And only a few days before the death of Sinead O'Connor at age 56, I was talking with that very same person about the misinformed view that has labeled LGBTQers "pedophiles." These accusations exist in sharp contrast to the well-documented terrors of the Catholic Church when preying--praying is a completely different concept--upon young people. Molestation by the clergy has gone on for decades and might be lessening, yet the general public tends to look the other way about those atrocities--even now. Assuming things about one group and disregarding the deeds of another is a travesty.
Perhaps it's no surprise that O'Connor's refusal to accept this kind of abuse was met with an intense backlash when she tore up a photo of the Pope on Saturday Night Live in 1992. In the main, people just didn't get it, and that feeling carried over to her slot in the Bob Dylan tribute show at Madison Square Garden a few weeks later, where misplaced anger abounded. What? Wasn't this New York? Wasn't this an audience that appreciated Dylan's early songs about injustice and bigotry? The woman who courageously spoke her mind looked positively frozen in the footage of that show; perhaps you've seen Kris Kristofferson's "Sister Sinead" video, where he comes over to comfort Sinead as the jeering intensifies. It's a gut punch where nothing is resolved and nothing is healed.
It took another nine years before there was any sort of apology for this sickening behavior from a figure in the Catholic Church. There have been others since and it almost seems like it doesn't matter.
O'Connor's artistry continued through this mess. She denounced the music industry's attempts to pretty up female performers in order to sell more music. Although her sales numbers fell off, she remained beloved in her native Ireland and continued to sell out shows all over Europe. What will remain is a catalog of songs, haunting, powerful and accomplished, from her 1987 debut album The Lion and the Cobra to 1990's monster hit I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got and beyond. I'm also a fan of 1994's Universal Mother, 2005's Throw Down Your Arms and 2012's How About I Be Me (and You Be You)? Rent them, download them, buy them.
When all the clamor is forgotten, these albums constitute some of the richest music in the popular realm, full of reflection and intensity, with messages that say "speak out and stay strong." Sinead O'Connor will really be missed in my household.