Sinead O’Connor once called a fan dying of terminal cancer and spent the entire week with her “dancing, eating and drinking,” the fan’s grieving father has revealed.
The Irish singer, who died this week aged 56, contacted Louise Woolcock of Preston, Lancashire, in 1991, who had terminal cancer, her father has revealed.
Sinead had heard Louise’s story because the family was raising money for a local hospice that cared for the 20-year-old in her final months.
In a letter to Telegraph today, Louise’s father Philip Woolcock said his daughter was a “great admirer” of her music and was “thrilled” by the visit, saying he will always remember the Irish singer’s kindness.
“Sinead invited my daughter to travel to London to spend some time with her. Needless to say Louise was very happy. A few days later she met Louise at Euston station and, long story short, Louise had the best week of her short life,” he wrote.
‘They ate, they drank, they danced – but most of all they laughed irreverently. Sinead was at the height of her fame at the time and found it highly amusing that people would ask for Louise’s autograph when they were out.’
He added that his daughter returned home “exhausted” but “happier than ever.”
Sinead then sent her wine, flowers and letters until her death in 1992, even gifting her the platinum record of Nothing Compares 2 U and dedicating her.
Philip added that Sinead “never sought publicity for these acts of love and compassion.”
“Today my thoughts are with two remarkable women who will no doubt be laughing, dancing and singing somewhere,” he added.
Sinead O’Connor, pictured at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards, has died aged 56
The singer’s fans in Ireland, Britain and around the world are mourning her death at the age of 56
It comes as it was revealed. Sinead told neighbors she had returned to London from Ireland to feel less lonely, but shortly before her death she had cried and described being “devastated and depressed” after her son’s suicide.
The singer’s final days have been exposed by people speaking to her outside her new £3,000-a-month penthouse near Brixton, where she went unresponsive on Wednesday morning.
Residents of the luxury block in south London described seeing her on her large balcony “looking down” and watching the world go by for a long time. They also noticed that she would have her lights on and her windows and doors wide open 24/7.
In 1990, Sinead turned Prince’s little song Nothing Compares 2 U into a worldwide hit
Sinead O’Connor, left, and Chrissie Hynde in central London for the UK launch of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995
Others said she’d smoke outside the front door and grab them for a chat, and had no idea she was one of the biggest stars of the 1990s.
The Grammy-winning singer had said she was working on new songs and had plans for a world tour, but locals also said they felt “very sad” to see her struggle with sadness and loneliness.
Sinead was bipolar, but after her son Shane committed suicide aged 17, she tweeted that there was “no point living without him” and was soon hospitalized.
Pushpakumara Moragamana, 57, who lived across the road, said Ms O’Connor would stand outside the block smoking and chatting with neighbours. Ms O’Connor cried about how she felt “devastated and depressed” after the death of her teenage son.
Mother of four Mrs. O’Connor is survived by her three remaining children.
Sinead revealed she’s been living like an “undead night creature” since her son’s suicide last year in a poignant and desperate last Twitter post shortly before her death.
Shane, 17, took his own life in January 2022 after escaping from the hospital while on suicide watch.
Her latest video from the house where she died revealed that she was positive about writing new songs and touring
Ms O’Connor has struggled since her son Shane, 17, committed suicide in January 2022 after escaping from hospital while on suicide watch. She posted this photo with her son last week
She said, ‘He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul. We were one soul in two halves. He was the only person who ever loved me unconditionally.’
Sinead also posted a series of Spotify links to sad songs, including one she dedicated to “all mothers of suicide children.” She also posted links to How Can You Mend A Broken Heart by Al Green, as well as Curtis Mayfield’s Here But I’m Gone and No One Knows About A Good Thing.
The singer, born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O’Connor in Glenageary, Co. Dublin, in December 1966, had a troubled childhood.
O’Connor, one of five children, spoke out about physical abuse at the hands of her mother, who died in a car accident in 1985.
Her latest video from the house where she died revealed that she was positive about writing new songs and touring
At the age of 15, she was placed in a Magdalena asylum for shoplifting and truancy.
However, her musical talents were discovered while there and she released her first critically acclaimed album, The Lion And The Cobra, in 1987.
Her 1990 recording of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U earned O’Connor multiple Grammy Award nominations, and in 1991 she was named Artist of the Year by Rolling Stone magazine.
In her career, she recorded ten solo albums, wrote songs for movies, and collaborated with other artists, but she was also known for her controversial outbursts.
In 1990, O’Connor said she would refuse to go on stage in New Jersey if The Star-Spangled Banner were performed.
And the singer, who often spoke out about the child abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, made headlines two years later when she ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II while she was a guest on the American TV show Saturday Night Live.
O’Connor was later ordained a priest by a bishop of an independent Catholic group and announced that she wanted to be known as Mother Bernadette Mary.
In 2014, she revealed she had joined Sinn Féin and called for leader Gerry Adams to resign.
O’Connor worried fans in August 2017 when she posted a video to Facebook of her tearfully talking about “suicidality” due to her mental health issues.
Married four times, O’Connor announced in a 2000 American magazine interview that she was a lesbian and said she was bisexual in subsequent press interviews. She also spoke openly about suffering from mental health issues. During an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2007, O’Connor revealed that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had suicidal thoughts.
The mother-of-four told Winfrey that medication had helped her find more balance, but said it was “a work in progress.”
In 1990, Sinead turned Prince’s little song Nothing Compares 2 U into a worldwide hit
In 2012, O’Connor canceled a planned tour after her doctor told her to rest after a “very serious breakdown.”
And in November 2015, she posted on Facebook that she had overdosed in a hotel in Ireland.
The following month, she said she was kept in a hospital for mental health evaluation.
O’Connor was reported missing in the US in May 2016 when she failed to return from an early morning bike ride after posting a series of Facebook posts about her family. In October 2018, she announced that she had converted to Islam and changed her name to Shuhada’ Sadaqat.
After her son’s funeral last year, O’Connor posted a series of tweets saying she had “decided to follow my son,” but later apologized, saying she was hospitalized.
She is survived by her three children, Jake, 34, Róisín, 25, and Yeshua, 15.