers passed through the airport, making it the third busiest airport in the Republic of Ireland after Dublin and Cork, and the fifth busiest airport on the island...
.
On 8 November 2006, O'Connor performed seven songs from her upcoming album Theology
Theology (album)
Theology is the eighth full-length album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. It was released in 2007 on Rubyworks...
at The Sugar Club in Dublin. Thirty fans were given the opportunity to win pairs of tickets to attend along with music industry critics. The performance was released in 2008 as Live at the Sugar Club
Live at the Sugar Club
Live at the Sugar Club is the name of a DVD and CD set released by singer/songwriter Sinéad O'Connor in 2008. The set features a live concert performance by O'Connor from November 8th 2006 at The Sugar Club in Dublin, Ireland...
deluxe CD/DVD package sold exclusively on her website.
O'Connor released two songs from her album Theology to download for free from her official website: "If You Had a Vineyard" and "Jeremiah (Something Beautiful)". The album, a collection of covered and original Rastafari spiritual songs, was released in June 2007. The first single from the album, the Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
and Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
classic "I Don't Know How to Love Him
I Don't Know How to Love Him
"I Don't Know How to Love Him" is a song from the 1970 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice , a torch ballad sung by the character of Mary Magdalene who in Jesus Christ Superstar is presented as bearing an unrequited love for the title character...
", was released on 30 April 2007. To promote the album, O'Connor toured extensively in Europe and North America. She also appeared on two tracks of the new Ian Brown
Ian Brown
Ian George Brown is an English musician, best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Stone Roses, which broke up in 1996 but are confirmed to reunite in 2012. Since the break-up of the Stone Roses he has pursued a solo career...
album The World Is Yours
The World Is Yours (Ian Brown album)
The World is Yours is the fifth solo album by Ian Brown, released on the October 15, 2007.In making the album, Brown enlisted the help of The Smiths and Happy Mondays bassists Andy Rourke and Paul Ryder respectively. He also sought the services of Paul McCartney to play bass on one of the tracks,...
, including the anti-war single "Illegal Attacks
Illegal Attacks
"Illegal Attacks" is a single by Ian Brown featured on the album The World Is Yours."Illegal Attacks" was released as the album's lead single on October 8, 2007, and was a contentious track, dealing head-on with the political issues of the day. Sinéad O'Connor is featured as a guest vocalist on the...
".
2010s
In January 2010, O'Connor performed a duet with R&B singer Mary J. BligeMary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
produced by former A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985, and is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip , rapper Phife Dawg , and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but rejoined in 2006...
member Ali Shaheed Muhammad
Ali Shaheed Muhammad
Ali Shaheed Muhammad is an American hip hop DJ, rapper, producer who enjoyed a great deal of fame as a member of A Tribe Called Quest. With Q-Tip and Phife Dawg, the group released five studio albums from 1990 to 1998....
entitled "This Is To Mother You". The proceeds of the song's sales were donated to the organization GEMS (Girls Educational and Mentoring Services).
O'Connor announced she was working on recording a new album, entitled Home, to be released in the beginning of 2012. On October 10, 2011 O'Connor announced that the release date for the album, now entitled How About I Be Me And You Be You, had been set for February 20, 2012. The first single and title track "How About I Be Me", a reggae love song produced by Kemar McGregor
Kemar McGregor
Kemar McGregor , also known by his nicknames, DJ Flava and Flava McGregor, is a Jamaican-American roots reggae producer...
, was released on 8 November 2011.
Saturday Night Live performance
On 3 October 1992, O'Connor appeared on Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
as a musical guest
Musical guest
A musical guest is a singer, band, or other musician who makes a brief musical appearance on a television program of a non-musical nature.While some shows have a format that traditionally includes numerous performances by musical guests , other shows include popular musicians to boost ratings for...
. She sang an a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
version of Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
's "War
War (Bob Marley song)
"War" is a song recorded and made popular by Bob Marley. It first appeared on Bob Marley and the Wailers' 1976 Island Records album, Rastaman Vibration, Marley's only top 10 album in the USA...
", which she intended as a protest over the sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, by changing the lyric "racism" to "child abuse." She then presented a photo of Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
to the camera while singing the word "evil
Evil
Evil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...
