RIP One-Hit Wonder Woman

I gotta be honest here, I was never a fan of Sinead O'Connor. By that, I mean her music and while may tastes varies from Classic Soul, progressive rap, to Punk, Thrash Metal, I was more into Swing out Sister for their eclectic europop sound or Lisa Stansfield known for her breakout song "Been Around the World" than O' Connor's "Nothing Compares to You" which despite being written by Prince, was much better sing by Prince in my humble opinion. 

While O' Connor's song about heartbreak became an instant chart topper, her vocals came off "caterwauling" accompanied by an artistic video with O'Connor singing juxtaposed to a black background. 

Despite her success, Ms. O'Connor had taken a different turn when appearing as a musical guest on SNL where she performed an a cappella version Bob Marley's "War Song" which ended with her ripping a picture of Pope John Paul II as a protest against sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church and its continued cover-up, thus referring to child abuse. As expected, the backlash was quick and severe to the extent of actors like Joe Pesci threatning to smack her in the face. Tough talk from a little man. I guess his role as Tommy from Goodfellas really got to his head, but I digress. Other celebs were Frank Sinatra, who called her "a stupid broad". And Madonna who also had her share of controversies, from the video, "Like a Prayer" attacked O'Connor in the press for the incident, telling the Irish Times, "I think there is a better way to present her ideas rather than ripping up an image that means a lot to other people." 

Prior to the infamous SNL incident, in an interview with Spin magazine, O'Connor briefly had mentioned Madonna's insensitive comments towards her;

 "Madonna is probably the hugest role model for women in America. There's a woman who people look up to as being a woman who campaigns for women's rights. A woman who in an abusive way towards me, said that I look like I had a run in with a lawnmower and that I was about as sexy as a Venetian blind. Now there's the woman that America looks up to as being a campaigner for women, slagging off another woman for not being sexy."

While the Anti Defamation League condemned O'Connor, she received support from the Jamaican Rastafarian community. Because in hindsight she did the right thing and sometimes, by doing the right thing, you're not guaranteed to be favorably looked upon.

Throughout her career O' Connor unapologetically expressed her views regarding child abuse, anti-racism, organized religion, and human rights, women's rights. She was what many would now refer to as, a "Shero." 

Tragically, her son Shane had committed suicide. And as of this writing, there is speculation that Sinead had done the same. The results of her death have not been disclosed yet.

While no longer with us, she'll always be remembered as the conscience objector who fought against the establishment as well as her personal demons. May she rest in Eternity.