Sinead O’Connor: a musician ahead of her time, trapped in an era not ready for her iconoclastic nature

O’Connor tearing up a picture of then Pope John Paul II was deemed “blasphemous;” an outright attack on the Catholic church on prime-time US television that before the advent of YouTube and video sharing was captured in photographs published across pages across the world and the act splashed on television news continuously in the wake of the event. Again - this all predated the notion of a 24-hour news network becoming the norm.

Blasphemy was also still an illegal offence in O’Connor’s home country of Ireland, as the singer continued her crusade against the church for their “multitude” of child sexual abuse cases that in her mind the church was “covering up.” Many years later, that conversation can be open and honest in a public forum, including news coverage in Ireland and even some of the more conservative religious countries around the world.

It’s the kind of platforming that we see numerous pop stars undertake, using their platform to push causes and activism to make the world somewhat of a better place and to demonstrate the plight of those affected by circumstance or dogmatic cultural/religious principles. But at the time of Sinead’s stance, instead of the conversation being mainly on her activism, instead it was barbs aimed at her appearance and rhetoric if she was mentally “all there.” 

It was essentially for O’Connor at that time the notion of “shut up and play;” she’s not here to provide commentary on political and social causes unless they’re palatable and wrapped up neatly in a charitable song or a festival (re: Live Aid). 

But O’Connor, using her new-found fame, rallied for social causes and real change made her the archetype for pop stars with a social consciousness to follow decades later; Sinead walked across hot coals and glass so starlets in the future could run with their activism.

Brutally honest, frank and a pioneer

O’Connor’s brutal honesty was seen by some as a breath of fresh air during the height of her fame; retrospectively speaking though she was far ahead of her time. If it wasn’t taking aim at the controversies of the Catholic church it was regarding mental health at a time when it was assumed that to have something like Bipolar disorder (in the case of Sinead) would be the “death knell” of someone’s career. 

“Loony,” “erratic” and “loopy” were all phrases that littered gossip rags - a lesson at times we’ve yet to learn today when it comes to the fragility of a young performer at the epicentre of a pop cultural phenomenon.

Nowadays, we applaud the strength when a musician comes out and admits that they have a neurodivergent condition, or the frank nature of some modern artists openly discussing burnout constantly touring and promoting a record. They’re seen for the most part as brave for being open about their health, but O’Connor was relentlessly mocked for what we now know are the reasons for her erratic behaviour.

Late-night talk shows used her as fodder for their opening monologues, a tradition that continued years later with the media's obsession with Britney Spears’ mental health and erratic behaviour (we’re looking specifically at you, Jay Leno) as a source of amusement. That’s not even taking into account the rampant body shaming that the singer had to contend with also.

A shaved head? On a girl? That’s weird and androgynous, the more puritanical and antiquated section of ‘90s society thought. These days we wouldn’t dream of attacking someone’s personal appearance unless it’s through the safety of a TwitterX or Instagram handle. At the time, people just stepped up to launch into attacks on her appearance, her weight…

It’s as if her activism and her uniqueness in an era where pop stars were “defined” by their beauty and appeal had no place in the industry in terms of populism. We still have to contend with those matters today, but there are a lot more voices in the online wilderness ready to challenge that discourse about how a person “should” look, rather than what they feel comfortable with. 

Ariana Grande is a great example of this; taking to Instagram a few months ago to reveal that she gets upset when people look back at older photos of her and state she looked better back then. Grande admitted that era was ridiculed with alcohol and prescription medication as she was constantly in pain. We acknowledge that immediately as a general consensus - people didn’t give O’Connor the same leeway “back in the good old days.”

Her iconoclastic nature is going to be her endearing legacy on music and popular culture more so than her hit single, “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Sinead O’Connor was years ahead of her time regarding a pop musician using their platform for overt societal change; alas, at the peak of that popularity, she was stuck in a dated time and place where musicians were asked to “shut up and play the hits.” 

It’s a legacy that allowed modern pop musicians to express their views without too much of a fear of reprisal and allows for those conversations to enter an arena where at one stage it would be taboo to consider opening up a dialogue. That’s what I know I’ll miss about Sinead O’Connor.