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When Sinéad O’Connor rose to pop stardom with the 1987 release of her debut album, “The Lion and the Cobra,” the young Dublin-born musician, then just 20, was already a mom to oldest son Jake.
The “Nothing Compares 2 U” singer, whose death at age 56 was confirmed by her family on July 26, welcomed Jake with her first husband, John Reynolds. She went on to welcome two more sons, Shane Lunny, with Irish folk musician Donal Lunny, and Yeshua with American businessman Frank Bonadio, and a daughter, Roisin Waters, with journalist John Waters.
“I have four children by four different fathers, only one of whom I married, and I married three other men, none of whom are the fathers of my children,” O’Connor quipped in her 2021 memoir “Rememberings.”
“People always want to know why I have four children with four different men. I tell them it just happened that way. It wasn’t something I planned, but I didn’t feel like I had to get married for the sake of having a child,” she wrote.
In her memoir, she called her kids, “unusual, intelligent, loving, compassionate, spiritually advanced, funny, worthwhile, hard-working human beings,” and she “couldn’t be prouder” of them.
She continued, “If I have no other purpose in this life other than to put these four children on the earth, well, that’s enough for me to feel like I did something useful in this world.”
In January 2022, O’Connor mourned the death of 17-year-old Shane, who died by suicide.
Jake Reynolds
O’Connor was 20 when she and her first husband, music producer John Reynolds, welcomed her first child, son Jake Reynolds, three weeks before the 1987 release of her debut album, O’Connor wrote in “Rememberings.”
“Having Jake when I was very young had benefits, especially in that we were the best of friends. As he grew older, we became closer. We were often more like friends than mother and son, which I supposed is not necessarily always a good thing, bu we had a very beautiful relationship,” she wrote.
Jake Reynolds works as a head chef in a Dublin restaurant and has two children.
Roisin Waters
After the “Black Boys on Mopeds” singer and John Reynolds ended their marriage, she went on to date Irish journalist John Waters. The former couple welcomed a daughter, Roisin Waters, in 1995.
Roisin Waters works as a pastry chef, O’Connor noted in her memoir.
Shane Lunny
O’Connor welcomed son Shane O’Connor, whom she called an “extremely special character” and a “genius” in her memoir, with Irish folk musician Donal Lunny in 2004.
“He is the child who is most like me, I believe, to look at and by nature,” she wrote in her memoir.
In 2015, amid a custody with Lunny, O’Connor, who revealed in 2007 that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, posted on her Facebook page that she had taken an overdose, according to Variety.
Irish police later located O’Connor and announced that she was “safe and sound” and receiving medical attention.
In August 2017, the singer posted an emotional video on Facebook revealing that she was distraught over losing custody of then 13-year-old Shane, according to Variety. The singer stated at the time that she had wanted to end her life for several years and was only kept alive by her psychiatrists and doctor.
In January 2022, O’Connor announced on Twitter that Shane had died by suicide days after being released from a Dublin hospital where he was on suicide watch, said O’Connor.
“My beautiful son, Nevi’im Nesta Ali Shane O’Connor, the very light of my life, decided to end his earthly struggle today and is now with God,” she wrote.“May he rest in peace and may no one follow his example. My baby. I love you so much. Please be at peace.”
Yeshua Bonadio
In December 2006, O’Connor gave birth to her youngest son, Yeshua, whose father is her former partner Frank Bonadio. O’Connor said she was rendered “speechless” by hearing her son Yeshua play piano, calling him a “phenomenal musical talent.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com