", after which she tore the photo into pieces, said "Fight the real enemy", and threw the pieces towards the camera.
Saturday Night Live had no foreknowledge of O'Connor's plan; during the dress rehearsal she held up a photo of a refugee child. NBC Vice President of Late Night Rick Ludwin recalled that when he saw O'Connor's action he "literally jumped out of [his] chair." SNL writer Paula Pell recalled personnel in the control booth
Control booth (theater)
The control booth, control room, lighting box, technical booth, or just booth to theatre or television technicians is the area designated for the operation of technical equipment , and is sometimes the location of the deputy stage manager's station as well as the lighting controls and sound board...
discussing the cameras cutting away from the singer. The audience was completely silent, with no booing or applause; executive producer Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...
recalled that "the air went out the studio". Michaels, who ordered that the applause sign not be used, described the incident as "on a certain level, a betrayal", but also "a serious expression of belief."
A nationwide audience saw O'Connor's live performance, which the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
s cover called a "HOLY TERROR". NBC received more than 500 calls on Sunday and 400 more on Monday, with all but seven criticizing O'Connor; the network received 4,400 calls in total. Contrary to rumour, NBC was not fined by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
for O'Connor's act; the FCC has no regulatory power over blasphemy. NBC did not edit the performance out of the West coast tape-delayed broadcast that night, but reruns of the episode use footage from the dress rehearsal. On 24 April 2010, MSNBC aired the live version during an interview with O'Connor on The Rachel Maddow Show
The Rachel Maddow Show (TV series)
The Rachel Maddow Show is a news and opinion television program that airs weeknights on MSNBC at 9:00 p.m. ET. It is hosted by Rachel Maddow, who gained popularity with her frequent appearances as a liberal pundit on various MSNBC programs. It is based on her former radio show of the same name...
. In 1993 issue of The Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...
O'Connor wrote a public letter where she asked people to "stop hurting" her.
As part of SNLs apology to the audience, during his opening monologue the following week, host Joe Pesci
Joe Pesci
Joseph Frank "Joe" Pesci is an American actor, comedian, and musician.He is known for playing a variety of different roles, from violent mobsters to comedic leads to quirky sidekicks...
held up the photo, explaining that he had taped it back together. Pesci also said that if it had been his show, "I would have gave her such a smack."
In a 2002 interview with Salon, when asked if she would change anything about the SNL appearance, O'Connor replied, "Hell, no!" In 2010, TV Guide Network listed the incident at No. 24 on their list of 25 Biggest TV Blunders.
Madonna's reaction
On MadonnaMadonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's next appearance on SNL (on an episode hosted by Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
), after singing "Bad Girl", she held up a photo of Joey Buttafuoco
Joey Buttafuoco
Joseph A. "Joey" Buttafuoco is an auto body shop owner from the USA, notable for his affair with Amy Fisher , who subsequently shot Joey's wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco , in the face.-Incident:...
and, saying "fight the real enemy," tore it up. Madonna also roundly attacked O'Connor in the press for the incident, telling the Irish Times: "I think there is a better way to present her ideas rather than ripping up an image that means a lot to other people." She added, "If she is against the Roman Catholic Church and she has a problem with them, I think she should talk about it." The New York Times called it "professional jealousy" and wrote that: "After Madonna had herself gowned, harnessed, strapped down and fully stripped to promote her album Erotica and her book Sex, O'Connor stole the spotlight with one photograph of a fully clothed man. But the other vilification that descended on O'Connor showed she had struck a nerve." Bob Guccione, Jr.
Bob Guccione, Jr.
Robert Charles Guccione, Jr. is the eldest son of Penthouse founder Bob Guccione. He is best known for founding music magazine Spin.-Publishing career:...
in a 1993 SPIN editorial was adamant in his defense of O'Connor, writing, "...Madonna savaged her in the press, obviously to fuel publicity for Sex and sales of her new album, Erotica .... But when the Sinead controversy threatened to siphon some of the attention from the impending release of Sex, Madonna conveniently found religion again..."
