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Sinead O’Conner passes away at age 56

By Larry Philpot on July 26, 2023

Sinéad O’Connor, the Irish singer and activist who rose to fame with her haunting rendition of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U”, has died at the age of 56. Her family announced her passing in a statement, saying they were “devastated” and requested privacy¹ ² ³

O’Connor was born in Dublin in 1966 and had a turbulent childhood marked by abuse and divorce. She began her music career in the mid-1980s, releasing her debut album The Lion and the Cobra in 1987, which received critical acclaim and international success. Her second album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got (1990), featured her signature song “Nothing Compares 2 U”, which topped the charts in several countries and won her a Grammy nomination⁴ ⁵

Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

O’Connor was also known for her outspokenness and activism on various social and political issues, such as child abuse, human rights, anti-racism, organized religion, and women’s rights. She famously tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live in 1992, as a protest against the Catholic Church’s handling of sexual abuse scandals. She also faced controversy for her views on Islam, converting to the faith in 2018 and changing her name to Shuhada’ Sadaqat ⁴ ⁶

O’Connor released ten studio albums in total, spanning genres from alternative rock to folk to reggae. Her last album, No Veteran Dies Alone, was released in 2021. She also wrote songs for films, collaborated with other artists, and performed at charity concerts. She was widely regarded as one of the most influential and original voices of her generation, inspiring many other female artists. She is survived by her four children, Jake, Roisin, Yeshua, and Shane, who died last year⁴