Sinead O'Connor was an Irish singer-songwriter who had a childhood, and most importantly, an eventful adolescence when she finds herself at the age of 15 locked up for 18 months in an asylum that also serves as a reformatory. Locked up following repeated shoplifting and a chaotic school journey.
An experience that will deeply mark her, with a development of her creative potential by force of circumstances but also in the negative by the unbearable vision of the sometimes violent treatment that some people locked up like her will undergo within this establishment. A traumatic experience, to say the least, that will continue her throughout her life.
We find her at the beginning of the 1980s in a group called 'Ton Ton Macoute', a first musical experience for the less ephemeral and especially without a future. But which allows her all the same to be noticed by the label Ensign Records.
It's the meeting with Fachtna O’Ceallaigh, fresh off the U2 adventure, that will change the game. A meeting that will allow her to record in 1986 a song called "Heroine", a title she co-wrote with U2 guitarist David Evans known as The Edge and which will appear on the soundtrack of the film 'Captive'.
Title which launched her career for good and which allowed her to release in the wake of her first album "The lion and the cobra", album which will be a real hit during 1987 in particular thanks to the Single "Mandinka".
Success confirmed a year later in 1988 with the release of the Single "Jump in the river" which is also popular with the public.
A title that can be found on the album "I do not want what I haven't got" album which came out in 1990 and which will raise the singer to a stratospheric level of notoriety. In particular thanks to the incredible title "Nothing compares 2 U", a luxury cover of a title by Prince featured on his 1985 concept-project The Family.
A title with incredible lyricism and which will undoubtedly remain as one of the biggest hits of 1990. An exceptional year in all respects for the singer with the release in the wake of two other titles which are "The emperor's new clothes", title which will not equal its predecessor in terms of success but will come closer to it more or less. And "Three babies" which will end the year on a high note.
Another notorious success a year later in 1991 with the Single "My special child".
The album "Am I not your girl ?" which came out in 1992 confirms the singer's status as a sure-fire moment. New major success with the culmination of the title "Success has made a failure of our home", a revisited and above all successful version of Loretta Lynn's title dating from 1962.
The year 1994 saw her sign one of the tracks for the soundtrack of the film 'In the name of the father', title called "You made me the thief of your heart" in which a certain…Bono from the group U2 will also participate. The same year the album "Universal mother" was released, an album that was once again well received by the public but which nevertheless showed a slight beginning of decline. Album from which will be extracted mainly the minor hit "Fire on Babylon".
A decline that will intensify in the years to follow, in part due to positions on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church that will not appeal to everyone. Not to mention a changing and particularly ambiguous sexual orientation which will contribute to an even more blurred image of her. Among others ...
This will not prevent her from continuing the adventure with the release of other albums thereafter and even if she will never find the level of success reached in 1990, she will still manage to classify all the albums, which does not is nothing.
Outstanding artist from all points of view who will leave us definitively on July 26, 2023 at the age of 56.
To discover or rediscover...
Discography (among others ...) :
80s Decade :
Héroïne 1986
Troy 1987
Drink before the war 1987
Mandinka 1987
I want your (Hands on me) 1988
Jump in the river 1988
90s Decade :
Nothing compares 2 U 1990
The emperor’s new clothes 1990
Three babies 1990
My special child 1991
Silent night 1991
Visions of you 1991
Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home 1992
Don't cry for me Argentina 1992
Blood of Eden 1992
You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart 1994
Thank you for hearing me 1994
Fire on Babylon 1994
Famine 1995
Haunted 1995
This is to mother you 1997
This is a rebel song 1997
Va pensiero 1997
Chiquitta 1998
2000s Decade :
No man's woman 2000
Jealous 2000
Hold back the night 2000
Peggy Gordon 2002
Lord Franklin 2002
The Morlough store 2002
Marcus Garvey 2005
Curly locks 2005
Something beautiful 2007
Watcher of men 2007
2010s Decade :
4th and vine 2012
The wolf is getting married 2012
Take off your shoes 2012
How about I be me 2014
8 good reasons 2014
Take me to church 2014
2020s Decade :
Trouble of the world 2020
Tracks :
1986 ... first title...and already first success. It must be said that with The Edge at the helm, we suspected that the result was not going to be trivial. The proof !
1987 ... the real solo starting point. It is clear that this young singer is not trivial, it is clear. Neither in the voice, nor in the look ...
1987 ... surprisingly, this title will go completely under the radar despite a certain quality. Well, given what is on the horizon, no worries about what will happen next ...
1987 ... in just a few months, she will have gone from the status of total unknown to the status of a planetary phenomenon. Here she gets her first notorious hit and it's just the start !
1988 ... the end of the 80's which confirms all the good that one could think of her. Even if this title is less structured than the previous ones, the dynamics of success are now in place and that's the main thing !
1988 ... the last Single of the decade. A decade of the 1980s which saw her bloom and gain momentum in an impressive way. Rendezvous the following decade for the great fireworks display !
1990 ... then THIS title comes ! A title that was not originally intended for her since it was written by Prince in 1985 for his concept-project The Family. And o miracle, while the original version has gone unnoticed to say the least, its version will quite simply become one of the most sublime titles of this decade, even of this end of the twentieth period. She signs here quite simply a title with crazy lyricism which allows her to enter One Shot into the legend, the one with a big L. MO-NU-MEN-TAL !
1985...here is the original version composed by Prince. We well find the basic framework but it is clear that the version of Sinead has totally sublimated this title...
