Just days after Sinéad O’Connor passed, Phoebe Bridgers contributed a new essay to Rolling Stone in her honor, where she opens up about the lessons that the late musician taught her.
Bridgers also acknowledges the way that she was treated by the industry, simply for standing up for injustices.
“People and the media were not nice to her,” Bridgers wrote. “She was ostracized from so many things, and so many people thought she was a grumpy person. It’s abuse to be told to shut up and sing. It’s abuse to be worshipped and then hated. It’s such a sad and heartbreaking story.”
“She made me feel like I was allowed to stand for things,” she added. “It’s still hard, but I feel so lucky to be in a landscape where I can feel validated and my beliefs are taken seriously. And that world exists because of Sinéad’s sacrifice.”
Throughout the rest of the essay, Bridgers also jokes that she shaved her head at one point with O’Connor as inspiration. “I probably first heard her thanks to my mom, who had — and still has — the coolest music tastes,” she admits.
As for specific songs, Bridgers cites that “Famine” and “Black Boys On Mopeds” impacted her, too. She even covered the latter for KEXP’s YouTube session in 2020.