'I would like to be remembered,' she told us, 'as a loving mother and grandmother. I’d like to be the rocking-est granny! I’d like to go out like (pioneering blues and rock singer) Big Mama Thornton.'
In a world of cookie-cutter pop-music stars and automatons, Sinéad O’Connor was a one-off. The Irish singer-songwriter — whose death at the age of 56 was reported Wednesday by her family — was a singular artist who marched to the beat of her own, very idiosyncratic drummer.Or, as O’Connor said in a 2013 San Diego Union-Tribune interview: “I think artists can be inspiring, as long as we’re courageous enough to be ourselves and to be bullied, but not run away.
O’Connor’s many achievements and controversies will no doubt be recounted in a plethora of obituaries and tributes. But no one articulated her views as well as O’Connor herself.Sinéad O’Connor talks music & controversyIt’s perfectly logical to surmise that Sinéad O’Connor might like to be remembered for her luminous singing — and, perhaps, as a lightning rod for social discourse on everything from religion and mental health to Miley Cyrus and the state of women in pop music.
O’Connor’s debut solo album, “The Lion and the Cobra,” was released in 1987. Her second album, 1990’s “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got,” catapulted her to international stardom, thanks to its Prince-penned hit “Nothing Compares 2 U.” The controversy started in between those two releases for the proudly outspoken singer.
Of course, plenty of ordinary, everyday people have undergone upheavals in their lives. But O’Connor, by virtue of her fame, has often done so in an international spotlight, even at the risk of public ridicule for her unabashed candor. O’Connor, 46, laughed with delight when told of an old Hungarian proverb that people who unabashedly speak what they believe to be true frequently get their heads kicked in.
O’Connor did not run away last month when teen pop star Miley Cyrus, 20, blasted her for questioning Cyrus’ willingness to use her sexuality as a marketing tool. “So they make young people’s heroes crazy. That’s the part of what Miley did that is very interesting. Because it mentioned Amanda, who had nothing to do with the situation between Miley and me. And, from that, came a week of Amanda being demonized by the media, which was absolutely a breach of human rights. She was in the hospital at the time, being treated . And that’s what got talked about and prostituted by the media, in the most derogatory manner.
Goldsmith was so impressed by O’Connor that he made her a centerpiece of two all-star “Gospel Sessions” concerts he produced this summer at Lincoln Center. Her performance won rave reviews and afforded Goldsmith the opportunity to book her for her now-canceled Tuesday concert here at the Belly Up. “Well, I guess I’ve always had a passion in the first place for what I prefer to call the Holy Spirit, because God can be a militant-sounding word,” she said. “So, in the first place, I was lucky enough to be born, in 1966, into a theocracy in Ireland, which had a negative effect on the nation but a very positive effect on me. So I believed in God very strongly, but I observed that the priests weren’t taking any joy from their belief in God. And the religious music was really awful.
“For me, as a young woman raised in a theocracy, this was incredible, to hear these Jamaican guys singing scriptures. In my country, all they ever taught me was the New Testament, not the Old Testament, which is more important, I think, in these times. The Rastas made me interested in the Book of The Prophets, and I got addicted to Rastafarian music, and I put that in with gospel music as well. I know we use that term, ‘gospel music,’ to refer to Jesus, but you can’t separate it.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Irish Singer Sinéad O’Connor Dies at 56: ReportBREAKING: Sinéad O’Connor, the world-renowned Irish singer, has died at the age of 56.
Read more »
Sinéad O’Connor, Irish music legend, dead at 56The “Nothing Compares 2 U” singer canceled all of her gigs in 2022, calling the decision one she “had to make for her own health and wellbeing.”
Read more »
Sinéad O’Connor, Irish Singer of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U,’ Dies at 56Sinéad O’Connor, the Irish singer of “Nothing Compares 2 U,” has died, The Irish Times reports. She was 56. Her cause of death has yet to be revealed. O’Connor, who was outs…
Read more »
Irish Music Legend Sinéad O’Connor Dead at 56Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor has died at the age of 56. O'Connor, who hailed from Dublin, Ireland, and found worldwide fame in 1990 with her hit single 'Nothing Compares 2 U,' has died, according to a report by the Irish Times.
Read more »
Sinead O’Connor dead at 56Sinead O’Connor, the singer best known for her moving rendition of “Nothing Compares 2 U”, has died at the age of 56, according to reports. The Irish...
Read more »
Singer Sinead O'Connor dies aged 56, Irish media reportsIrish singer Sinead O'Connor, known for topping the charts around the world with the 1990 song 'Nothing Compares 2 U', has died at the age of 56, the Irish Times and national broadcaster RTE reported on Wednesday.
Read more »