1990 ... an exceptional year in all respects with a 2nd mega hit in the wake. Certainly, it will not reach the level of success of its predecessor as the bar has been set high, but allows the singer to maintain a level of success that is stratospheric to say the least !
1990 ... she literally walks on water, there are no other words. Everything she touches, or at least everything she sings, immediately turns to solid gold. Totally bluffing !
1991 ... an absolutely extraordinary talent for the 'emotional' register which is confirmed title after title, year after year. The competition is speechless ...
1991 ... a surreal version to say the least of this ultra classic Christmas title where she once again demonstrates her incredible ability to do nothing like everyone else. One more time !
1991 ... at 2, it's so much better ! Wacky + Wacky = Wacky squared ! A necessarily explosive result which will not remain as its best title but which at least has the merit of existing as they say ...
1992 ... another luxury cover with this time a revisited version of Loretta Lynn's title dating from 1962. Coverings that bring her luck each time given the level of success achieved by her version !
1992 ... surely one of the most popular titles during this decade. One of the most famous versions of the title of Julie Covington dating from 1976 will be that of Madonna in 1997 but that of little Sinead does not have much to envy, it's clear !
1992 ... she multiplies the duets with unfortunately a more or less fluctuating level of success. And yet, when we see the sizes with whom she sings, we could have expected the best. Like what, it does not work every time ...
1994 ... after 3 totally euphoric years, the singer knows her first air gap in 1993. Here she is back in this year 1994 in a certain form but we still feel that something has happened thing. The style has evolved, that's obvious. And not necessarily in a good way ...
1994 ... luckily, all is not lost. Especially when we see the quality of this kind of title which reassures all the same a minimum on the level of inspiration of the singer. Phew ...
1994 ... we still feel a definite evolution towards a darker and more tortured sound. The 'pure and airy' side has more or less disappeared and this is not necessarily good news for the rest of the events ...
1995 ... the start of the tumble. What one might have feared is happening. The sound, the style, the look, everything changed in the mid-1990s and brought the singer back to the level of ordinary people. The very beginning of the end ...
1995 ... she puts the table back to 2 but that will not change the situation, once again. The least we can say is that the duets will rarely have benefited her ...
1997 ... new air gap in 1996 followed by a return to minimal form in 1997. The level of success is literally in free fall and sends the singer back to the depths of the Charts. Hard law of the trade ...
1997 ... and yet, she does not demerit, far from it, especially when we see what she can still produce. But the genius side that characterized her at the start of the decade has evaporated over the years and she must now be content with a level of play similar to ordinary people ...
1997 ... the only duo that will really bring her luck. It must be said that with Zucchero, missing your duet is almost impossible. As they say, with him, it is guaranteed success. The proof !
1998 ... what could be better when everything is bad than a good old cover from behind the bundles. This time she revisits the mythical title of ABBA dating from 1979 but unfortunately the miracle will not take place. When it doesn't want anymore, it doesn't want anymore !
2000 ... the adventure will continue the following decade but the singer will never find again her exceptional level of play which she knew at her beginnings. Not to mention a personal and identity drift that will not improve in the years that will follow ...
2000...an adventure that is far from over in any case, even if on the Singles side, the success will be less and less there. The albums on the other hand continue to market well which allows her to continue to believe in it necessarily...
2000...a new 2000 decade that will rhyme with a 2nd part of a career that won't have much to do with the first, that's for sure...
2002...she will go down musical paths that have nothing to do with what she has explored before. And why not tell me...
2002...starting with this opus of covers of traditional Irish titles. Given its origins, it goes in the order of things as they say...
2002...who better than her to revisit these emblematic pieces of Irish musical culture. Perfectly matched legitimacy and talent...
2005...and here she is now in reggae mode, who would have thought that possible ? And yet it's the same one that lit up the world on "Nothing compares to you"...
2005... a musical register that will somewhat destabilize the basic fans because this opus will be the one that will remain as the lowest ranked of all...
2007...she returns to a register that is already a little more traditional with this new opus, which brings back some of the fans from the start. But not all at first glance...
2007...it is clear that the best years are behind her but that does not discourage her. A desire to believe in it to the end which undoubtedly commands respect...
2012...she begins her 4th decade here with the firm intention of not giving up. And it doesn't matter if it's successful or not as long as she can do whatever she wants...
2012...and precisely the success is back on the albums side, which proves that she is damn right to want to push the adventure as far as possible...
2012...she was able to resist the pressure despite an atypical life course. Hope it lasts as they say...
2014...the production of titles remains impressive and proves de facto that she still has things to offer and especially to sing. Reassuring somewhere...
2014...we could have feared the worst for her, but she's still there anyway. With ups and downs but she stands up anyway...
2014...no one bet on her anymore but she has proven many times that she had lost none of her talent, it is clear...
2020... of course we will lose sight of her for almost 6 years but here she is again. We therefore imagine that this title will surely not be the last, at least we hope so...
Top Bonus : 2013...a remixed version of 'nothing compares...' absolutely amazing and one of a kind. A title that definitely continues to sublimate all those who interpret it !
Top Bonus : the story of a lifetime...
Top Bonus : the story of a lifetime II...
Top Bonus : the story of a lifetime III...
Top Bonus : the story of a lifetime IV...
Top Bonus : the story of a lifetime V...
Wiki :
Official Website :
Greatest Hits :
Discography :