In November 1991, a year prior to the incident, O'Connor had told Spin Magazine: "Madonna is probably the hugest role model for women in America. There's a woman who people look up to as being a woman who campaigns for women's rights. A woman who in an abusive way towards me, said that I look like I had a run in with a lawnmower and that I was about as sexy as a Venetian blind. Now there's the woman that America looks up to as being a campaigner for women, slagging off another woman..."
Bob Dylan tribute performance
Two weeks after the Saturday Night Live appearance, she was set to perform "I Believe in You" at the Bob DylanBob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
30th Anniversary tribute concert in Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
. She was greeted by a thundering mixture of cheers and jeers. During the booing, Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
told her not to "let the bastards get you down," to which she replied, "I'm not down." The noise eventually became so loud that O'Connor saw no point in starting the scheduled song. She called for the keyboard player to stop and the microphone to be turned up, and then screamed over the audience with an improvised, shouted rendition of "War". This time, she sang the song, stopping just after the part in which the lyrics talk about child abuse, emphasizing the point of her previous action. She then looked straight to the audience for a second and left the stage. Kristofferson then comforted her, as she cried.
Garden State Arts Center performance
On 24 August 1990, O'Connor was scheduled to perform at the then-Garden State (now PNC Bank) Arts CenterPNC Bank Arts Center
The PNC Bank Arts Center is a modern amphitheatre located in Holmdel Township, New Jersey, USA. About 17,500 people can occupy the amphitheater; there are 7,000 seats and the grass area can hold about 10,500 people. Concerts are from May through September featuring 35–45 different events of...
in Holmdel, New Jersey. The practice of the venue was to play a recording of the American national anthem before the show began. O'Connor, who said she was unaware of this practice until shortly before the show was to begin, refused to go on if the anthem was played. Venue officials acquiesced to her demand and omitted the anthem, and so O'Connor performed, but they later permanently banned her.
O'Connor said that she had a policy of not having the national anthem of any country played before her concerts, explaining that these were often written and composed during wars and amounted to nationalist tirades. She pointed out that she meant "no disrespect," but added that she "will not go on stage after the national anthem of a country which imposes censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
on artists. It's hypocritical and racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
."
The incident made tabloid headlines, and O'Connor drew tabloid-derived criticism. Her songs were banned from some radio stations.
After Dark appearance
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
wrote that After Dark "made a brief reappearance last Saturday night when, true to its unpredictable form, Sinéad O'Connor walked on to the set 10 minutes before closedown". Host Helena Kennedy described the event:
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
, Garret FitzGerald
Garret FitzGerald
Garret FitzGerald was an Irish politician who was twice Taoiseach of Ireland, serving in office from July 1981 to February 1982 and again from December 1982 to March 1987. FitzGerald was elected to Seanad Éireann in 1965 and was subsequently elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD in 1969. He...
, was sharing the sofas with a Dominican monk and a representative of the Catholic church. “While we were on the air, Sinéad O’Connor called in,” says Kennedy. “Then I got a message in my earpiece to say she had just turned up at the studio. Sinéad came on and argued that abuse in families was coded in by the church because it refused to accept the accounts of women and children,” says Kennedy.
Personal life
While her shaved head was initially an assertion against traditional views of women, years later, O'Connor said she had begun to grow her hair back, but that after being asked if she was EnyaEnya
Enya is an Irish singer, instrumentalist and songwriter. Enya is an approximate transliteration of how Eithne is pronounced in the Donegal dialect of the Irish language, her native tongue.She began her musical career in 1980, when she briefly joined her family band Clannad before leaving to...
, O'Connor shaved it off again. "I don't feel like me unless I have my hair shaved. So even when I'm an old lady, I'm going to have it."
Romantic and family life
She has been married three times. Her first marriage was to music producer John ReynoldsJohn Reynolds (musician)
John Reynolds is a record producer. He was the first husband of singer Sinéad O'Connor; they have one child, Jake. Reynolds, formerly a drummer for Jah Wobble, met O'Connor and recorded her first album, The Lion and the Cobra...
