December 8, 1967 - July 26, 2023
Always controversial, the emergence of social media proved very interesting for O'Connor, who in 2011 used blog posts and Twitter to detail her sex life and solicit a boyfriend. The narrative in the media was that she continued to be crazy and mongering attention, but O'Connor explained that she was just "trying to have some peaceful fun."
She was born and raised in Dublin. As a teenager, she had a job delivering Kiss-O-Grams. These didn't involve any actual kissing: She would dress up as a French maid, recite a poem, then put a pair of underwear on the guy's head.
In 1992, she performed Bob Marley's "
War," said "Fight the real enemy" and ripped up a photo of the Pope on
Saturday Night Live. This caused a major backlash against her. She was later booed off the stage at a Bob Dylan tribute concert.
The ultimate single mom, O'Connor had four children with four different fathers. Here's the rundown:
Son Jake, born in 1987, with the drummer John Reynolds. The couple were married.
Daughter Roisin, born in 1995, with the journalist John Waters.
Son Shane, born in 2004, with the musician Donal Lunny. Shane died by suicide in 2022 when he was 17.
Son Yeshua, born in 2006, with Frank Bonadio. "Yeshua" is the Hebrew name for Jesus.
Sinéad was married four times, but John Reynolds is the only husband she had a child with.
In 2000, she announced in Curve magazine that she was a lesbian. A year later, she was engaged to a man, British journalist Nick Sommerlad. In 2005, she clarified to Entertainment Weekly that she was "three-quarters heterosexual, a quarter gay."
In 1999, she was ordained Mother Bernadette Maria and made a Catholic priest by the Order of Mater Dei. The Catholic church does not recognize women as priests and does not associate with the Order of Mater Dei.
In 1990, she refused to have the National Anthem played before one of her concerts in New Jersey, prompting Frank Sinatra to say he would like to "Kick her ass." O'Connor refused to have national anthems played at her shows because she thought they had nothing to do with music.
She has songs on the soundtracks to the movies The Talented Mr. Ripley, Rugrats In Paris, and You've Got Mail.
A character in the British sitcom
Father Ted was based on her. The character, Niamh Connolly, played by Alted Images lead singer Claire Grogan, was a denim clad rock singer who had strong feminist views and a bit of an anti-Catholic slant, which put her in conflict with the central characters in
Father Ted who were Catholic priests. Sinead is actually a fan of the show, she even came to the recording of the Christmas Special. Arthur Matthews, one of the writers for
Father Ted, joked that the show probably had an effect on Sinead becoming a priest!
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Suggestion credit:
Adam - Dewsbury, England
Sinead O'Connor was a fully qualified medium. She told Mojo magazine: "I'm even better at mediumship than I am at singing and songwriting."
O'Connor announced in October 2018 that she had converted to Islam, and that her new name was Shuhada. She called it "the natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian's journey." According to CNN, her new name means "martyrs" in Arabic.
Sinead O'Connor's 17-year-old son Shane died by suicide on January 7, 2022. O'Connor had been preparing to release her first album in eight years, No Veteran Dies Alone, but the release was postponed and tour dates were canceled in the wake of Shane's death.
In a statement, O'Connor said that she was "devastated" by her son's death and that she needed time to grieve.
Sinead O'Connor's final show took place at Santa Cruz's Rio Theatre on February 12, 2020. She died at her London home of natural causes on July 26, 2023, aged 56.
Sinéad O'Connor left an estate valued at £1.7 million in her will, appointing her ex-husband, music producer John Reynolds, as the executor.
Reportedly, O'Connor advised her children to maximize the value of her music after her passing. Her will includes the directive: "I direct that after my death, and at the discretion of any of my children who are then over 18, my albums are to be released so as to 'milk it for what it's worth.'"
O'Connor's guitarist for her debut album,
The Lion And The Cobra, was Robert Dean, a longtime member of the British group Japan. "I couldn't help but be impressed by Sinéad's undeniable talent and charisma," he
told Songfacts. "Even in those early days, she was a very easy person to get on with and very open to any of the band's ideas, soaking up all our experience like a sponge."
