Shuhada’ Sadaqat (previously Magda Davitt; born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O’Connor; December 8, 1966 – July 26, 2023), known professionally as Sinéad O’Connor, was an Irish singer and musician. Her debut studio album, The Lion and the Cobra, was released in 1987 and charted internationally. Her second studio album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got (1990), received glowing reviews upon release and became her biggest success, selling over seven million copies worldwide. Its lead single, “Nothing Compares 2 U”, was named the number one world single in 1990 by the Billboard Music Awards.
She released ten studio albums: 1992’s Am I Not Your Girl? and 1994’s Universal Mother both went gold in the UK, 2000’s Faith and Courage received gold status in Australia, and 2005’s Throw Down Your Arms went gold in Ireland. Her work included songs for films, collaborations with many other artists, and appearances at charity fundraising concerts. Her 2021 memoir Rememberings was a bestseller.
Throughout her music career she was honest about her spiritual journey, activism, socio-political views, as well as her trauma and mental health struggles.
In 1999, she was ordained as a priest by the Latin Tridentine Church, a sect that is not recognized by the mainstream Catholic Church. She consistently spoke out on issues related to child abuse, human rights, anti-racism, organized religion, and women’s rights. In 2017, O’Connor changed her name to Magda Davitt. After converting to Islam in 2018, she changed it to Shuhada’ Sadaqat. However, she continued to record and perform under her birth name.
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n 2003, she contributed a track to the Dolly Parton tribute album Just Because I’m a Woman, a cover of Parton’s “Dagger Through the Heart”. That same year, she also featured on three songs of Massive Attack’s album 100th Window before releasing her double album, She Who Dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High Shall Abide Under the Shadow of the Almighty. This compilation contained one disc of demos and previously unreleased tracks and one disc of a live concert recording. Directly after the album’s release, O’Connor announced that she was retiring from music. Collaborations, a compilation album of guest appearances, was released in 2005 — featuring tracks recorded with Peter Gabriel, Massive Attack, Jah Wobble, Terry Hall, Moby, Bomb the Bass, the Edge, U2, and The The.
Ultimately, after a brief period of inactivity and a bout with fibromyalgia, her retirement proved to be short-lived. O’Connor stated in an interview with Harp magazine that she had only intended to retire from making mainstream pop/rock music, and after dealing with her fibromyalgia she chose to move into other musical styles. The reggae album Throw Down Your Arms appeared in late 2005.
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On June 4, 2021, O’Connor announced her immediate retirement from the music industry. While her final studio album, No Veteran Dies Alone, was due to be released in 2022, O’Connor stated that she would not be touring or promoting it. Announcing the news on Twitter, she said “This is to announce my retirement from touring and from working in the record business. I’ve gotten older and I’m tired. So it’s time for me to hang up my nipple tassels, having truly given my all. NVDA in 2022 will be my last release. And there’ll be no more touring or promo.” Later, on June 7th, she retracted this statement, describing the original announcement as “a knee-jerk reaction” to an insensitive interview, and that she would be doing her already scheduled 2022 tour.
On June 1, 2021, O’Connor’s memoir Rememberings was released to positive critical reception. It was listed among the best books of the year on BBC Culture.
On January 7, 2022, O’Connor’s son, Shane, died at the age of 17. She subsequently decided to cancel her 2022 tour and her album No Veteran Dies Alone was postponed indefinitely.
In February 2023, she shared a new version of “The Skye Boat Song”, a 19th century Scottish adaptation of a 1782 Gaelic song, which is also the theme for the fantasy drama series Outlander. The following month, she was awarded the inaugural Choice Music Prize Classic Irish Album by Irish broadcaster RTÉ for her 1990 album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.
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On October 3, 1992, O’Connor appeared on U.S. late-night television program Saturday Night Live as a musical guest. She sang an a cappella version of Bob Marley’s “War”, which she intended as a protest against sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church, referring to child abuse rather than racism. She then presented a photo of Pope John Paul II to the camera while singing the word “evil”, after which she tore the photo into pieces, said “Fight the real enemy”, and threw the pieces towards the camera. The incident occurred nine years before John Paul II acknowledged the sexual abuse within the Church.
Saturday Night Live had no foreknowledge of O’Connor’s plan; during the dress rehearsal, she held up a photo of a refugee child. NBC Vice-president of Late Night Rick Ludwin recalled that when he saw O’Connor’s action, he “literally jumped out of [his] chair”. SNL writer Paula Pell recalled personnel in the control booth discussing the cameras cutting away. The audience was completely silent, with no booing or applause; executive producer Lorne Michaels recalled that “the air went out the studio”. He ordered that the applause sign not be used.
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O’Connor’s family announced her death on July 26, 2023, at the age of 56, without indicating a cause.
Read more of Ms. Sadaqat/O’Connor’s biography here, plus the tiff with Prince:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinead_O’Connor
Photo: Sinead O’Connor | https://www.facebook.com/SineadOConnor/
Irish Singer and Activist Sinead O’Connor Dies at Age 56
