Sinéad O'Connor Legacy Album Dispute: Adele Bertei Accuses David Holmes of Exploiting Late Singer's Memory

Writer and musician Adele Bertei publicly accused producer David Holmes of "exploiting" the memory of late Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor in an Instagram post on July 30. Bertei claims O'Connor had cut Holmes from an unreleased album project during her lifetime after growing unhappy with his production direction. Bertei is the author of the book Sinéad O'Connor's Universal Mother.

How the dispute started

Holmes posted on Instagram around the third anniversary of O'Connor's death, revealing that the two had worked together in her final years on an album called No Veteran Dies Alone. He included screenshots of texts O'Connor had sent him, in which she called the album "really good" and said she wanted to "make records together until one of us drops dead." Holmes wrote that he wasn't sure the album would ever see release, but described it as a "stone-cold classic" and "a love letter to her kids and the world."

Bertei pushed back, alleging that while Holmes did record early tracks for the album, his post conveniently omitted that O'Connor later dropped him from the project over dissatisfaction with his production. "He's using those messages while leaving out that Sinéad ultimately dumped him," she wrote.

What Bertei is alleging

Bertei acknowledged that O'Connor and Holmes did collaborate early on and wrote material together, but argued that Holmes's social media framing gave the false impression he was the central driving force behind the secret album. She insisted Holmes should not "take sole credit" and urged the public "not to be fooled."

As for when the album might officially be released, Bertei said only that it would be decided by those O'Connor "trusted most" "when the time is right," without offering further details. NME has requested comment from Holmes's representative but had not received a response at the time of reporting.

Sinéad O'Connor's posthumous legacy

O'Connor died in July 2023 at age 56; her cause of death was confirmed as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Her last official album was 2014's I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss, and her final single was "The Skye Boat Song," recorded in 2023 for the TV series Outlander. Her funeral was held in Bray, Ireland, with Bob Geldof and Bono among those who paid tribute.