Guest post by Jim Kerr

I first met Sinéad O’Connor in the late 80’s, not so long after she had become a mother.

Living in London at the time and she had become friendly with friends of ours, resultantly they all visited together when we were having a kids party one sunny afternoon.

Already an admirer by then, like the rest of the world I had fallen for the brilliance of her debut records. Aside from the music I was also aware of some of the publicity she had generated.

The thing I now recall mostly on meeting her that day, was the beauty of her soft spoken accent and the effect when she broke into what I can only describe as her 1,000 watt smile.
Much later, Charlie Burchill and I were fortunate enough to witness that same smile many times over within the walls of our dressing room, when Simple Minds toured with Sinéad.

Nervous before each show, then utterly relaxed in our company afterwards, the experience of that tour rewarded us with the opportunity to witness up close the magnitude of Sinéad’s exceptional talent, it was beyond colossal.
And as we do with all artists and musicians Simple Minds share a stage with, from then on we have always considered Sinéad as ‘one of us.’

It is for that reason, on the news of Sinéad’s passing, that we feel our hearts ache today.

Jim Kerr