RIP Sinead O’Connor
The singer has died at the age of 56:
Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor has died at the age of 56, her family has announced.
In a statement, the singer’s family said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.”
The acclaimed Dublin performer released 10 studio albums, while her song Nothing Compares 2 U was named the number one world single in 1990 by the Billboard Music Awards.
I really have never followed her music and know little about it, but I know who she is and that she often seemed the center of some storm. The article said she had manic depression, which makes me think this may have been a suicide. Manic depression can be a dreadful thing. I also noticed that one of her four children, a son, died last year at the age of 17. Terrible terrible heartbreak and tragedy, and I can’t help but think that her death is also related to that, particularly since he had committed suicide.
RIP to them both.
‘I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got’ was a great album and of course ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ and it’s video became a cultural phenomenon but it had some other really good songs like this one.
‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhfATC9baPo
I lost track of her after the controversy that erupted when she ripped up a picture of John Paul II on SNL. “Rather than performing one of her own songs for the occasion, [O’Connor] did an a cappella cover of Bob Marley’s ‘War’ while holding a picture of the pontiff. At the conclusion of her performance, she tore up the picture and said, ‘Fight the real enemy,’ before throwing the pieces at the camera. The singer then walked off the stage to silence. Meanwhile, network executives, who had no warning about the stunt, were angered, while the show’s longtime producer, Lorne Michaels, called for the studio’s ‘Applause’ sign to not be lit. O’Connor was eventually banned for life from NBC, and the scene of O’Connor ripping up the picture was not shown in reruns of the SNL episode.”
https://people.com/sinead-oconnor-no-regrets-about-1992-saturday-night-live-incident-7566024
Of course Prince wrote ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ and recorded it originally. Here is his original version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpGA0azFdCs
And the Sinead O’Connor version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-EF60neguk
I really never heard very much of her music, but (for reasons now forgotten) I have her album Theology. You can’t listen to it and doubt that no matter how big of a mess she was, she deeply longed for God. I suspect she found him. RIP
Being bipolar — is that the same as being manic depressive?
Sinead O’Connor was a real talent. I bought her first album and enjoyed it. The second was, as I recall, a case of the sophomore slump.
I kept up with her at a distance, but after a while it was obvious she suffered serious mental health problems. I felt too sad for her.
RIP Sinead.
She was a troubled soul. Fair swag of talent…but ‘demons’ galore.
God grant mercy & peace for her need was great.
Back in the late 90s there was a brilliant Irish sitcom, “Father Ted,” which made good fun of all things Irish, especially the Catholic Church, but in one episode, Sinead O’Connor as well.
You can see the O’Connor character in the first few minutes, in which she rants on a TV interview about her new song explaining:
________________________________
The Catholic Church in Ireland secretly had lots of potatoes during the Famine, and they hid the potatoes and sold them abroad. Then the Pope closed down a lot of the factories which were making the potatoes and turned them into prisons for children.
–“Father Ted S02 E07 2X7- Rock a Hula Ted”
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3omj8a
________________________________
Later, through the characteristic stupidity of the young Catholic priest, Dougal, O’Connor buys the rectory where Father Ted lives. Hilarity ensues
One might say “Father Ted” is the Irish equivalent of “South Park” for its outrageous, take-no-prisoners humor, though gentler.
Anyway. Few Americans know the show and that’s a shame. If you’re Irish or Catholic or curious, it’s a must-see.
IrishOtter:
Yes. Bipolar is the newer term but I think the old one is more descriptive.
Amazing voice. My favorite by her is a song she recorded with the Edge from U2. It should be better known.
https://youtu.be/BvKV4_9nV2M
Re: Bipolar vs manic depressive vs schizophrenic
Kurt Vonnegut’s son, Mark Vonnegut, suffered several severe mental breakdowns, which I would call some sort of serious hallucinatory crazy well beyond being too manic or too depressed.
At the time Mark Vonnegut was diagnosed schizophrenic. In a later update he explained he would be diagnosed manic depressive. I guess now he would be bipolar.
I’m a layman and don’t get to weigh in, but there are clearly mental states which involve terrible deficits in reality processing, not just extreme mood swings.
Perhaps I’m missing something in the latest, greatest DSM lore, but what are the terms of art for people who imagine they are from another planet or Jesus Christ?
huxley asks, “Perhaps I’m missing something in the latest, greatest DSM lore, but what are the terms of art for people who imagine they are from another planet or Jesus Christ?”
The current version of DSM would classify these folks as suffering from delusional disorder, grandiose type. If someone who thinks he is Jesus Christ has recently visited Jerusalem, he might be diagnosed as suffering from Jerusalem syndrome, defined as “the presence of religiously themed obsessive ideas, delusions, or other psychosis-like experiences that are triggered by a visit to the city of Jerusalem. It is not endemic to one single religion or denomination but has affected Jews, Christians, and Muslims of many different backgrounds.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_syndrome
I’m hoping there is no one out there who thinks he is either Brandon or Hunter Biden.
