Allyson McCabe

NEWS: Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters won the 2024 ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award. I’m also contributing to the anthology Nothing Compares To You: What Sinéad O’Connor Means To Us, which is coming out in July 2025 on Atria/One Signal Publishers.

SYNOPSIS:

In 1990, Sinéad O’Connor’s video for “Nothing Compares 2 U” turned her into a superstar. Two years later, an appearance on Saturday Night Live turned her into a scandal. For many people—including, for years, the author—what they knew of O’Connor stopped there. Allyson McCabe believes it’s time to reassess our old judgments about Sinéad O’Connor and to expose the machinery that built her up and knocked her down.

PRAISE AND REVIEWS:

Allyson McCabe’s intensely engaging, thoroughly researched, and deeply personal critical assessment, Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters, makes a serious and sharply observed yet compassionate appraisal of its subject, inarguably among the most influential artists of the late 1980s and early ’90s. McCabe’s willingness to reassess her own dismissal of Sinéad’s work as being too pop to take seriously is rare; not many writers are willing to be honest about what they miss. Acknowledging that Sinéad's life story can be a difficult, contradictory mess, McCabe painstakingly relates this magnificent, irreplaceable artist's tale to her own heartfelt story, showing us in the process how and why so many of us also connect with Sinéad.

~Vernon Reid

Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters is a thought-provoking look at one of the most influential artists and activists of our time that ultimately asks, "Why did we abandon her?" In her time of need, when she needed support, when she stood by her values--her audience trusted the industry more than the artist. I hope this book is read by those who don’t know Sinéad’s story, and those that do will gain insight into the pain and punk ethos she still stands for. Allyson McCabe makes us all want to ask Sinéad for forgiveness and, one hopes, ask ourselves how we can do things differently.

~Sharon Van Etten

Sinéad O’Connor is a brilliant, fragile, and exceptionally courageous talent whilst blessed with the voice of an angel. Having been treated so carelessly by the world, this book underscores why O'Connor remains relevant and treats her with the reverence she so rightly deserves.

~Shirley Manson

Absolutely brilliant, heartbreaking, insightful, and personal.

~Margo Price, Literary Hub

Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters reassesses the oft-misunderstood songwriter and activist through a lens that is both historical and personal...Written in clear and provocative language...McCabe’s impassioned defense of O’Connor in the wake of her many controversies is both heartfelt and persuasive...our protagonist emerges from Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters as a conquering hero; having weathered abuse, cruelty, and prejudice, not to mention the usual unreasonable expectations too often placed on female artists, the courageous nonconformist emerges wounded but wiser. Ultimately—and most importantly—she is redeemed.

~Aquarium Drunkard

[A] very personal and thought-provoking account of the media’s role in [O'Connor's] stratospheric rise and ultimate implosion…A touching tribute. O’Connor has been the subject of recent and numerous articles, a documentary, and books (including her own), but McCabe’s take is unique in its critical analysis of the media and its attempts to silence and cancel O’Connor.

~Library Journal

I've been waiting for a book like McCabe's because...grappling with what happened to O'Connor—at her peak no less—carries important lessons that resonate today. The woman behind that sublime voice was a fierce, complicated, tormented, defiant badass. Yet somehow, she remains an enigma—despite publishing a memoir—because of how quickly and completely she was discarded from the music world for refusing to compromise her beliefs. The industry and world have ostensibly changed, but it's essential to remember and honor those who went before us.

~Tertulia

McCabe skillfully renders the artist’s rise and ahead-of-her-time activism against the sociopolitical landscape of the 1980s and ’90s, persuasively rescuing O’Connor’s reputation from a mainstream media narrative that “all too often dismissed [her] as a slow-motion train wreck.” Fans will be riveted.

~Publishers Weekly

This book sets a new standard in music criticism because McCabe takes O’Connor at face value, which meant dealing with her contradictions, mistakes, and foibles. She is caring and sympathetic without being soft or saccharine. In doing so, she reveals the real person behind the art while also delving into heady concepts surrounding personhood, creativity, and how they must be examined separately and together. It is a deeply personal reflection on who Sinead was and is, and is compounded with a thoughtful analysis of how people still profoundly misunderstand her life and art. Even if you don’t know O’Connor or her music, you can apply McCabe’s passion for music and her critical eye to your own favorite artists.

~Treble

Allyson McCabe's book is a beautiful and compassionate meditation on silence, trauma, healing, and much more.

~KCRW

Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters doesn’t fall into the trap of automatic sainthood for all female artists, rightly calling out Madonna and Miley Cyrus’s careless and cynical targeting of O’Connor.

~The Irish Times

Released just two months prior to O’Connor’s death, this intimate and moving release from author Allyson McCabe reiterates the lasting impact she left behind. If you’re looking for creative context and thoughtful criticism of the media’s role in O’Connor’s personal and creative well-being, Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters is an essential read.

~American Songwriter