Sinéad O’Connor Dead at 56

Sinéad O’Connor, the Irish singer whose legacy with hits like “Nothing Compares 2 U” was complicated by her outspoken dedication to various social issues and a series of mental health struggles, has died. She was 56.

The Irish Times was the first outlet to report that O’Connor had passed, with a statement from her family that read: “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.” No cause of death was given.

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Though the “Nothing Compares 2 U” was nominated for four Grammy Awards in 1991, she boycotted that year’s ceremony, writing in an open letter that the Academy “acknowledge[s] mostly the commercial side of art.”

Born on December 8, 1966, Sinéad Marie Bernadette O’Connor—later to become Shuhada’ Sadaqat when she converted to Islam in 2018—released her debut album in 1987, The Lion and The Cobra. It charted internationally and was followed by her second album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got would become her biggest success with the single ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’, written by Prince. O’Connor (she would maintain this as her stage name) would go on to make 10 studio albums across her career, the last of which was released in 2014 titled I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss. But she would never conform to the presence expected, or demanded, of her. “The media was making me out to be crazy because I wasn’t acting like a pop star was supposed to act,” she told the New York Times in 2021. “It seems to me that being a pop star is almost like being in a type of prison. You have to be a good girl.”

Prior to her death, she’d released 10 albums, most recently 2014’s I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss.

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