Covers of songs made popular by the likes of Peter Tosh, Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Junior Murvin, Israel Vibrations and Max Romeo will comprise the forthcoming roots reggae album from Irish pop star Sinead O'Connor.

O'Connor. I had wanted to make a roots reggae album for about ten years now

O'Connor was in the island this past week working with producers including Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, Phillip 'Fattis' Burrell and Collin 'Bulby' York, putting together the finishing touches to the album, which is still untitled.

According to O'Connor, the project was one that she had envisioned for a long time and working with the famed duo of Sly and Robbie was like a dream come true for her.

"I have been dying to work with these guys for a long time. Ever since I met up with them five years ago while I was working on a project with Adrian Sherwood, I knew from then that I had to do something with them. I had wanted to make a roots reggae album for about ten years now," O'Connor told SunDay Lifestyle in an interview at the Music Works recording studio in Kingston early last week.

O'Connor, who made headlines in the 1990s when she tore up a photograph of Pope John Paul II during a performance on the Saturday Night Live television show, is renowned for her somewhat controversial persona.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, the now 36 year-old singer shot to instant fame and recognition in 1990 when her cover of the Prince-penned Nothing Compares to You hit the number one spot on the American pop charts. The song subsequently topped the charts in more than 21 countries around the world. "I was quite surprised that that song took off the way it did. I am still quite shocked about it. But it did change my life in a lot of ways," said O'Connor.

Ranked among the most distinctive and controversial pop music stars of the 1990s and sporting a shaved head and a shapeless wardrobe, O'Connor asserted herself not as a sex object but as a serious artiste.

Her parents divorced when she was eight, and her mother, who she claimed abused her, was killed in a motor vehicle accident 20 years ago. After being expelled from Catholic school, O'Connor was arrested for shoplifting.

She was then sent to reform school. After finishing boarding school, she performed in coffeehouses and supported herself financially by delivering singing telegrams. It was her studies at Dublin College of Music that helped to shape her musical aspirations.
"I went to London when I was 17 years old.

Up until then Irish music was my biggest influence. I discovered the music of John Lennon and Bob Dylan when I went to London. I then encountered Rastafarians and their music became the biggest influence on me," O'Connor explained.

Her debut album The Lion and the Cobra released in 1987, was hailed as one of the most acclaimed debut albums of that year. It spawned two radio hits, Mandinka and Troy. "I was pregnant with my first son when I was recording my debut album. He is now 18 years old.

He was born three months after the album was released. Making records is like giving birth to a child," said O'Connor. From the beginning of her professional career, O'Connor was a controversial media figure. During interviews to promote her debut album, she defended the actions of the IRA, which resulted in widespread criticism from many corners. She even earned the wrath of fellow Irish pop stars U2, whose music she termed as bombastic.

The tabloids took further notice of her when they gave widespread coverage to her romance with black singer Hugh Harris, as well as her outspokenness to politics. In the US, she became the target of derision for refusing to perform in New Jersey if the American national anthem was played before her appearance.

She earned the wrath of industry personnel including actor and singer Frank Sinatra. He threatened to 'kick her ass'. She even withdrew her name from the Grammy Awards despite earning four nominations. Weeks after ripping up the Pope's photo, O'Connor performed at a Bob Dylan tribute concert in New York, where she was booed off stage.

Asked if she regretted tearing up the Pope's photo, O'Connor said, "No I don't regret it. You don't make such a bold statement and then regret it afterwards. The main consequence for me for in that scenario was that I got to be myself."

O'Connor's decision to record a cover of the Prince recording Nothing Compares to You came as a result of some coercing by her manager at the time. 'My manager brought the song to me and he convinced me to sing it. I was a bit hesitant, but I just did it then," said O'Connor.

The album that contained Nothing Compares to You was I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. It was a big seller going multi-platinum worldwide. O'Connor hasn't had similar commercial success since then. "I deliberately went to make a strange album after that one. I wasn't concerned about putting out another record that was going to be as big or as successful as that record," she said.

Since she arrived in Jamaica, O'Connor said she was having a good time. "I love it here. It's my first time coming to Jamaica. I was hoping to work with Sizzla on this record. But apart from Sizzla, I would love to work with Buju Banton. I am strictly a roots person," O'Connor concluded.

Now a mother of three, O'Connor spent the last five years concentrating on raising her children. She took a brief retirement from the music industry, suffered a nervous breakdown and she even attempted committing suicide. Two years ago she released the two-disc album She Who Dwells.

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