Brave and fearless have become generic terms for today’s musicians, to market them as authentic. But Sinéad O’Connor was so unflinchingly brave and brutally honest – sharing her raw emotions, childhood traumas and mental illness with the world in an era before social media and before people knew how to process them – she almost sabotaged what was to become one of the most fascinating careers of modern times.
Later in life, O’Connor did embrace social media, documenting an emotional decline that led to her tragic death, aged 56, on July 26. Her passing came 18 months after her 17-year-old son Shane died by suicide. In her final social media post in the days before she died, O’Connor told the world she was living as “an undead night creature” since Shane’s death, saying he was the “love of her life” and “the only person who ever loved me unconditionally”.
O’Connor’s fearlessness first reared its head when she was 14, shoplifting and skipping school in south Dublin, Ireland. She was caught stealing shoes from a friend and then money from her parents, which led to a stint in a residential training centre run by nuns for girls with behavioural problems. Upstairs was a room for the dying, where young girls were sent to sleep as punishment. “I will never experience such panic and terror and agony over anything like I did at that place,” O’Connor told music magazine Spin in 1990. “It wasn’t a governmentrun institution, it was a Catholic one, which is worse, believe me.”
This story is from the October 2023 edition of Marie Claire Australia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the October 2023 edition of Marie Claire Australia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
WHY WOMEN SHOULDN'T BE DISCOUNTED
Four game-changing women share why they want economic empowerment included in the conversation this International Women’s Day
home HAVEN
Sophie Bell, founder of Peppa Hart, invites us into her calming quarters, writes Samantha Stewart
BEHIND THE SCENES with PETER PHILIPS
An intimate backstage moment with the legendary creative and image director for Dior Makeup
MIAH MADDEN
The Australian actor on her biggest fashion crime, party tricks and the women who have shaped her
TAYLOR SWIFT
As she hits our shores in February, music writer Cameron Adams charts the unbelievable career of the world’s biggest music artist, from her Nashville country music roots to her record-smashing Eras tour
The road to NIRVANA
Editor Georgie Abay lands in the remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan for the adventure of a lifetime
makes SUN sense
What if we saw a suntan for what it really is: a visible sign that skin has been damaged? Sherine Youssef looks behind the golden facade
RUNWAY to DEBT
Modelling agencies are ecruiting young people who have fled war-torn African countries and are living in extreme poverty. They are flown to Europe to take part n fashion castings, but some return within days or weeks, often laden with debt
CALLUM TURNER
The British actor shares tales from the front line, why you should play your heroes and his love for Free Willy
ALL ABOUT JESS
Chart-topping Australian singer Jessica Mauboy talks love, lonliness and music legend Whitney Houston on the eve of her new release, Yours Forever