On July 26, the world echoed the sudden death of the iconic singer and activist Sinead O’Connor, at the age of 56. Her cause of death is still unknown, though an autopsy is expected to reveal how the Drink Before the War author died. Since the news of her death has been known, many of the controversies that marked the career of the Irish artist have been reborn.
Among the many controversies that are known about O’Connor, the one that has become most viral has been the letter he sent to Miley Cyrus and for which they publicly confronted each other on several occasions. Although it is not overlooked when the singer tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II on the American program Saturday Night Live in protest of child abuse.
It was September 2013, Miley Cyrus released her video clip for the song Wrecking Ball, a song that broke her image as a Disney girl and for which she was severely criticized.
In an interview for Rolling Stones magazine, the former Hannah Montana stated that her video clip was inspired by the single Nothing compares to you by Sinead O’Connor -a song written by Prince and that catapulted the singer to fame in 1990- because He felt a deep admiration for the artist.
And although it is true, both video clips share a similar scenery at the beginning, with neutral backgrounds and close-ups of the performers. Although the differences are notable: Nothing Compares 2 U maintains a melancholic and sad atmosphere throughout the song, on the other hand, Wrecking Ball shows a roller coaster of emotions that grows to the rhythm of the music and adds scenes -which many have described as of sexual – including Cyrus naked on top of a wrecking ball or licking a hammer.
Shortly after the Rolling Stones interview was published, Sinead O’Connor published a letter on her website in which she replied to the American singer. The women’s rights activist wrote: “I am extremely concerned that those around you have led you to believe, or encouraged you if you already did, that it is ‘cool’ to be naked and lick hammers in your videos. […] And it is not at all a way to empower yourself or any other young woman to send the message that they have to value you (or you have to value yourself) more for your sexual attractiveness than for your obvious talent”.
Sinead followed the letter with strong statements against the music industry, adding: “The music industry doesn’t care about you, nobody cares. They will exploit you for your (economic) value, and make you think that this is what you want. When you end up in rehab as a result, they’ll be sunbathing on their yachts, boats they bought by selling your body.”
Finally, he closed the letter by saying: Yes, I suggest that you do not worry about yourself. That has to change. […] Whether we like it or not, women artists are models and we have to be very careful with the messages we send to other women […] We are not mere objects of desire”.
The author of Party in the USA did not hesitate to respond to the artist, 26 years her senior, and republished some tweets from O’Connor talking about her bipolar disorder and the need to find a psychiatrist. This led to another letter from the Dublin native stating that she is very “undeserving” to mock the mental health problems of others. Finally, the dispute ended with some statements by Miley Cyrus acknowledging again that Sinead O’Connor is “an incredible artist and an impressive songwriter.”
