The Famous Story Behind 'Nothing Compares 2 U'
Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor died today at the age of 56. Her passing was confirmed by The Irish Times, and a cause of death has not yet been released to the public.
O'Connor had recently moved back to London after 20 years away, and was reportedly working on an album that was set to be released later this year. She was outspoken about her mental health struggles and the pain she felt from the recent loss of her son Shane, who died by suicide in 2022.
The singer leaped to international fame with the release of her first record, The Lion and the Cobra, in 1987. She followed that up with an even more successful second album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, which included her signature arrangement of the Prince song "Nothing Compares 2 U." The haunting track would go on to be nearly synonymous with O'Connor's name.
Unfortunately, O'Connor's recording of the song didn't mean that things were always copacetic between Prince and her. Here's what we know about the backstory of "Nothing Compares 2 U."
Related: Singer Sinéad O'Connor Dead at 56
Who wrote "Nothing Compares 2 U"?
Prince, who wrote hundreds of songs in his lifetime, is the artist behind "Nothing Compares 2 U." O'Connor stepped up to the plate in a major way when she released her own arrangement of the tune in 1990.
How did Sinéad O'Connor come to cover "Nothing Compares 2 U"?
According to Smooth Radio, O'Connor's manager Fachtna O'Kelly suggested she cover the song. O'Connor told the BBC of the tune, "I think I’m probably similar to millions of people who loved the song, and we’re all people who associated the song with a loss of some kind."
Related: What Is Sinéad O'Connor's Cause of Death?
What was Sinéad O'Connor's relationship with Prince like?
As reported by Billboard, O'Connor and Prince didn't actually meet until after her version of the song was recorded and released—and apparently the pair didn't get along when they finally did. It's unclear what kind of relationship the singers had, but O'Connor alleged that Prince once locked her in his home and suggested they have pillow fight—only to reveal that he had a hard object in his pillowcase. O'Connor said she ran from his property and he followed her in his car.
"I think he would have beat the s—t out of me [if I didn't get away]," she said.
Furthermore, Prince's estate refused to allow use of O'Connor's version of the song in the 2022 documentary Nothing Compares, which was about the Irish singer's rise and fall.
Related: Stars Pay Tribute to Sinéad O'Connor After Her Death
Sharon Nelson, Prince's half-sister and co-heir to his estate, told Billboard, "I didn’t feel she deserved to use the song. Nothing compares to Prince’s live version with Rosie Gaines that is featured on the ‘Hits 1‘ album and we are re-releasing that album on vinyl on November 4th."
She continued, "I didn’t feel [Sinéad] deserved to use the song my brother wrote in her documentary so we declined. His version is the best."
Whichever version of the song you prefer, it's not up for debate whether the O'Connor's rendition deserves a place in music history.
