Morrissey has made a number of highly questionable statements in the past decade, but its hard to argue with the sentiment behind a blistering blog post he wrote in the wake of Sinead OConnors death on Wednesday, slamming the music industry, the press, celebrities and others he perceives as paying hypocritical tributes to an artist many of them had previously ridiculed or even blackballed.
There is a certain music industry hatred for singers who dont fit in (this I know only too well), he wrote, and they are never praised until death when, finally, they cant answer back. The cruel playpen of fame gushes with praise for Sinead today with the usual moronic labels of icon and legend. You praise her now ONLY because it is too late. You hadnt the guts to support her when she was alive and she was looking for you.
The press will label artists as pests because of what they withhold and they would call Sinead sad, fat, shocking, insane oh but not today!, he continues. Music CEOs who had put on their most charming smile as they refused her for their roster are queuing-up to call her a feminist icon, and 15 minute celebrities and goblins from hell and record labels of artificially aroused diversity are squeezing onto Twitter to twitter their jibber-jabber when it was YOU who talked Sinead into giving up because she refused to be labelled, and she was degraded, as those few who move the world are always degraded. Why is ANYBODY surprised that Sinead OConnor is dead?
Some may take issue with his words, and its not hard to imagine that, as he acknowledges, hes seeing the cynical tributes that are likely to follow the aftermath of his own death. But theres also no question that OConnor, a troubled human being whod long acknowledged her own mental-health struggles, is now receiving fawning praise from some of the people whod mocked her.
Read his full post here.