Sinéad O’Connor’s will tells her children to milk her music “for all it’s worth”
Details have emerged surrounding the will of late singer Sinéad O’Connor, in which she instructed her children to take advantage of her unreleased music “for all it’s worth”.
O’Connor tragically passed away in 2023 after the Metropolitan Police confirmed she had been found unresponsive in her home in Herne Hill, south London. At first, a coroner ruled her death had occurred due to natural causes, after which it was revealed that she had suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. She was 56.
In new records obtained by The Sun, O’Connor left her family £1.4 million to her family following her death, an amount accrued after debts, legal fees, and funeral costs. Ex-husband John Reynolds, whom O’Connor was married to from 1987 to 1991, was also named executor of her estate.
The document, which was reportedly signed in 2013, also encouraged her children to release her music and “milk it for what it’s worth.” It reads: “I direct that after my death, and at the discretion of any of my children who are then over 18, my albums are to be released so as to ‘milk it for what it’s worth’.”
O’Connor, who converted to Islam in 2018, also instructs that she be buried in religious clothing, along with a copy of a Hebrew bible and her record Theology. She also urged her children to “dispense my ashes as they see fit.”
In addition, she gifted her guitar collection to her youngest son, 18-year-old Yeshua Bonadio, while intending for her religious items to be handed down to her late son Shane, who died by suicide in 2022.
O’Connor was laid to rest in Bray last summer, with industry names like Bono and Bob Geldof in attendance to pay tribute. Following her death, music industry figures rushed to honour the Irish legend, including Irish stand-up comedian and TV presenter Dara Ó Briain, who described it as “sad news,” adding, “I hope she realised how much love there was for her.”
Tim Burgess, lead singer of the Charlatans, described O’Connor as “the true embodiment of a punk spirit.” He commended O’Connor’s ability to never “compromise,” although it made her life more of a “struggle.” He concluded by wishing she “had found peace”.
As O’Connor became known for defying music industry norms and issues, others drew attention to some of her more controversially groundbreaking moments, like Morrissey, who scathingly claimed that the mainstream media “hadn’t the guts to support her when she was alive.”
O’Connor is survived by her three children: Jake Reynolds, Roisin Waters, and Yeshua Bonadio.
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