Sinéad O’Connor’s Secret Weapon Was Her Shaved Head

According to legend, the perpetual five o’clock shadow that studded Sinéad O’Connor’s skull for most of her life started out as a defiant fuck-you to the music industry—and, in particular, the record executives who wanted her to “tart” herself up a tad.

A 1990 profile in Spin magazine by music journalist Legs McNeil dutifully relates this tale. When record executives told her to act “girlie,” McNeil writes, O’Connor went to the barber and demanded her head be shorn.

O’Connor’s stubbly scalp was her most recognizable trait. It featured prominently on most of her albums, including her 1990 masterpiece, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got. It gave her a silhouette (all icons need one) and an edge.

Read more at The Daily Beast.