Sinéad O’Connor’s Will Instructed Children to ‘Milk’ Her Unheard Music ‘For All It’s Worth’

The will of late Irish musician Sinéad O’Connor has been revealed, with the singer’s children being urged to get as much value as they can out of her archive of unreleased music.

According to Irish probate records obtained by U.K. tabloid The Sun, O’Connor – who passed away in 2023 – left her family £1.4 million after debts, legal fees, and funeral costs. Her ex-husband, music producer John Reynolds, was named executor of her estate. 

Signed in 2013 ahead of her conversion to Islam in 2018, the document also requested that she be buried in priest clothing, and accompanied by a Hebrew bible and a copy of her 2007 record Theology, while noting her children may “dispense my ashes as they see fit”.

Meanwhile, O’Connor’s religious regalia was bestowed to her son Shane (who passed away in 2022), while her youngest son Yeshua was given her collection of guitars. The documents additionally instructed her children to ensure they get their money’s worth out of any recorded music that has not yet been released. 

“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’,” she wrote.

O’Connor passed away in July 2023 at the age of 56, with her death later being attributed to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. 

First establishing her presence on the music scene with her 1987 debut The Lion and the Cobra, O’Connor achieved further worldwide recognition with the release of 1990’s I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got. Peaking at No. 1 globally, including on the Billboard 200, the record’s success was bolstered by her cover of The Family’s “Nothing Compares 2 U”, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 and was named #1 World Single at that year’s Billboard Music Awards.

O’Connor’s final album, I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss, was released in 2014. Weeks before her passing in 2023, O’Connor had told fans she was in the process of completing an album which was planned to arrive in 2024, with a world tour set to accompany its release that would include stops in the U.S., Europe, New Zealand and Australia.

In 2021, O’Connor had also spoken to People about the advice she had given her children ahead of her eventual passing, telling them they should be prepared to call an accountant ahead of 911.

“See, when the artists are dead, they’re much more valuable than when they’re alive,” she told the publication. “Tupac has released way more albums since he died than he ever did alive, so it’s kind of gross what record companies do.

“That’s why I’ve always instructed my children since they were very small, ‘If your mother drops dead tomorrow, before you called 911, call my accountant and make sure the record companies don’t start releasing my records and not telling you where the money is.’”