History YMMV / SineadOConnor

* TheWoobie: The protagonist in "Nothing Compares 2 U" (which isn't Sinéad herself, as it's a cover). She's had a really bad breakup, and is basically having a massive HeroicBSOD, and seems on the verge of passing the DespairEventHorizon. Sinead herself could count as this also, as she had an extremely tragic life.

* TheWoobie: The protagonist in "Nothing Compares 2 U" (which isn't Sinéad herself, as it's a cover). She's had a really bad breakup, and is basically having a massive HeroicBSOD, and seems on the verge of passing the DespairEventHorizon.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: It's generally agreed these days that ''this'' is why the photo incident did so much damage to her career. It's not that she tore up a picture of the Pope, it's that she did it ''without warning or context''. Had she instead said something like, "The Catholic Church has covered up hundreds of cases of child abuse for decades - fight the ''real'' enemy!" and ''then'' torn up the photo, it's quite likely she would have survived the blowback.
* CoveredUp: Music/{{Prince}} originally penned "Nothing Compares 2 U" for the Family, a band that he brought together and produced in-between his own projects, but their version flew under the radar outside of people who were incredibly devoted to Prince's associates. O'Connor's version in 1990, meanwhile, soared to the top of the ''Billboard'' charts in the U.S. The music video also received heavy rotation on Creator/{{MTV}} and has inspired pop artists such as Music/{{Sia}}, Music/BritneySpears, and even Music/{{Beyonce}} to perform [[InTheStyleOf in her style]]. However, O'Connor emphasized the fact that she never even conferred with Prince before or during the recording, and this led to a tumultuous relationship between them in later years.[[note]]In her memoir, she recounts a visit to Prince's house, where he apparently behaved like a complete jerkass towards her in bizarre ways, such as insisting that she eat soup when she repeatedly declined any, and trying to make her have a pillow fight with him. It ends with her fleeing on foot through Beverly Hills while Prince drives after her yelling that he's going to kick the shit out of her.[[/note]]
* HarsherInHindsight: The perception of the ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' incident as an attention-grabbing stunt at the time is certainly this, given than O'Connor was actually [[CassandraTruth right about everything.]] In the next year or two, it became public knowledge that literally ''thousands'' of children had been abused by Irish clergy, and the Irish church had spent years organizing a massive cover-up. It later became apparent that the phenomenon wasn't just confined to Ireland. ''Film/{{Spotlight}}'' winning the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Picture in 2016 is a sign that mainstream culture now accepts that sexual abuse by the Catholic clergy isn't just something that Sinead O'Connor kept going on and on about. If anything, the release of ''Film/{{Spotlight}}'' just made people realize that she was, tragically, only ahead of the rest of us by more than ten years, taking into account the child abuse she suffered. The music journalist Neil [=McCormick=], reviewing O'Connor's memoir, noted that a few years after the extent of child abuse by the clergy had become a public scandal in Ireland, a mural appeared on a wall in Dublin saying ''Sorry, Sinéad, You Were Right All Along."
* OvershadowedByControversy: O'Connor spent most of her life dogged by the bad press generated by tearing up a photo of the highly popular Pope John Paul II on-air to protest child sexual abuse in the Catholic church when performing on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' in 1992, which analysts generally credit with ending her mainstream popularity. Even after O'Connor was vindicated by multiple revelations in the 21st century about the true extent of Catholic child sexual abuse, her reputation is still defined by the ''SNL'' performance and the reactions it spawned.

* VindicatedByHistory: Though it hasn't restored her to her previous fame, she has a loyal fanbase and a lot of critics and fellow musicians who lionize her work and view her as a major influence. The SNL incident has also [[ValuesResonance been seen in a different light over time]] due to the depth of horrific sexual abuse among the Catholic Church, both in the United States and her native Ireland, becoming much clearer.
* TheWoobie: The protagonist in "Nothing Compares 2U" (which isn't Sinead herself, as it's a cover). She's had a really bad breakup, and is basically having a massive HeroicBSOD, and seems on the verge of passing the DespairEventHorizon.

