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Sinéad O'Connor

(1966-2023), Singer, songwriter and activist

Sinéad O'Connor (Shuhada' Sadaqat (née Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor, formerly Magda Davitt))

Sitter in 2 portraits
Born in Dublin, O'Connor's forthright style became evident with her WB Yeats-inspired single Troy from her debut album The Lion and the Cobra (1987). Her single Nothing Compares 2 U (1990) which topped the singles charts in several countries and catapulted her to international recognition. Her album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (1990) sold over 6 million copies and was nominated in 1991 for 4 Grammy Awards, winning Best Alternative Music Performance. She controversially rejected both the nominations and the award. In 1994 she released Universal Mother. She was comfortable with many musical genres including pop, rap, folk, rock and later, nasheeds. Her willingness to speak courageously for the marginalised and oppressed and her fearless activism made her a controversial figure, but her activism left a lasting cultural impact on Ireland and the world. In October 2018 she publicly renounced Catholicism to embrace Islam, adopting the hijab and abaya as her choice of modest dress and changing her name to 'Shuhada' meaning 'declaration of faith' in Arabic. About her decision to convert she said 'This is the natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian's journey'. Her memoir Rememberings was published in 2021.

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