Poets and authors write about what the late singer-songwriter and social activist meant to them
back in 1987 – a smile that would knock you off your feet and eyes that you’d get lost in before you’d even hit the ground. She was 21 years old. I was 22 – just starting out at the BBC and booking bands for some kind of “youth programme”. I’d never heard a voice like hers before, or encountered such a mind-blowing stage presence – a strange mix of vulnerability and an almost terrifying power.
I was only 17 when I knew her, and only a little. She came by Shane Doyle’s little cafe often, sometimes she sang, sometimes she just went back into the kitchen to smoke and chat. She spoke to my mam once on the telephone and had her in fits. In truth, though, Sinéad will live forever. Not just through her mesmerising music, but also in the spirit she evoked in the armies of women who followed in her wake. Many men loved and esteemed her too, of course, but Sinéad mattered to women, and Irish women in particular, in a profound way. She broke down seemingly impenetrable doors so that we could walk through, challenging every stereotype, questioning received wisdom and always speaking difficult truths.
Events aside, the truth was I had always been a wide-eyed admirer of her music, her presence. The six-minute astonishment of Troy – “I have learned, I will rise” – was almost too much to bear, but I rushed to buy the second single, Mandinka. She seemed quickly to ascend to pop royalty status but still Nothing Compares 2 U came as a shock in early 1990.
video and her appearance at the Bob Dylan Tribute in Madison Square Garden shortly afterwards where she was booed loudly by a hostile crowd. I had not seen it before and was utterly astonished by her strength, composure, bravery and grace in the face of immense mockery and hate. She reminded me of a saint, standing there, her stunning face bathed in light, cooly facing her detractors. And what she did then made me cry.
And now, I don’t worry about making people angry any more, well, maybe I do. But I do it anyway. Thank you for everything, Sinéad. We will miss you always. Rest easy.107:25Publishing Sinéad’s memoir, Rememberings, in 2021 was one of the great privileges of my career. Looking back at our voluminous email and text correspondence over a number of years, one recurring theme was how hard Sinéad found the “commercial aspects” of her career. She was a square peg in a round hole.
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