Since then, while maintaining her singing career, she has
occasionally encountered controversy, partly due to her statements and
gestures. These include her ordination as a priest, despite being a
woman with a Roman Catholic background, and strongly expressing views on organised religion, women's rights, war, and child abuse.
In addition to her ten solo albums, her work includes many singles,
songs for films, collaborations with many other artists, and appearances
at charity fundraising concerts.
In 2017, O'Connor changed her name to Magda Davitt. On converting to Islam in 2018, she changed it to Shuhada' Sadaqat.[4][3][5] However, she continues to record and perform under her original name.
1980s
One of the volunteers at Grianán was the sister of Paul Byrne, drummer for the band In Tua Nua, who heard O'Connor singing "Evergreen" by Barbra Streisand. She recorded a song with them called "Take My Hand" but they felt that at 15, she was too young to join the band.[11] Through an ad she placed in Hot Press in mid-1984, she met Colm Farrelly. Together they recruited a few other members and formed a band called Ton Ton Macoute.[7] The band moved to Waterford briefly while O'Connor attended Newtown School, but she soon dropped out of school and followed them to Dublin, where their performances received positive reviews. Their sound was inspired by Farrelly's interest in world music, though most observers thought O'Connor's singing and stage presence were the band's strongest features.[7][12]O'Connor's time as singer for Ton Ton Macoute brought her to the attention of the music industry, and she was eventually signed by Ensign Records. She also acquired an experienced manager, Fachtna O'Ceallaigh, former head of U2's Mother Records. Soon after she was signed, she embarked on her first major assignment, providing the vocals for the song "Heroine", which she co-wrote with U2's guitarist The Edge for the soundtrack to the film Captive. O'Ceallaigh, who had been fired by U2 for complaining about them in an interview, was outspoken with his views on music and politics, and O'Connor adopted the same habits; she defended the actions of the Provisional IRA and said U2's music was "bombastic".[3] She later retracted her IRA comments saying they were based on nonsense, and that she was "too young to understand the tense situation in Northern Ireland properly".[13]
Her first album The Lion and the Cobra was "a sensation" when it was released in 1987[14] and it reached gold record status and earned a Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Grammy nomination. The single "Mandinka" was a big college radio hit in the United States, and "I Want Your (Hands on Me)" received both college and urban play in a remixed form that featured rapper MC Lyte. In her first US network television appearance, O'Connor sang "Mandinka" on Late Night with David Letterman in 1988.[15] The single "Troy" was also released as a single in the UK, Ireland, and the Netherlands, where it reached number 5 on the Dutch Top 40 chart.[16]
O'Connor named Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Bob Marley, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Pretenders as the artists who influenced her on her debut album.[17] In 1989 O'Connor joined The The frontman Matt Johnson as a guest vocalist on the band's album Mind Bomb, which spawned the duet "Kingdom of Rain".
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