* CoveredUp: Her cover of Music/{{Prince}}'s "Nothing Compares 2 U" soared to the top of the ''Billboard'' charts in the U.S. The music video also received heavy rotation on Creator/{{MTV}} and has inspired pop artists such as Music/{{Sia}}, Music/BritneySpears, and even Music/{{Beyonce}} to perform [[InTheStyleOf in her style]]. However, O'Connor emphasized the fact that she never even conferred with Prince before or during the recording, and this led to a tumultuous relationship between them in later years.[[note]]In her memoir, she recounts a visit to Prince's house, where he apparently behaved like a complete jerkass towards her in bizarre ways, such as insisting that she eat soup when she repeatedly declined any, and trying to make her have a pillow fight with him. It ends with her fleeing on foot through Beverly Hills while Prince drives after her yelling that he's going to kick the shit out of her.[[/note]]
* HarsherInHindsight: The perception of the ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' incident as an attention-grabbing stunt at the time is certainly this, given than O'Connor was actually [[CassandraTruth right about everything.]] In the next year or two, it became public knowledge that literally ''thousands'' of children had been abused by Irish clergy, and the Irish church had spent years organizing a massive cover-up. It later became apparent that the phenomenon wasn't just confined to Ireland. ''Film/{{Spotlight}}'' winning the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Picture in 2016 is a sign that mainstream culture now accepts that sexual abuse by the Catholic clergy isn't just something that Sinead O'Connor kept going on and on about. If anything, the release of ''Film/{{Spotlight}}'' just made people realize that she was, tragically, only ahead of the rest of us by more than ten years, taking into account the child abuse she suffered.
** The music journalist Neil [=McCormick=], reviewing O'Connor's memoir, noted that a few years after the extent of child abuse by the clergy had become a public scandal in Ireland, a mural appeared on a wall in Dublin saying ''Sorry, Sinéad, You Were Right All Along."
* OvershadowedByControversy: Constantly. She spoke her mind, regardless of the consequences, and it often drew more attention than her music.

* NeverLiveItDown: Ripping up a picture of the Pope on ''Saturday Night Live''. By the time of her passing, she still considered it the proudest moment of her career.
** Ironically, outside America where ''SNL'' isn't aired, and possibly Ireland where the predominantly Catholic population kicked up a fuss, that incident itself is either unheard of or a footnote, and all she's usually remembered for is "Nothing Compares 2 U". The public opinion of the incident in the United States has also changed over the years, after it was revealed that child abuse by Catholic clergy was a very real issue, particularly after the 2002 abuse scandal in Boston that ''Spotlight'' dramatizes.

* HarsherInHindsight: The perception of the ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' incident as an attention-grabbing stunt at the time is certainly this, given than O'Connor was actually [[CassandraTruth right about everything.]] In the next year or two, it became public knowledge that literally ''thousands'' of children had been abused by Irish clergy, and the Irish church had spent years organizing a massive cover-up. It later became apparent that the phenomenon wasn't just confined to Ireland. ''Film/{{Spotlight}}'' winning the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Picture in 2016 is a sign that mainstream culture now accepts that sexual abuse by the Catholic clergy isn't just something that Sinead O'Connor keeps going on and on about. If anything, the release of ''Film/{{Spotlight}}'' just made people realize that she was, tragically, only ahead of the rest of us by more than ten years, taking into account the child abuse she suffered.

* NeverLiveItDown: Ripping up a picture of the Pope on ''Saturday Night Live''. As of 2021, she still considers it the proudest moment of her career.

* OvershadowedByControversy: Constantly. She speaks her mind, regardless of the consequences, and it often draws more attention than her music.

* VindicatedByHistory: Though it hasn't restored her to her previous fame, she has a loyal fanbase and a lot of critics and fellow musicians who lionize her work and view her as a major influence. The SNL incident has also been seen in a different light over time due to the depth of horrific sexual abuse among the Catholic Church, both in the United States and her native Ireland, becoming much clearer.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: It's generally agreed these days that ''this'' is why the photo incident did so much damage to her career. It's not that she tore up a picture of the Pope, it's that she did it ''without warning or context''. Had she said instead, "The Catholic Church has covered up hundreds of cases of child abuse for decades - fight the ''real'' enemy!" (or something similar) and ''then'' torn up the photo, it's quite likely she would have survived the blowback.