, who co-produced several of her albums, including Universal Mother. They have one child together. They split up on good terms and Reynolds continues to work as her producer and drummer. Her second marriage was to journalist Nicholas Sommerlad in 2002. For a period during 2006 and early 2007, she had a relationship with Frank Bonadio, the father of her fourth child (see below). O'Connor acknowledged to Paul Martin in the Irish Daily Mirror that the two had separated as of the weekend of 17 February 2007, citing difficulties between Bonadio and his former wife, singer Mary Coughlan
Mary Coughlan (singer)
Mary Coughlan is an Irish jazz and folk singer and actress. She has received great acclamation in her native country, for her emotional and heartfelt jazzy musical renditions.-Background:...
. O'Connor married long-time friend and collaborator Steve Cooney on 22 July 2010.
Sexuality
In a 2000 interview in CurveCurve (magazine)
Curve is a lesbian magazine in the United States. It covers news, politics, social issues, and includes celebrity interviews and stories on entertainment, pop culture, style, travel, and a website that hosts an internet forum focusing on lesbian issues, active since 2000.The magazine was first...
, O'Connor outed
Outing
Outing is the act of disclosing a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person's true sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. Outing gives rise to issues of privacy, choice, hypocrisy, and harm in addition to sparking debate on what constitutes common good in efforts...
herself as a lesbian, "I'm a dyke ... although I haven't been very open about that and throughout most of my life I've gone out with blokes because I haven't necessarily been terribly comfortable about being a big lesbian mule. But I actually am a dyke." However, soon after in an interview in The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, she stated, "I believe it was overcompensating of me to declare myself a lesbian. It was not a publicity stunt. I was trying to make someone else feel better. And have subsequently caused pain for myself. I am not in a box of any description." In a magazine article and in a programme on RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
(Ryan Confidential, broadcast on RTÉ on 29 May 2003), she stated that while most of her sexual relationships had been with men, she has had three relationships with women. In a May 2005 issue of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, she stated, "I'm three-quarters heterosexual, a quarter gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
. I lean a bit more towards the hairy blokes".
Health
On a 4 October 2007 broadcast of The Oprah Winfrey ShowThe Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, O'Connor disclosed that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
four years earlier, and had attempted suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
on her 33rd birthday on 8 December 1999.
Religion
In the late 1990s, Bishop Michael CoxMichael Cox (clergyman)
Michael Patrick O'Connor Cox is a bishop in the Irish Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church, an independent Catholic denomination in Ireland...
of the Irish Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church (an Independent Catholic group not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
) ordained
Ordination of women
Ordination in general religious usage is the process by which a person is consecrated . The ordination of women is a regular practice among some major religious groups, as it was of several religions of antiquity...
O'Connor as a priest. The Roman Catholic Church considers ordination of women to be either invalid, impossible, or both and asserts that a person attempting the sacrament of ordination upon a woman incurs excommunication
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
. The bishop had contacted her to offer ordination following her appearance on the RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
's Late Late Show, during which she told the presenter, Gay Byrne
Gay Byrne
Gabriel Mary "Gay" Byrne is a veteran Irish presenter of radio and television. His most notable role was first host of The Late Late Show over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999...
, that had she not been a singer, she would have wished to have been a Catholic priest. After her ordination, she indicated that she wished to be called Mother Bernadette Mary.
In a July 2007 interview with Christianity Today
Christianity Today
Christianity Today is an Evangelical Christian periodical based in Carol Stream, Illinois. It is the flagship publication of its parent company Christianity Today International, claiming circulation figures of 140,000 and readership of 290,000...
, O'Connor stated that she considers herself a Christian and that she believes in core Christian concepts about the Trinity and Jesus Christ. She said, "I think God saves everybody whether they want to be saved or not. So when we die, we're all going home... I don't think God judges anybody. He loves everybody equally". She also expressed a belief in pantheism
Pantheism
Pantheism is the view that the Universe and God are identical. Pantheists thus do not believe in a personal, anthropomorphic or creator god. The word derives from the Greek meaning "all" and the Greek meaning "God". As such, Pantheism denotes the idea that "God" is best seen as a process of...
, viewing the physical universe as a body with divine "energy". In an October 2002 interview with Salon.com, she credited her Christian faith in giving her the strength to live through, and then overcome the effects of, her child abuse.
