Sinead O'Connor
 Sinead
O'Connor grew up in a turbulent household marred by divorce and
abuse. By the time she was a teenager, she had been expelled from
Catholic school and sent away to reform school for shoplifting.
She found solace in music, and was discovered by the drummer of
a band called In Tua Nua.
After co-writing a few songs with the band, O'Connor began a
solo career. By 1985 she had signed to Ensign Records and moved to
London, where she recorded her self-produced debut album, 1987's The
Lion and the Cobra. The record won copious praise in the
music press.
With the release of 1990's acclaimed I Do Not Want What I
Haven't Got, O'Connor became an alternative rock superstar,
thanks both to the album's hit single Nothing Compares 2 U
and her increasingly controversial opinions.
O'Connor appeared in the American press saying she supported
the IRA and would not perform if The Star Spangled Banner
were played before any of her concerts. In addition, she refused
to accept the four Grammy nominations she received for I Do
Not Want...
 She
titled her next, more conventional, album Am I Not Your Girl? -
Unfortunately, its release was overshadowed by a legendary
appearance on Saturday Night Live during which O'Connor
ended her set by tearing up a photo of Pope John Paul II and
shouting "Fight the real enemy!".
O'Connor avoided the spotlight for the next two years and in
1994 she returned with Universal Mother. By the time the Gospel
Oak EP came out in 1997, O'Connor had emerged as an elder
stateswoman for edgy female singer-songwriters, highlighted by her
appearance at the 1998 Lilith Fair.
In 1999, the one-time pope-basher was ordained as a priest in
the Latin Tridentine Order of the Catholic Church, a radical sect
that operates without papal sanction.
As Mother Bernadette Marie O'Connor she is now able to perform
all priestly duties, including baptism, marriage, communion and
last rites.
A spokesperson at the time said, "She has apologised to
John Paul II and accepts the pope as Jesus' representative on
earth".
In 2000, O'Connor signed to Atlantic records and announced the
impending release of her first album in six years, Faith &
Courage.
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