Phoebe Bridgers was inspired by Sinéad O’Connor to shave head in high school

Phoebe Bridgers shaved her head in high school to look like Sinéad O’Connor.

The 28-year-old singer paid tribute to the Nothing Compares 2 U hitmaker in an interview with Rolling Stone on Wednesday, a week after O’Connor died at the age of 56.

Bridgers admitted she was “obsessed” with the Irish singer and shaved off her head to mirror O’Connor’s look in the Nothing Compares 2 U video.

“I probably first heard her thanks to my mom, who had – and still has – the coolest music tastes,” Bridgers explained. “Even before I heard Sinéad’s music, I knew she was a revolutionary. I was obsessed with her and the Nothing Compares 2 U video.

“I even had a very, very short-shaved head in high school. I definitely shaved it for her. I have the worst-shaped head, so there weren’t many people I would have shaved my head for.”

The musician later started exploring O’Connor’s history, what she stood for and how she was “ostracised” for being outspoken about hot-button issues, such as child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

“It’s such a sad and heartbreaking story,” Bridgers lamented. “She made a huge sacrifice for women and for musicians and for people who believe in things. She was so not rewarded for it.”

The I Know the End singer once performed a cover of O’Connor’s 1990 political song Black Boys on Mopeds and admitted it was a difficult track to master.

“The thing about covering (O’Connor) is that she makes the hardest things to sing sound so easy. I had to practice Black Boys on Mopeds so much to even do a for-idiots version of it. Her vocal styling is unlike anything else,” she praised.

O’Connor was found unresponsive at her home in London on 26 July. Her cause of death has yet to be revealed.