Bob Geldof on ‘sorrow and despair’ of Sinead O’Connor’s last texts before death

Boomtown Rats and Live Aid legend Bob Geldof has opened up about the final text messages he received from Sinead O’Connor, describing them as of a mixture of “sorrow and despair” and “ecstatically happy”.

The I Don’t Like Mondays singer said that he had spoken to Sinead, who died last Wednesday aged 56, quite recently as he addressed the audience at the Cavan Calling festival in Ireland.

“There’s no other option, as all of you know, than to just keep on,” he said.

“Many, many times Sinead was full of a terrible loneliness and a terrible despair.

“She was a very good friend of mine. We were talking right up to a couple of weeks ago,” he intimated.

“Some of her texts were laden with desperation and despair and sorrow and some were ecstatically happy. She was like that,” he reflected according to the Irish Examiner.

He went on to dedicate the Boomtown Rats single Mary of the 4th Form to her and proclaimed: “It was her favourite Rats song, and she loved this band. She came to many, many, many, gigs as a girl.”

Sinead’s family confirmed her death in a sad statement, as police confirmed she had been “found unresponsive” at her London residence.

The Met Police have said the singer’s death is not being treated as suspicious. Her cause of death has yet to be announced and according to the London Inner South Coroner’s Court, an autopsy is due to be conducted, with results taking up to “several weeks”.

A statement on the court’s website elaborates: “The death of Sinead O’Connor in Lambeth was notified to the coroner on Wednesday July 26 2023.

“No medical cause of death was given. The coroner therefore directed an autopsy to be conducted. The results of this may not be available for several weeks.

“The decision whether an inquest will be needed will be decided when these results are known and submissions have been heard from the family.”

Earlier this month, Sinead had opened up out about her grief after losing her son Shane in January 2022 at the age of just 17.

In one of her final tweets before her death this week, the Nothing Compares 2 U singer told fans she had been “living like an undead night creature” ever since he passed.

She added her son was the “love” of her life and “the only person who ever loved me unconditionally”. The singer went on to say she felt “lost” without him by her side.