ALL TORN UP
Singer Sinead O’Connor has died aged 56. After an abusive upbringing that left long-lasting mental scars, she found her solace in music. Her debut album The Lion and the Cobra made her an artist to watch, and her pained rendition of the Prince-penned “Nothing Compares 2 U” delivered international stardom and one of her two biggest claims to fame.
The other, of course, came two years later. From her shaved head rebelling against industry standards for female artists to her unflinching stands against racism and child abuse, O’Connor cared more about speaking her beliefs than career savvy. This all culminated with the shredding of a picture of Pope John Paul II on the Saturday Night Live stage to protest the paedophilia infesting the Catholic Church. She was disregarded as an attention-seeking pariah. Everyone from Joe Pesci to Frank Sinatra skewered her, and Madonna traded her usual provocateur hat for a “please don’t be mean to the Pope 🥺” one.
But O’Connor was completely right. And while many regarded the move as a career ender, she didn’t:
“People say, ‘Oh, you fucked up your career’ but they’re talking about the career they had in mind for me. I fucked up the house in Antigua that the record company dudes wanted to buy. I fucked up their career, not mine. It meant I had to make my living playing live, and I am born for live performance.”
Into the 2000s, O’Connor continued to make headlines for public breakdowns, suicide threats, and personal tragedies such as the suicide of her son. This has made her a perennial DDP pick, including for two teams this year. If you were coming into this obit hoping for jokes at the expense of her erratic behaviour, someone that clearly needed help, there already was a perfectly fine Napoleon XIV obit for pisstakes about mental health. Instead, we can only hope she is at peace.
Sinead O’Connor
8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023, aged 56
2 TEAMS (💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀 9 POINTS)