I can’t think of a great musician who got less attention for her music than Sinéad O’Connor. Critics raved over her first LP, 1987’s “The Lion and the Cobra,” but the broader public didn’t notice her until her performance of “Mandinka” at the 1989 Grammy Awards. As Rolling Stone put it, ““If there was Twitter back then, ‘bald chick’ would have probably been trending in about six seconds.”
Her next album, 1990’s “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got,” propelled her to stardom thanks to her cover of a Prince song, “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Her stark rendition, and the mesmerizing video of her singing it in extreme close-up as a tear rolled down her cheek, turned a tune Prince had relegated to a side project into a monster hit. It soared to No. 1 around the world and propelled the album to the top of the US charts. But its success also led her to reject a level of fame she never wanted.
When the song and album were nominated for four Grammies, O’Connor boycotted the ceremony and released a statement that still rings true.
“[The Grammy Awards] acknowledge mostly the commercial side of art. They respect mostly material gain, since that is the main reason for their existence. And they have created a great respect among artists for material gain — by honoring us and exalting us when we achieve it, ignoring for the most part those of us who have not.”
That stance gained her a lot of support from other artists, especially in hip-hop, which was still being shunned by awards voters. But she didn’t stop at alienating the industry. She refused to play a concert if “The Star-Spangled Banner” was played before it. She defend the Irish Republican Army. Then, in 1992, capping a “Saturday Night Live” performance that lives in infamy, she finished her second song of the night (an a cappella cover of Bob Marley’s “War”) by declaring, “Fight the real enemy!” and tearing up a photograph of Pope John Paul II.
The audience sat in stunned silence, but the outcry began within minutes and never let up. Her career never recovered, but she didn’t care. “Everyone wants a pop star, see?” she said years later. “But I am a protest singer. I just had stuff to get off my chest. I had no desire for fame.”
She followed her muse all over the musical landscape the rest of her career, releasing albums of standards, Celtic songs, reggae in addition to her own songs. None of them sold much outside her native Ireland, but the tabloids ensured she remained in the public consciousness by amplifying her many provocative statements about public affairs and incidents that highlighted her fragile mental health.
“I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got,” recorded during the break-up of her first marriage, to her drummer, John Reynolds, remains a masterpiece, as raw and powerful today as when it was released. Some have speculated this song was about their divorce, but I doubt that – she continued to work with Reynolds throughout her career. She did, however, fire her manager earlier that year.
