Morrissey has written a vociferous tribute to the late Sinéad O’Connor, decrying the media and music industry over a lack of support for the singer.
Praising her “proud vulnerability”, he writes on his website: “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 […] You praise her now ONLY because it is too late. You hadn’t the guts to support her when she was alive and she was looking for you.
“The press will label artists as pests because of what they withhold … and they would call Sinead 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 queueing-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.”
The former Smiths frontman compares her to similarly troubled female stars who died relatively young – Judy Garland, Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, Marilyn Monroe and Billie Holiday – adding: “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.”
O’Connor suffered from huge public pressure and scrutiny during her life, including for her criticism of the Catholic church, her conversion to Islam and her mental ill health.
Her death was announced yesterday in a brief statement by her family, who said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.”
Morrissey was a long-time fan of O’Connor, and the pair were pictured together in 1991 by Linder Sterling. His former Smiths rhythm section, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce, played with O’Connor, with Rourke also playing on her UK and US No 1 album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.
• In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111. In the US, Mental Health America is available on 800-273-8255. In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978
