Sinead O'Connor's history of protest and activism as she's hailed for bravery
Sinead O’Connor used her fame to “break down stigmas” after insisting she was not a pop star, but a “protest singer”.
The star sadly died on Thursday at the age of 56, just 18 months after her 17-year-old son Shane took his own life.
Throughout her career she always challenged norms, from her trademark shaved head which became her signature look, to championing causes close to her heart and often sharing controversial views.
One of her biggest punk rock moments was when she tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on US TV show Saturday Night Live in 1992 in protest at the Catholic Church child abuse scandal.
Abused herself as a child and sent to one of Ireland’s notorious Magdalene Laundries when she was 14, her act of defiance got her banned from SNL for life and a backlash followed.
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Sinead kept her hair short throughout her life to avoid abuse from men (VEVO/YouTube/Avalon)Despite never having another hit in America after her song Nothing Compares 2 U came out, Sinead refused to bite her tongue.
In her memoir, Rememberings, she says: “The media was making me out to be crazy because I wasn’t acting like a pop star is supposed to act. I feel that having a No.1 record derailed my career and my tearing up the [Pope] photo put me back on the right track.”
By the time Sinead appeared on Saturday Night Live she had already been branded “crazy” for boycotting the 1991 Grammy Awards when her album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got was named best alternative music performance.
In a letter to the academy, she said the awards “acknowledge mostly the commercial side of art”, but that she believed an artist’s purpose was to “inspire and, in some way, guide and heal the human race, of which we are all equal members”.
She had no regrets about tearing the then Pope’s photo up, saying: “I’m not sorry I did it. It was brilliant. But it was very traumatising. It was open season on treating me like a crazy b***h.”
Tearing up the Pope's photo in protest at abuse in the Catholic Church on SNL (Yvonne Hemsey/Getty Images)A group called the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations hired a steamroller to crush hundreds of her albums outside her company’s headquarters, actor Joe Pesci threatened to smack her in an SNL monologue and Frank Sinatra called her “one stupid broad”.
In another act of defiance, Sinead became ordained as a priest and announced she wanted to be known as Mother Bernadette Mary.
She went on to convert to Islam in 2018 and adopted the name Shuhada’ Davitt, later Shuhada Sadaqat — although she continued to use Sinead O’Connor professionally.
But whatever life threw at her, Sinead continued to be herself and often spoke out on abuse that was happening in her native Ireland and elsewhere, particularly to women.
Women’s Aid Ireland, which works to prevent and help victims of domestic abuse, said she helped change the country for the better calling her a “fearless voice and courageous light”.
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Sinead was ordained a priest in 1991 and adopted the name Mother Bernadette Mary (PA)“You truly challenged Ireland, and a world, that stifled women, children and anyone who didn’t conform,” the organisation tweeted. “Your power, your anger, your pain and fragility gave strength to many survivors to speak out.”
Sinead was also a supporter of people living with HIV and AIDS and famously wore a T-shirt supporting what was then the Dublin AIDS Alliance on The Late, Late Show in 1990.
Speaking about what a difference it made, writer and AIDS survivor Jason Reid said: “Sinead O’Connor cared. In Ireland, Sinead publicly supported people with HIV/AIDS when many denigrated us.
“She used her fame to help break down stigma and bring about change. We were lucky to have Sinead.”
When it came to her hair, some might have believed her shaved head was a trademark fashion statement, but Sinead revealed the real reason she preferred the cropped style.
In an emotional interview with TV psychologist Dr Phil, she said she remained bald because she didn’t want to be viewed as ‘pretty’. And she feared that if she was seen in that light, that she could be subjected to danger at the hands of men.
She shared: “It was dangerous to be pretty because I was getting raped and molested everywhere I went. That was a huge part of it.”
* If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
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