Sinead O’Connor Dead at 56
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Irish singer Sinead O’Connor has died at the age of 56. She was perhaps best known for her breakout hit, “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which was written by Prince.
The Irish Times was the first to break the news of her passing. O’Connor’s family confirmed her death in a statement to RTE saying, “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.” A cause of death was not immediately clear as of publication. Update: O’Connor was found dead at her London flat on Wednesday and her death is not being treated as suspicious, according to a statement released by Metropolitan Police. A coroner will determine the exact cause of death.
O’Connor released her 1987 debut album, The Lion and the Cobra, when she was barely 20 years old. The second single, “Mandinka,” allowed her to cross over to the US, where she performed the song on Late Night with David Letterman, and she earned a subsequent Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
With her follow-up album, 1990’s I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, O’Connor became a megastar thanks to her version of “Nothing Compares 2 U.” It became a worldwide hit, topping the charts in multiple countries including her native Ireland, the UK, and the United States.
The song’s haunting music video earned O’Connor the distinction of becoming the first female artist to win an MTV VMA for Video of the Year. Meanwhile, at the Grammys, O’Connor received nominations for Record of the Year and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, but withdrew her name from consideration.
In October 1992, O’Connor made an iconic appearance on Saturday Night Live during which she performed an a cappella version of Bob Marley’s “War.” As a protest against the Catholic Church and its long history of covering up child sex abuse, O’Connor held up a photo of Pope John Paul II to the camera and tore it into pieces. Nine years later, John Paul II would acknowledge the sexual abuse within the Church.
Though O’Connor was widely criticized for the incident, she didn’t express regret for her actions. “I am a protest singer,” she wrote in her 2021 memoir, Rememberings. “I just had stuff to get off my chest. I had no desire for fame.”
Over the course of her career, O’Connor released a total of 10 studio albums. She also collaborated with a range of artists, including Bono, Massive Attack, Mary J. Blige, and Roger Waters. Her final album, I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss, was released in 2014.
Throughout her life, O’Connor was open about her struggles with mental health. In a 2017 interview with Dr. Phil, she spoke about being abused as a child and her subsequent suicide attempts. In 2020, she entered a one-year rehab program for “trauma and addiction.” She explained at the time, “I grew up with a lot of trauma and abuse. I then went straight into the music business. And never learned really how to make a normal life.”
O’Connor changed her name to Magda Davitt in 2017, and then, following a conversion to Islam in 2018, she changed it again to Shuhada’ Sadaqat. In subsequent years, she continued to acknowledge and publish work under her birth name, O’Connor.
In January 2022, O’Connor experienced the tragic loss of her son, Shane, who was found dead in Ireland at just 17 years old. In the days afterward, O’Connor was hospitalized following a series of concerning tweets.
Earlier this month, O’Connor shared on her Facebook page that she had moved back to London and was finishing a new album planned for release next year. She also revealed plans to tour Australia and New Zealand in 2024, followed by Europe and the US in 2025.
See our list of O’Connor’s 10 essential songs that are not “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
Sinead O’Connor Dead at 56
Eddie Fu
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