Irish Singer-Songwriter Sinéad O'Connor Has Died At 56
Grammy-winning Irish sing-songwriter from Dublin, best known for her 1990 cover of "Nothing Compares 2 U," Sinéad O'Conner has died at 56.
Legendary Irish singer-songwriter and musician Sinéad O’Connorhas reportedly died at 56 years old. Throughout her career, the artist released ten studio albums, the last being 2014’s I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss. Best known for her 1990 cover of The Family’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which was written and composed by Prince, the song was named the “#1 World Single” at the inaugural Billboard Awards.
Born in Dublin, Ireland on December 8, 1966, O’Connor achieved moderate success with her 1987 debut The Lion and the Cobra, which has sold 2,500,000 million copies worldwide. O’Connor’s sophomore album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, winning the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance in 1991.
The following year, O’Connor sparked outrage when she ripped a photograph of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live due to reports of children being allegedly groomed and sexually assaulted by Catholic priests. The move was controversial and marked a decline in O’Connor’s mainstream success, but the artist went on to become an ordained priest by the Latin Tridentine Church in 1999.
O’Connor’s mental health issues came to light during a 2007 interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where she shared her bipolar disorder diagnosis and attempted suicide less than a decade before, on her 33rd birthday. In 2022, O’Connor’s son, Shane, died by suicide. In the singer’s final tweet, she shared an image of her son, calling him “the only person who ever loved me unconditionally.”
O’Connor is survived by three children. Check out more tributes to her below.