Sinéad O'Connor >RIP

[Michael Messer]

Irish singer and activist Sinéad O'Connor has died aged 56.

Very sad to hear this news. Sinéad was a great talent, but her turbulent life created terrible problems for her.

In 2006 I met Sinéad at the BBC. We were both being interviewed on BBC 6Music shows and spent half an hour or so chatting over a coffee in the waiting area. I liked her energy very much and found her interesting to talk with. A sweet soul, but with an edge that could explode at any time. Usually she was right, but had no control switch.



From the BBC website....
Sinéad O'Connor saw music as the therapy to escape a turbulent childhood.

Her rebellious nature was mainly driven by resentment at the abuse she suffered as a child and her experience in a Dublin reformatory.

It was music that rescued her, unleashing a creative talent that made her a worldwide music star - but also a rebel prepared to be controversial and never play the game of being an image-led pop star.

With her elfin features and skinhead look she was one of pop music's most recognisable figures.

O'Connor was a precocious talent who used music as a means of dealing with the demons inside her.

A contradictory figure in many ways, she always refused to toe the establishment line, something that saw her achieve less success than she deserved.

The singer though was unapologetic and unrepentant for those life choices. "I always say, if you live with the devil, you find out there's a god."


Dear Sinéad O'Connor >RIP

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Shine On
Michael

[nowthen]

A beautiful but tortured soul.

[littlebobby]

I’ve worked as child mental health nurse since 1995 other than a 7 year stint in brain injury rehab and I spend my life trying to help people like her overcome the traumas that they have had to deal with. Every now and then you get to meet someone with the potential to do something magnificent like she did. Very rarely get to find out how people get on in the long term but seeing one person like her blossom in spite of the ongoing troubles she experienced over the years keeps us going.
Safe travels bonny lass. We can’t completely dispense with our demons, but sometimes we can jump on them til they submit for a while or we can trick the little s***s into doing something beautiful with them.
Safe travels bonny lass.