Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad O'Connor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Years active | 1987-2002, 2005-present |
Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor (born December 8, 1966) is a critically acclaimed Irish pop music singer and songwriter. In addition to her music, she is known for her unconventional appearance (she often has her head shaved) and controversial opinions.
Early life
O'Connor was born in Dublin and was named after Sinéad de Valera, wife of Irish President Eamon de Valera and mother of the doctor presiding over the delivery, and Saint Bernadette of Lourdes. She was the middle of five children, sister to Joseph, Eimear, John, and Eoin. Joseph O'Connor is now a notable novelist.
Her parents were John O'Connor, a structural engineer later turned barrister, and Marie O'Connor. The couple married young and had a troubled relationship and split up when O'Connor was eight. The three eldest children went to live with their mother, where O'Connor claims they were subject to frequent physical abuse. John O'Connor's efforts to secure custody of his children in a country which routinely gave custody to the mother and prohibited divorce caused him to become chairman of the Divorce Action Group and become a prominent public spokesman. At one point, he even debated his own wife on the subject on a radio show.
In 1979, Sinéad O'Connor left her mother and went to live with her father and his new wife. However, her shoplifting and truancy caused her to end up in a reform school at age 15, the Grinan Training Centre run by the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity. In some ways, she thrived there, especially in writing and music, but she also chafed under the imposed conformity. Unruly students there were sometimes sent to sleep in the adjoining nursing home, an experience which made her later comment "I have never — and probably will never — experience such panic and terror and agony over anything". (Rolling Stone, April 1988)
One of the volunteers at Grinan was sister of Paul Byrne, drummer for the band In Tua Nua, who heard O'Connor singing "Evergreen" by Barbra Streisand. She recorded a song with them called "Take My Hand" but they felt that at 15, she was too young to join the band.
In 1983, her father sent her to Newtown School, an exclusive Quaker boarding school in Waterford, an institution with a much more permissive atmosphere than Grinan. With the help and encouragement of her Gaelic teacher, Joeseph Falvy, she recorded a four song demo, with two covers and two of her own songs which would later appear on her first album.
Through an ad she placed in Hot Press in the summer of 1984, she met Columb Farrelly. Together they recruited a few other members and formed a band called Ton Ton Macoute, named for the zombies of Haitian myth. In the autumn, the band even moved to Waterford briefly while O'Connor attended Newtown, but she soon dropped out of school and followed them to Dublin, where their performances gained them positive attention. Their sound was inspired by Farrelly's interest in witchcraft, mysticism, and world music, though most observers thought O'Connor's singing and stage presence was the band's driving force.
On February 10, 1985, O'Connor's mother died in a car accident. O'Connor was devastated despite her strained relationship with her mother. Soon afterward she left the band, which stayed together despite O'Connor's statements to the contrary in later interviews, and moved to London.
Musical career
O'Connor's time as singer for Ton Ton Macoute brought her to the attention of the music industry and she was signed by Ensign Records. She also acquired an experienced manager, Fachtna O'Ceallaigh, former head of U2's Mother Records. Soon after she was signed she embarked on her first major project, providing the vocals for the song "Heroine", which she cowrote with U2's guitarist The Edge for the soundtrack to the film Captive. While she was building bridges she was also burning them. O'Ceallaigh, who had been fired by U2 for complaining about them in an interview, was outspoken with his comments about music and politics, and O'Connor began to adopt the same habits, making controversial comments about the IRA and even directing negative remarks towards U2, who were admirers of her music.
Things were contentious in the studio as well. She was paired with veteran producer Mick Glossop, whom she later derided as "a fucking old hippy". They had differing visions regarding her debut album and four months of recordings were scrapped. During this time she became pregnant by her session drummer John Reynolds (formerly of the band Transvision Vamp) and the record company pressured her to get an abortion. Thanks largely to the persuasion of O'Celallaigh, the record company allowed O'Connor, 20 years old and by then seven months pregnant, to produce her own album.
O'Connor's first two albums (1988's The Lion & the Cobra and 1990's I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got) gained considerable attention and mostly positive reviews. She was praised for her unique voice and her original songs. She was also noted for her appearance: her shaved head, angry expression, and sometimes shapeless or unusual clothing.
The Lion & The Cobra was not embraced by the pop mainstream, although "Mandinka" was the lead single, and a remix of "I Want Your (Hands On Me)" became a moderate hit when rapper MC Lyte added verse to it.
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got contained her biggest hit single, "Nothing Compares 2 U", a song written by Prince and arranged for her by him. Public Enemy's Hank Shocklee remixed "The Emperor's New Clothes" that was coupled with the Celtic funk of "I Am Stretched On Your Grave." Pre-dating but included on I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got was "Jump In The River" (which originally appeared on the Married To The Mob soundtrack); the 12-inch version of the single included a remix featuring performance artist Karen Finley in signature X-rated form.