On 26 March 2010, O'Connor appeared on Anderson Cooper 360°
Anderson Cooper 360°
Anderson Cooper 360° is a one-hour television news show on CNN, hosted by the American journalist Anderson Cooper. It is also broadcast around the world on CNN International....
to speak out about the Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Ireland
Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Ireland
The Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Ireland is a major chapter in the worldwide Catholic sexual abuse scandal. Unlike the Catholic sexual abuse scandal in the United States, the scandal in Ireland included cases of high-profile Catholic clerics involved in illicit heterosexual relations as well as...
. On 28 March 2010, she had an opinion piece published in the Sunday Edition
Sunday Edition
Sunday Edition is a Sunday morning radio show on CBC Radio One, hosted by Michael Enright. As the title might imply, the program was originally simply the Sunday edition of This Morning, which Enright co-hosted until the Sunday program became a separate entity in 2000.Its subject matter is wide...
of the Washington Post where she wrote about the Catholic sex abuse scandal and her time in a Magdalene laundry as a teenager. She wrote an article for the Sunday Independent
Sunday Independent
The Sunday Independent is a broadsheet Sunday newspaper published in Ireland by Independent News and Media plc. The newspaper is edited by Aengus Fanning, and is the biggest selling Irish Sunday newspaper by a large margin ; average circulation of 291,323 between June 2004 and January 2005,...
newspaper of 17 July 2011 in response to the sexual abuse scandal in Cloyne diocese
Sexual abuse scandal in Cloyne diocese
The sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cloyne is officially elaborated as the "Commission of Investigation, Dublin Archdiocese, Catholic Diocese of Cloyne". It has examined how allegations of sexual abuse of children in the diocese were dealt with by the church and state. The...
in which she described the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
as "a nest of devils". She wrote that an alternative church might have to be established because "Christ is being murdered by liars" in the Vatican.
Political beliefs
O'Connor is a pacifist and, as such, she supports Ireland's tradition of neutrality in foreign wars.Discography
- 1987: The Lion and the CobraThe Lion and the CobraThe Lion and the Cobra is the 1987 debut album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. O'Connor, age 20 at the time, recorded the album while heavily pregnant with her first child....
- 1990: I Do Not Want What I Haven't GotI Do Not Want What I Haven't GotI Do Not Want What I Haven't Got is the second album by Sinéad O'Connor. It was released in 1990 on Chrysalis Records.-Description:The critically acclaimed album contains her most famous single, "Nothing Compares 2 U", and was one of the best selling records in the world in 1990, topping the charts...
- 1992: Am I Not Your Girl?Am I Not Your Girl?Am I Not Your Girl? is the third album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor and the follow-up to the hugely successful I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. It is a collection of covers of mostly jazz standards, which Sinead describes as "the songs I grew up listening to [and] that made me want to be a...
- 1994: Universal MotherUniversal MotherUniversal Mother is the fourth album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. It was released in 1994, and sold 1.5 million copies worldwide.-Track listing:# "Germaine" – 0:38...
- 2000: Faith and CourageFaith and CourageFaith and Courage is the fifth full-length album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor, released in 2000 on Atlantic Records. It was O'Connor's first release in three years, her previous album being the greatest hits package So Far.....
- 2002: Sean-Nós NuaSean-Nós NuaSean-Nós Nua is the sixth full-length album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. It consists of traditional Irish songs, the title meaning "new old-style".The album sold 225,000 copies worldwide.-Track listing:#"Peggy Gordon" – 5:45...
- 2005: Throw Down Your ArmsThrow Down Your ArmsThrow Down Your Arms is a 2005 album by Sinéad O'Connor and shows influence from Jamaican roots reggae and the Rastafari tradition. Throw Down Your Arms is a collection of classic roots reggae songs performed by O'Connor and produced by Sly and Robbie....
- 2007: TheologyTheology (album)Theology is the eighth full-length album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. It was released in 2007 on Rubyworks...
- 2012: How About I Be Me And You Be You
Quotation
NMENME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
- March 1991
Further reading
- Guterman, Jimmy. Sinéad : Her Life and Music. Warner Books, 1991. ISBN 0-446-39254-5.
- Hayes, Dermott. Sinéad O'Connor: So Different. Omnibus, 1991. ISBN 0-7119-2482-1.