I’d lost track of pop music by the time she hit the town. (I remember my sister lampooning her). She struck me as an embarrassing and obnoxious public personality and gave one the impression of the sort of person who has everyone around her navigating her emotions. If I’m to take WikiPoo seriously, no two of her children had the same father and she cycled through 9 men in the space of 25 years (well, 9 men they could identify and enumerate). It is challenging to see her as a sympathetic figure.
The cause of death was not announced. Yet the Daily Mail story on Sinead leaves the likelihood of self-induced death by her as quite high.
Her last tweet is solid indica. Her death comes 18 months after her 17 year-old son died by suicide. He himself was hospitalised and on suicide watch but escaped. DM continues:
In her last Tweet [two days ago], O’Connor posted a photo of Shane and said: ‘Been living as undead night creature since. He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul.
We were one soul in two halves. He was the only person who ever loved me unconditionally. I am lost in the bardo without him.’
_____
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12341117/Sinead-OConnor-dead-Irish-music-legend-dies-aged-56-years-mental-health-battles-18-months-17-year-old-son-Shane-passed-away.html
WOW. Thus, my inference, although left unstated by the Mail, hangs heavy and very probable.
Sinead was abused while young and externalised herself both through art and causehead activism, resulting in her conversion to Islam (and back, it seems).
Bi-polar people who remain fairly stable can be fun, but the actively bi-polar are highly difficult. I choose to avoid them because the destruction can be overwhelming.
Ironically, I had a GF for over two years who was convinced that was bi-polar. In fact, she gave me a copy of the then most celebrated book on the subject, “Touched by Fire.”
Her own authority on the matter was her own manic-depressive father, who suffered at least two hospitalisations during her youth. But no, I was suffering from acute PTSD (very early in life). I could not convince her otherwise because the heart wants to find what the heart seeks for solace.
Perhaps the same can be said for Sinead.
I have always been a fan- I own several of her albums. She a had a voice that was instantly recognizable and powerfully emotional- there was during my life almost no one else like her in that regard except for Amy Winehouse, who met a similar early death. I hope in death she found the peace that she seemingly found unobtainable in life. She will be missed by me.
She recorded a new version of the theme song to the TV series ‘Outlander’ for the currently airing season and she still sounded great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qrwJDR6bzs
Sinead was abused while young
==
Is there any verification of this other than her own accounts?
Of course Prince wrote…
There is a surprisingly high fraction of popular music about which this can be said… he was an incredibly gifted musician and like an iceberg only some of it was visible to the public.
Neo
I still prefer the term manic depressive.
The last I heard of her she was living in a NJ motel by herself and had converted to Islam.
Prince wrote “Nothing Compares to U,” but Sinead sang the snot out of it. RIP.
Prince was constantly writing songs. I’ve wondered how many unperformed songs are still out there.
FWIW, Morrissey with an acerbic—pure Morrisseyan—take
“Morrissey slams Sinéad O’Connor tributes for being hypocritical”—
https://nypost.com/2023/07/27/morrissey-slams-sinead-oconnor-tributes-as-hypocritical/
Ok. Sinbad O’Connor is dead. Hunter Biden is alive. I’m having difficulty
aka Humper Brandon
Morrissey also compared O’Connor to other female stars who were let down by the public in their time: Judy Garland, Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, Marilyn Monroe and Billie Holiday.
==
What does it mean to be ‘let down by the public’?
Prince was constantly writing songs. I’ve wondered how many unperformed songs are still out there. –JFM
Griffin, Frederick, JFM:
Prince was ungodly prolific, like at the Frank Zappa level.
Kevin Smith (“Clerks”) has a very funny monolog about being contacted by Prince to do a film project together. Smith is a big Prince fan, so he was totally “Sure!”
However, Prince is a very strange person who lives in a fantasy world protected by his money and assistants. So, after much insanity, the project disintegrates.
As Smith heads out the door, he asks a high-level Prince assistant what happens to the work that was done. She says it goes into the vault. Apparently the vast majority of what Prince has done has never been heard or seen.
Anyway. If you’re into Prince or Kevin Smith, it’s a great monolog. It starts here:
–“Kevin Smith and his experience with Prince Part 1”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fujQy0zH3dc
I’m actually not trying to be funny)
R.I.P.,
I loved the first album, but her behavior and actions since then have shown she was pretty ephed up — possibly biochemically, partly because of an oppressive upbringing…. But filled with lots of hate and anger at a lot of different targets, not all of it unjust, but not all of it deserved, either.
I said back then, Kate Bush screams, Sinead O’Connor wails.
}}} She says it goes into the vault. Apparently the vast majority of what Prince has done has never been heard or seen.
Seems to have a lot in common with his father, there. As I understand it, much of Prince’s early success was built off of his father’s work, which he encountered after his father had passed away. I actually think his father was the better of the two, as his later stuff (After Purple Rain) was not as good as what preceded it.