In 1990 she joined many other guests for former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters' massive performance of The Wall in Berlin. (Later, in 1996 she guested on Broken China, a solo album by Richard Wright of Pink Floyd.)
In 1992, she contributed a cover of "You Do Something To Me" to the Cole Porter tribute/AIDS fundraising album Red Hot + Blue. This was followed by the release of Am I Not Your Girl?, an album of standards and torch songs that she had grown up listening to. Her interpretations ran from sublime to overwrought to bizarre, and - coupled with her Garden State Arts Center controversy (see below) - the record lost for her much of the commercial momentum her career had built up until then.
The 1993 soundtrack to film In the Name of the Father featured "You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart," with significant contributions from Bono of U2.
1994's more conventional Universal Mother did not succeed in restoring her mass appeal, though its opener, "Fire On Babylon," remains a fan favorite. She toured with Lollapalooza in 1995, but dropped out when she became pregnant. O'Connor was replaced on the bill by Elastica.
Faith And Courage from 2000, largely regarded as a return to form, included the single "No Man's Woman" and featured contributions from Wyclef Jean of the Fugees and Dave Stewart of Eurythmics. On the eve of its release she "came out" as a lesbian, and then confusingly retracted the statement.
Her 2002 album, Sean-Nós Nua, marked a departure in that O'Connor interpreted traditional Irish folk songs, including several in the Irish language. She Who Dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High Shall Abide Under the Shadow of the Almighty was a live album that soon followed, at which point O'Connor announced her retirement from music. This proved to be a short-lived retirement, as the reggae album Throw Down Your Arms appeared in 2005.
Garden State Arts Center controversy
On August 24, 1990, O'Connor was scheduled to perform at the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey. The practice of the venue was to play a recording of the American national anthem before the show began. O'Connor, who said she was unaware of this practice until shortly before the show was to begin, refused to go on if the anthem was played. Venue officials acquiesced to her demand and omitted the anthem, and so O'Connor performed, but they later permanently banned her. O'Connor said that she had a policy of not having the national anthem of any country played before her concerts and meant "no disrespect" but that she "will not go on stage after the national anthem of a country which imposes censorship on artists. It's hypocritical and racist." The incident made tabloid headlines and O'Connor came in for heavy criticism and her songs were banned from a number of radio stations. Frank Sinatra, who performed at the Center the next night, said he wished he could "kick her in the ass." O'Connor replied, "I wouldn't be the first woman he has threatened to hit," and her father said that Sinatra was too old to lift his leg to kick her.
Saturday Night Live controversy
O'Connor's career received a significant blow — especially in the United States — on October 3, 1992, when she appeared on Saturday Night Live as a musical guest, on a show hosted by Tim Robbins. She was singing an a cappella version of Bob Marley's "War" to protest sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church [1], and added a lyric about "sexual abuse." She then presented a photo of Pope John Paul II to camera and, saying "fight the real enemy," tore it up. [2]
In the resultant media furore, O'Connor was booed off stages and verbally abused by audiences. For example, two weeks later, booing (and some cheering) appeared in force when O'Connor tried to perform "I Believe In You" at the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary tribute concert in Madison Square Garden. She was unable to start the song, and shouted "War" again instead. Afterwards Kris Kristofferson told her to "not let the bastards get you down."
Saturday Night Live had no foreknowledge of O'Connor's plan and has resisted invitations to rebroadcast the incident (however, it is available on volume four of Saturday Night Live — 25 Years of Music DVD, one of SNL's compilation video sets). When Comedy Central occasionally rebroadcasts the episode, the incident is replaced with Sinéad holding up a picture of a smiling black child (this is likely how the song was performed in rehearsal). As part of SNL's apology to the audience, during his opening monologue the following week, host Joe Pesci held up the photo, taped back together. On Madonna's next appearance on SNL, at the end of a song, she held up a photo of Joey Buttafuco and, saying "fight the real enemy," tore it up.
This was not even O'Connor's first go-around with Saturday Night Live; earlier she had refused to appear on a show hosted by "misogynistic" comedian Andrew Dice Clay. Rather, she had agreed to appear on a later episode hosted by Kyle MacLachlan.
On September 22, 1997, O'Connor was interviewed in Vita, an Italian weekly newspaper. In the interview, she asked the Pope to forgive her. She claimed that the tearing of the photo was "a ridiculous act, the gesture of a girl rebel." She claimed she did it "because I was in rebellion against the faith, but I was still within the faith." She went on to quote Saint Augustine, by saying, "Anger is the first step towards courage."
