Two weeks before hear death, Sinead O’Connor revealed to fans that she was working on her 11th studio album and contemplating a world tour in support of the untitled work. In her last public post on Facebook, on July 11 O’Connor informed fans that she had recently moved back to London after 23 years and was “very happy to be home.” She also wrote that she finishing an album slated for release next year and plotting a world tour, including stops in the U.S., Europe, New Zealand and Australia.
O’Connor died on Wednesday morning (July 26) at age 56. In a statement from the London Metropolitan Police — which did not refer to O’Connor by name, as is official policy, but which was confirmed by British press reports to be in reference to the singer — officials said a woman [O’Connor] was found unresponsive at her South London home on Wednesday morning and pronounced dead at the scene. The Police noted that the deceased’s next of kin had been notified of her death and that it is not being treated as suspicious; a coroner’s inquest is to follow.
In a note on Thursday morning (July 27), O’Connor’s management sent their condolences to O’Connor’s family and thanks to their peers for the support over the years. “To our business partners in the industry who have been nothing less than devoted to Sinead and again have shown nothing but love and compassion for her throughout our tenure, that cannot be overstated. Sincere and heartfelt thanks. You know who you are,” they wrote.
“To the wonderful musicians, artists and supporting teams who have been nothing short of incredible in the time that we knew Sinead. Incredible as musicians and incredible as true friends to Sinead. Those that worked with her and those that supported her from the sidelines, thank you,” they added.
67 Management also confirmed that “Sinead was completing her new album, reviewing new tour dates for 2024 and considering opportunities in relation to a movie of her book” at the time of her death. O’Connor released her cathartic memoir, Rememberings, in 2021. “Wonderful plans were afoot at this time. Testament and tribute to those who have put their hearts first for Sinead, to whom we are forever grateful,” managers Kenneth and Carl Papenfus wrote.
“It has been an honour to have worked with Sinead professionally, as musicians, producers and her artist managers over the last nine years, but much, much more than that Sinead was family. May she rest in peace.”
While no additional information is available on the album O’Connor was working on at the time of her death and her management did not respond to requests for additional details on the project, her most recent full-length release was 2014’s I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss. At the time of its release, O’Connor explained the pugnacious title in a now-unavailable post on her official website: “Originally I had a different title, The Vishnu Room, but a few months back when I saw the phrase ‘I’m not bossy, I’m the boss’ and became aware of the Ban Bossy campaign, I wished I could re-name the album, since indeed it can be tricky being a female boss and I think Sheryl [Sandberg]’s campaign is a terribly important one.”
O’Connor said she became aware of the “Ban Bossy” campaign at the time and decided to re-appropriate it, as was her rebellious wont, before finding out that it was too late because the album art for her 10th studio collection had already been printed. “But last week, when the record company received the promo shots, which included the cover shot you now see, they asked could they change the planned cover to the current one, and that allowed me the opportunity of changing the title. Very happy girl,” she said.
Sandberg’s Ban Bossy campaign advocated for the elimination of the word ‘bossy’ to describe leadership qualities in women; Beyoncé was one of the high-profile supporters of the viral movement.
O’Connor had been mostly out of the public eye and had not released significant music in the years since Bossy. She released a cover of gospel great Mahalia Jackson’s “Trouble of the World” in Oct. 2020 to benefit Black Lives Matter. At the time, she told Rolling Stone that she was finishing work on a new album called No Veteran Dies Alone that she planned to release in 2022, and which was to include the Jackson cover.
“I’m writing more about personal matters, being a mother,” she said at the time. “The record is like letters to my children. The songs are very subconscious. I don’t know what the tone of the whole record will be, but that’s what it is so far.” O’Connor is survived by three children; her 17-year-old son, Shane, died by suicide in January 2022.
