‘I don’t believe in labels’: 11 revealing Sinéad O’Connor quotes as Irish singer dies at 56
"I like to say, ‘I’m not a man or a woman – I’m Sinéad O’Connor'."
Sinead O’Connor died yesterday at the age of 56, it has been confirmed.
The soulful Irish singer’s death was confirmed with “great sadness” by her family yesterday. The cause of death has not yet been made public.
Sinead’s hits included ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ and ‘Nothing Compares 2U’ – the latter her world-conquering smash cover of a Prince song.
Tragically, the star’s passing follows the suicide of her son Shane, who took his life in January 2022. Addressing his death in a tweet in June 2022, the ‘Take Me To Church’ singer said: “Been living as undead night creature since. He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul. We were one soul in two halves. He was the only person who ever loved me unconditionally.”
Here, to mark the passing of this unique musical talent, Attitude takes a trip down memory lane to revisit seven of her most revealing quotes, on which she gets candid on everything from sexuality to mental health to faith.
1 Sinéad on religion
“I started studying scriptures from different religions, trying to find the ‘truth’ about God… I never thought I would join a religion, but I left Islam until last because I had so much prejudice about Islam. But then when I started reading, and I read just chapter two alone of the Quran, and I realised, ‘Oh my God, I am home’,” she said. “I had been a Muslim all my life and didn’t realise it.”
As said on The Late Late Show in 2019
2 Sinéad on sexuality
“I’m three-quarters heterosexual, a quarter gay.”
As told to Entertainment Weekly in 2005
3 Sinéad on sexuality (again)
“I don’t believe in labels of any kind, put it that way. If I fall in love with someone, I wouldn’t give a shit if they were a man or a woman.
“[…] What I’m trying to say is, I’m old enough not to be going by my dick. It’s not about what gets my dick hard or not. I’m old enough for that to not be the point.
“But I think maybe females are different – what makes us want to have sex with someone is that we like their personality.”
As told to PrideSource in 2014
4 Sinéad on mental health
“I think I’m good now. But I’m not stupid enough to think I won’t have relapses. I’m not stupid enough to think I won’t end up in hospital again. I’m a recovering abuse survivor and it’s a life’s work. It’s not like you get reborn or something.”
As told to The Guardian in 2021
5 Sinéad on women’s reproductive rights
“I just believe that if a child is meant to be born it will be born. It doesn’t really matter whether you have an abortion or a miscarriage. The whole issue is pro-choice. I wouldn’t lobby for or against abortion, but I would lobby very strongly for the right of women to have control over their own bodies and make decisions for themselves. Nobody has the right to tell anyone else what to think or believe.”
As told to Spin in 1991
6 Sinéad on Ireland
“I f****ing hate living in Ireland,” she says. “My spiritual home is America. I know that my stork should have dropped me in America. But he got drunk in Dublin. It’s freezing, it’s miserable. Everything’s really expensive. I love America, but I can never leave Ireland. I wouldn’t leave my grandchildren or my children.”|
As told to The Independent in 2021
7 Sinéad on Twitter
“Twitter is really for lonesome people, isn’t it? And I was desperately, desperately lonely.”
As told to The Guardian in 2021
8 Sinéad on protesting against abuse in the Catholic Church
“I’m not sorry I did it. It was brilliant. But it was very traumatising. It was open season on treating me like a crazy bitch.”
As told to the New York Times in 2021
9 Sinéad on success
“It’s a very complicated thing to explain, but the price you pay for being a successful musician is your life, and the more successful you are, the more of a price you pay. That makes you invisible. People project onto you, and they see something that isn’t really you, and the only time you’re with people who are relating to you and who you really are is when you’re with your family or friends, or when you’re making music. The business of music is a really ugly business, and it’s difficult that the price you pay metaphorically for being successful is your life.”
As told to PrideSouce in 2014
10 Sinéad on heaven and hell
“No, I don’t believe in heaven or hell. I don’t believe in any sort of burning. I don’t believe it’s right to teach children that God is somebody that will punish them if they misbehave, that God isn’t somebody who understands. That’s an abuse of children.”
As told to Spin in 1991
11 Sinéad on her look
“I’m a real schizophrenic [and] I like to contrast five or six elements of one person in me […] I have a skinhead, but I’m not a skinhead; I have the haircut because it makes me feel clear; it makes me feel good. I like to say, ‘I’m not a man or a woman – I’m Sinéad O’Connor.’”
As told to the Irish Times in 1986