Ordination
In the late 1990s, she was controversially ordained into the Independent Catholic group known as the Latin Tridentine Church, by Irish Bishop Michael Cox, in disregard for the prohibition on the ordination of women within Roman Catholicism. As a result she was automatically excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. Bishop Cox contacted her to offer ordination following her appearance on the RTÉ's Late Late Show, during which she told the presenter, Gay Byrne, that had she not been a singer, she would have wished to have been a Catholic priest. After her service of ordination, she indicated that she wished to be called Mother Bernadette Mary.
In 2003 she announced that she was going to leave the music industry [3] and train to be a catechist (teacher of the Catholic religion to school children).
O'Connor has been married twice. Her first marriage was to John Reynolds, a record producer, writer and musician who co-produced several albums, including her fourth, Universal Mother, in 1994. Her second marriage was to Nicholas Sommerlad, a journalist said to be related to the Queen of Sweden (whose maiden name is Sommerlath), in 2002 but they separated in 2003.
In a magazine article and in a programme on RTÉ (Ryan Confidential, broadcast on RTÉ 1 on May 29, 2003), she outed herself as bisexual, stating that while most of her sexual relationships had been with men, she had had three relationships with women. She has three children, a son, Jake Reynolds, by her first husband, a daughter, Róisín Waters, by The Irish Times columnist John Waters, and a son, Shane.
In 2005 she performed at Madison Square Garden at the Jammy Awards and announced plans to release a reggae-influenced album, named Throw Down Your Arms, in October 2005. ABC Radio News, announcing her new album, reported that she has found solace in the Rastafarian faith, and that the religion "saved her life."
In a 2005 interview by the reggae artist Burning Spear in Andy Warhol's "Interview" magazine, she reported that her mission is to "rescue God from religion."
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | UK | US |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | The Lion and the Cobra | 27 | 36 |
| 1990 | I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got | 1 | 1 |
| 1992 | Am I Not Your Girl? | 6 | 27 |
| 1994 | Universal Mother | 19 | 36 |
| 1997 | Gospel Oak EP | 28 | 128 |
| 1997 | So Far...The Best Of Sinéad O'Connor | 28 | - |
| 2000 | Faith and Courage | - | 55 |
| 2002 | Sean-Nós Nua | - | 139 |
| 2003 | She Who Dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High Shall Abide Under the Shadow of the Almighty | - | - |
| 2005 | Collaborations | - | - |
| 2005 | Throw Down Your Arms | - | - |
Singles
| Year | Song | UK singles | US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Dance | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | "Mandinka" | 17 | - | - | 14 | The Lion and the Cobra |
| 1988 | "I Want Your (Hands On Me)" | - | - | 26 | 20 | The Lion and the Cobra |
| 1988 | "Troy" | - | - | - | - | The Lion and the Cobra |
| 1988 | "Jump In the River" | - | - | 17 | - | I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got |
| 1990 | "Nothing Compares 2 U" | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got |
| 1990 | "The Emperor's New Clothes" | 31 | 60 | 1 | - | I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got |
| 1990 | "I Am Stretched On Your Grave" | - | - | - | 27 | I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got |
| 1990 | "Three Babies" | - | - | - | - | I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got |
| 1991 | "My Special Child" | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1992 | "Success Has Made a Failure Of Our Home" | 18 | - | 20 | - | Am I Not Your Girl? |
| 1992 | "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" | - | - | - | - | Am I Not Your Girl? |
| 1994 | "You Made Me the Thief Of Your Heart" | - | - | 24 | - | In the Name Of the Father soundtrack |
| 1994 | "Fire On Babylon" | - | - | - | - | Universal Mother |
| 1995 | "Famine" / "All Apologies" | - | - | - | - | Universal Mother |
| 1996 | "Thank You For Hearing Me" | 13 | - | - | - | Universal Mother |
| 1997 | "This Is a Rebel Song" | - | - | - | - | Gospel Oak |
| 1997 | "This Is To Mother You" | - | - | - | - | Gospel Oak |
| 2000 | "No Man's Woman" | - | - | - | - | Faith and Courage |
| 2000 | "Jealous" | - | - | - | - | Faith and Courage |
| 2002 | "Troy (The Phoenix From the Flame)" (remix) | - | - | - | 3 | - |
| 2003 | "Tears From the Moon" (Conjure One featuring Sinéad O'Connor) | - | - | - | 3 | - |
| 2003 | "Guide Me God" (Ghostland featuring Sinéad O'Connor and Natacha Atlas) | - | - | - | 20 | - |
Further reading
- Guterman, Jimmy. Sinéad : Her Life and Music. Warner Books, 1991. ISBN 0446392545.
- Hayes, Dermott. Sinéad O'Connor: So Different. Omnibus, 1991. ISBN 0711924821.
External links
- http://www.sineadoconnormusic.com/ - the official Sinéad O'Connor website
- http://www.sinead-oconnor.com/ - an unofficial Sinéad O'Connor website
[[Category:Celtic music groups]