O'Connor于1966年12月8日出生于爱尔兰共和国首都都柏林。她的童年生活充斥着动荡与创伤:8岁父母离异,19岁母亲葬身车祸,在此期间遭受母亲的长期虐待---也许正是因为渴望母爱,才会有Universal Mother这张充满母性光辉的专辑诞生。她曾被天主教学堂开除,后因在超市中行窃被捕,并被送进少年管教所。
15岁那年,在为一个婚礼演唱Barbra Streisand的老歌"Evergreen"时,她的演唱天赋被Paul Byrne,一个名叫In Tua Nua的爱尔兰乐队鼓手发现。在合作完成了In Tua Nua 的第一首单曲"Take My Hand"之后,Sinead离开了寄宿学校,因为她找到了自己真正想做的事-音乐。她开始在咖啡馆里演唱。随后进入都柏林音乐学院进修声乐和钢琴。
1985年她和Ensign唱片公司签订了合约,并定居伦敦。接下来的一年,她完成了音乐创作的首次尝试---和U2的吉他手the Edge一起为电影The Captive配乐。但这次尝试远未达到她所设想的效果---歌曲中凯尔特民歌的味道太浓厚了---用她的话说是"太凯尔特了"。她决定自己坐上制作人的位置,并开始重新录制这张唱片。凭着从91圣歌中得到灵感,并巧妙地借鉴,她为电影the Lion and the Cobra制作音乐,由此诞生了1987年最受称赞的专辑,其中的两首单曲"Mandinka"和"Troy"交替打榜。
A Perfect Indian
sing by Sinead O'Cornner
A Perfect Indian is he
Remembering him life is sweet
Like a weeping willow
His face on my pillow
Comes to me still in my dreams
And there I saw a young baby
A beautiful daughter was she
A face from a painting
Red cheeks and teeth aching
Her eyes like a wild Irish sea
On a table in her yellow dress
For a photograph feigned happiness
Why in my life is that the only time
That any of you will smile at me
I'm sailing on this terrible ocean
I've come for my self to retrieve
Too long have I been feeling like Lir's children
And there's only one way to be free
He's shy and he speaks quietly
He's gentle and he seems to me
Like the elf-arrow
His face worn and harrowed
Is he a daydreamer like me