Lily Allen has slammed “spineless” tributes to the late Sinéad O’Connor.
The legendary Irish singer, who shot to fame in the 90s for her cover of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U, sadly passed away on July 26 at the age of 56.
Tributes have been flooding in for the songstress in recent days, with many describing Sinéad as one of Ireland’s “greatest talents”.
Lily took to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday to share her thoughts on the outpouring of love that has been sent to Sinéad after her death.
The Not Fair singer, 38, wrote: “It’s hard not to feel incensed when there are so many people posting about Sinead and how fearless she was, people who would never in a million years align themselves with with anybody who stood for something or had anything remotely controversial to say. It’s so spineless.”
“If you can’t stand up for people in life don’t do it in death.”
It’s hard not to feel incensed when there are so many people posting about Sinead and how fearless she was, people who would never in a million years align themselves with with anybody who stood for something or had anything remotely controversial to say. It’s so spineless. If…
— Lily Allen (@lilyallen) July 30, 2023
She later added: “It’s also troubling that people have seemingly felt so empathetic towards her but didn’t feel that they could show it or express it for some reason. until they died. what does that say about us ?”
Lily, who is married to Stranger Things star David Harbour, then retweeted a post by American writer Glennon Doyle.
It read: “why is everyone saying sinead “battled her own demons?” she was one of very few brave enough to battle real demons: child predators, those who protected them in God’s name, homophobia, greed that kills….. she battled demons, yes- but they were us, not her.”
Glennon added: “And bipolar and PTSD are not ‘inner demons.’ We no longer use archaic religious language that frames mental illness/ trauma as the state of being possessed by evil spirits or impure or divinely flawed.”
“Please let us stop demonizing brave women while they live and then sainting them after they die. Please let us honor Sinead by honoring our next inconvenient prophet, in real time. Love, Hope, Fury. G.”
Lily wrote: “this is what i wanted to say but far better articulated.”
this is what i wanted to say but far better articulated https://t.co/nXGhxRwsal
— Lily Allen (@lilyallen) July 30, 2023
Sinéad was pronounced dead on Wednesday, after being found “unresponsive” at a residence in London.
The London Inner South Coroner’s Court later confirmed an autopsy will be conducted, but the results could take “several weeks”.
The court statement said: “The death of Sinead O’Connor in Lambeth was notified to the Coroner on Wednesday July 26 2023.”
“No medical cause of death was given. The Coroner therefore directed an autopsy to be conducted. The results of this may not available for several weeks.”
“The decision whether an inquest will be needed will be decided when these results are known and submissions have been heard from the family. If an inquest is to be opened, the date of the brief public hearing will be provided on our website.”
On Thursday, the Met Police revealed Sinéad was found “unresponsive” at a residence in London before being pronounced dead at the scene.
In a statement to The Sun, cops said: “Police were called at 11:18hrs on Wednesday, 26 July to reports of an unresponsive woman at a residential address in the SE24 area.”
“Officers attended. A 56-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Next of kin have been notified. The death is not being treated as suspicious. A file will be prepared for the Coroner.”
Sinéad is survived by three of her children – Jake, Roisin and Yeshua.
Her 17-year-old son Shane was found dead on January 7 last year, after he left a hospital in Dublin – where he had been admitted for care.
The Dubliner described Shane as the “very light of my life”, and said she hoped he was now at peace.
She checked herself into hospital shortly after his death, after posting a series of worrying tweets.
In her final tweet, which was posted on July 17, Sinéad posted a photo of herself and Shane and wrote: “Been living as undead night creature since. 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. I am lost in the bardo without him.”
Sinéad, who changed her name to Shuhada’ Sadaqat in 2018 after converting to Islam, released 10 studio albums during her career.
The Grammy-winning artist also hit headlines in 1992, when she famously ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II during her appearance on Saturday Night Live in the US.
