31 years ago this extraordinary woman burned her career and life to the ground to speak out against a horrific, massive crime against children. And she was a hell of an artist. A blazing soul. RIP
She didn't think she "burned her career and life to the ground" at all. She burned their expectations of her and THEIR careers. Honor her for who she was, not our projections of what she lost. She won all along.
This was ten years before it became common knowledge here in Ireland, but she didn't see it that way and produced an incredible range of music until...well, today. Punk, reggae, Irish folk, country, pop, covers of Abba, you name it, she did it. She was the fire, not a burn victim.
But she also never hid her vulnerability. She was utter honesty and indestructible integrity. Ireland owes her for shouting on our behalf years before anyone else piped up.
This is about the video for Nothing Compares 2 U.
She made a political statement on TV to protest ongoing child abuse. It’s the music industry, the rest of the entertainment industry, and Western society that burned her career and her life to the ground.
It's so crazy to think of the backlash she got but she was so genuinly hurt. She was a very religious catholic and it got her through hard times, including horrific abuse, and when she found out the church was protecting abusers...like what else could she do? It was an underreaction if anything
One thing that sticks about that incident for me was the smug, sneering tone that Joe Pesci took the next week, when he went on SNL and told everyone he would have given her “such a smack.” He played that casual, dismissive threat of violence for laughs. He was 47; she was 24
I just went back and rewatched it to make sure my memory was right, and yeah, it’s just as awful as I recalled. And it’s still an official clip on the NBC SNL YouTube channel. Of course Sinead’s performance isn’t
Whatever it may bring, I will live by my own policies, I will sleep with a clear conscience, I will sleep in peace.
Sinead O'Conner #RIP
📸KEVIN CUMMINS/GETTY IMAGES
I think it should be noted that Sinead never agreed it hurt her career or life. It certainly hurt her album sales but I don’t think that’s how she judged her career.
Before all else, Sinead O’Connor was a survivor of horrific sexual abuse. Her artistry was part of her coping mechanism. So was her activism.
Over the years, many have said to me, “I love Sinead’s music, but . . . .”
As for me, I stand in solidarity with Ms. O’Connor.
https://youtu.be/TKeJifOXAnA
When I was in my early early teens I first got to hear her, and watched when she tore up that picture live and I thought, "Damn, that's a powerful woman." She was the first person to ever get me questioning things, and I haven't stopped.
May she rest in power knowing she was loved.
She was raised Catholic and she lived in the tradition of the saints. People have always been terrified by women like that, the Church especially so. But there have not been many women like her.
