Russell Crowe is reflecting on a chance encounter he had with the late Sinéad O’Connor, who died earlier this week at 56.
The “Les Misérables” actor took to his Twitter account Wednesday night to recount a story of when he was working in Ireland last year and was introduced to the Irish singer.
Sitting outside a pub with a group of friends, “a woman with purpose strode past us,” Crowe recalled. “Puffy parker zipped to the nape and her bowed head covered in a scarf. One of my new friends muttered an exclamation, jumped up and pursued the woman. Thirty metres down the road the friend and the woman embraced and he (waved) me over. There under streetlights with mist on my breath, I met Sinéad. She looked in my eyes, and uttered with disarming softness, ‘Oh, it’s you, Russell.'”
O’Connor came back with Crowe and his friend to their table, where she ordered a hot tea and proceeded to talk about everything from American politics to pop culture.
“I had the opportunity to tell her she was a hero of mine,” Crowe continued. “When her second cup was taking on the night air, she rose, embraced us all and strode away into the fog-dimmed streetlights. We sat there the four of us and variously expressed the same thing: What an amazing woman. Peace be with your courageous heart, Sinéad.”
Sinéad O’Connor:Pink and Brandi Carlile perform ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ as tribute
O’Connor’s family announced Wednesday that the Grammy-winning musician died, although her cause of death is unknown.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad,” they said in a statement obtained by the BBC. “Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.”
O’Connor was best known for her striking 1990 cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for three Grammys. Uncompromising, and at times divisive, she released her last album, “I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss,” in 2014.
Sinéad O’Connor:Acclaimed and controversial singer dies at 56
