| − | '''Sinéad O'Connor''' was a female [[Irish]] [[singer]] who gained fame through her song ''Nothing Compares 2 U''. Many people already considered her an unhealthy role model because of her defiantly shaved head, but she universally drew the public's ire on October 3, 1992 when, during a live televised concert on [[Saturday Night Live]], she tore a picture of [[Pope John Paul II]] in half. The subsequent outcry from the [[Catholic Church]] and religious leaders toppled her from the spotlight and her career never recovered. | + | '''Sinéad O'Connor''' (b, Dec. 8, 1966, [[Dublin]], [[Ireland]], d. July 26, 2023) was a female [[Irish]] [[singer]] who gained fame through her song ''Nothing Compares 2 U''. Many people already considered her an unhealthy role model because of her defiantly shaved head, but she universally drew the public's ire on October 3, 1992 when, during a live televised concert on [[Saturday Night Live]], she tore a picture of [[Pope John Paul II]] in half. The subsequent outcry from the [[Catholic Church]] and religious leaders toppled her from the spotlight and her career never recovered. |
| | + | In ''Rememberings'', a book written by her as published in 2021, she described how a record company executive tried to pressure her to [[abortion|abort]] her first child, and she decided to give birth despite the pressure. The company even induced a physician to tell her, “Your record company has spent £100,000 recording your album. You owe it to them not to have this baby.”<ref name="Independent">https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/sinead-o-connor-abortion-rememberings-b1855687.html</ref> |
| | + | As part of the pressure to abort, which Sinead rejected, the physician said as later described by Sinead that "if I flew while pregnant, my baby would be damaged. And anyway, if I was going to be a musician I ought not to have babies because a woman shouldn’t leave her baby to go on tour and at the same time a child can’t be taken on tour.”<ref name="Independent"/> |