Sinead O'Connor (1966–2023)

Autobiography that is both original in its form as it is hilarious.

With hindsight it all looks terribly choreographed. Sinead died in the summer of 2023 (unclear exactly how), about a year after her son committed suicide. In 2021 this memoir is published; in 2022 a documentary on her life (named ‘ Nothing compares 2 u’) and then she leaves us, to the shock of many, including me.

Her brief but fast rise to fame, and her equally disastrous fall from fame after her live act of tearing up a picture of Pope John Paul II and the Catholic orchestrated backlash and destruction of her career, already make up an intriguing story. But the way history has proven Sinead right (her stance against child abuse by the church), while not apologizing to her, let alone re-habilitating her, demonstrates an important lesson that is shared by many whistle blowers.

Sinéad was a rebel, a fighter for justice in every respect. She was no strategist. She destroyed her own career (and in the book she claims to be happy about that, world fame was never her aim and cost her dearly). She remained pure and faithful to her own principles, though some struggles she could not win (her weed addiction, her own post-child abuse trauma and demons). Yet both this memoir and the documentary demonstrate there was no evil in her – she was a rough angel with a stunning voice.… (mehr)