Shuhada Sadaqat is an Irish singer-songwriter who was born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O’Connor on December 8, 1966.
The Lion and the Cobra, her debut album, debuted in 1987 and reached the international charts.
After receiving rave reviews upon release, her second album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, went on to become her biggest hit, selling more than seven million copies globally. Nothing Compares 2 U, the album’s lead single and a Prince composition was named the top global single in 1990 by the Billboard Music Awards.
She legally changed her name to Magda Davitt in 2017, citing her desire to be known as “liberated from patriarchal slave names. untainted by family curses.” She changed her name to Shuhada after converting to Islam in October 2018 and before the middle of 2019 she also changed her last name from Davitt to Sadaqat.
Years after shaving her head as a statement against gender stereotypes, O’Connor claimed to have started growing her hair back, but she did so again after being questioned whether she was Enya. “If I don’t shave my hair, I don’t feel like myself. I’ll shave it even when I’m an old lady.”
