Sinead O’Connor Targets Simon Cowell, Says He Has Murdered Music

Irish songstress Sinead O’Connor, who last week got into a war of words with Miley Cyrus after advising her not to “prostitute” herself, now has a new target in Simon Cowell, who she believes is responsible for the death of rock ‘n’ roll.

In an interview with Ireland’s “Late Late Show,” O’Connor said that the music of today is being overshadowed by the “money-making side” of the industry.

“I feel sorry for the murder of music and rock ‘n’ roll, which has happened because of the industry,” O’Connor said on Friday, according to Entertainment Weekly. ”Because of Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh — they’ve murdered music. I stand to say it on behalf of every musician in the world and they’ll agree with me.”

O’Connor added that music, especially rock ‘n’ roll, has the power to change things, and this is being “murdered” by music reality shows such as “Pop Idol” and “X Factor.”

She continued: “The industry has taken over so much...the money-making side of it, the sexualizing of extremely young people making records, and all the worship with money and bling and diamonds, all the Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh — it all amounts to the murder of music and that’s what concerns me.”

The 46-year-old also talked about her past experience in the industry, saying that her record company wanted her to grow her hair, start wearing short skirts and act sexy. “...that's why I shaved my hair. I wanted to be judged by my talent, if any, and not by how I looked."

On her feud with Cyrus, O’Connor said that her problem was with the 20-year-old’s antics, which include raunchy performances and going naked for music videos, and not with her music. This is one of the reasons that prompted O’Connor to pen an open letter to Cyrus, which was not well-received by the former Disney actress.

“Miley’s records are great records,” O’Connor said during the interview. “I’m asking whether it’s appropriate for 20-year-old women to lick sledgehammers for videos in songs which have no lyrical reference to any such thing in them. It’s an exploitation of someone too young to understand the dangers.”