Morrissey has criticized what he called “insultingly stupid” tributes to Sinéad O’Connor in the media upon the Irish singer’s death at 56 this week.
After news emerged on Wednesday (July 26) that Sinéad O’Connor had died, many music outlets and musicians paid their respects and shared kind words about the late pop and rock vocalist. But the former The Smiths lead singer Morrissey took a different tack, writing in a blog post that the media coverage of O’Connor’s death had been “parroted vomit,” according to Ultimate Classic Rock.
O’Connor, a performer most visible in the early ’90s, was well known for her angelic voice and shaved head. Her 1990 cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” made her a household name.
READ MORE: Rockers Pay Tribute to Sinéad O’Connor After the Irish Singer’s Death at 56
But infamously, O’Connor gained what may have been her biggest headlines in 1992 when she destroyed a photo of Pope John Paul II during a Saturday Night Live performance to shed light on abuse allegations in the Catholic Church.
The incident sparked a pattern of public criticism that O’Connor would weather over her life, especially as she battled other consequences. In his post, Morrissey argued it was hypocritical that some of those praising her talent now perhaps had condemned her for her actions in the past.
What Morrissey Said About Sinéad
Writing about the response to Sinéad O’Connor’s death on his website, Morrissey says, “She was dropped by her label after selling 7 million albums for them. She became crazed, yes, but uninteresting, never. She had done nothing wrong. She had proud vulnerability … and there is a certain music industry hatred for singers who don’t ‘fit in’ (this I know only too well), and they are never praised until death — when, finally, they can’t answer back. The cruel playpen of fame gushes with praise for Sinéad today … with the usual moronic labels of ‘icon’ and ‘legend.’ You praise her now ONLY because it is too late. You hadn’t the guts to support her when she was alive.”
He continues, “The press will label artists as pests because of what they withhold … and they would call Sinéad sad, fat, shocking, insane … oh but not today! Music CEOs who had put on their most charming smile as they refused her for their roster are queuing-up to call her a ‘feminist icon,’ and 15-minute celebrities and goblins from hell and record labels of artificially aroused diversity are squeezing onto Twitter to twitter their jibber-jabber … when it was YOU who talked Sinead into giving up … because she refused to be labelled, and she was degraded, as those few who move the world are always degraded.”
Morrissey adds, “Why is ANYBODY surprised that Sinéad O’Connor is dead? Who cared enough to save Judy Garland, Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, Marilyn Monroe, Billie Holiday? Where do you go when death can be the best outcome? Was this music madness worth Sinéad’s life? No, it wasn’t. She was a challenge, and she couldn’t be boxed-up, and she had the courage to speak when everyone else stayed safely silent. She was harassed simply for being herself. Her eyes finally closed in search of a soul she could call her own. As always, the lamestreamers miss the ringing point, and with locked jaws they return to the insultingly stupid ‘icon’ and ‘legend’ when last week words far more cruel and dismissive would have done.”
The former The Smiths singer concludes, “Tomorrow the fawning fops flip back to their online shitposts and their cosy Cancer Culture and their moral superiority and their obituaries of parroted vomit … all of which will catch you lying on days like today … when Sinead doesn’t need your sterile slop.”
O’Connor’s cause of death was not initially reported on Wednesday. Last year, O’Connor’s son Shane Lunny died at 17. O’Connor is survived by three other children. Morrissey’s full blog post is here.
Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U” (Music Video)
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