Sinéad O’Connor, 'Nothing Compares 2 U' Singer Who Had Struggled with Mental Health, Dies at 56

Sinéad O’Connor, the Irish singer whose cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U" was the biggest hit single of 1990, died Wednesday at 56.

The Irish Times reported the singer’s death, but no cause was given. Her family confirmed in a statement to RTE, "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."

The news comes less than two years after her son Shane O'Connor took his own life at just 17.

According to DailyMail.com, O’Connor shared a painful message about her son’s death last month, tweeting, “Been living as undead night creature since. . He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul. We were one soul in two halves. He was the only person who ever loved me unconditionally. I am lost in the bardo without him.”

It was not her first concerning tweet about her son. Shortly after his suicide, she had tweeted,  "There is no point living without him. Everything I touch, I ruin. I only stayed for him. And now he's gone. I've destroyed my family. My kids don't want to know me."

After that message, she was hospitalized and put under suicide watch, another in a long line of mental health challenges that sprang from what she called an abusive childhood. She was diagnosed with PTSD and bipolar disorder, and was mentally drained after a 2015 radical hysterectomy.

"When I had the surgery, I was terribly triggered," she admitted to People magazine.

O'Connor was born December 8, 1966, in Dublin. Her debut album, "The Lion and the Cobra" (1987), was a major success, particularly in Europe and on U.S. college radio. Her follow-up, "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got," was one of 1990's top sellers, fueled by the phenomenal success of "Nothing Compares 2 U."'

In 2014, O'Connor alleged that Prince had become "violent" in their only meeting after telling her she shouldn't swear in interviews, to which she had retorted, "F**k off!" In her 2021 memoir "Rememberings," she recalled he hit her with a hard object secreted inside a pillowcase.

In 1992, O'Connor's career was irreversibly damaged when she appeared on "Saturday Night Live" and, at the end of a cover of the song "War," produced an image of Pope John Paul II. Tearing it up, she declared, "Fight the real enemy." The unscripted moment earned her a lifetime ban from the show, tanked all record sales, and led to boos in high-profile gigs.

In 2021, O'Connor said it wasn't the "SNL" incident she regretted. "I feel that having a No. 1 record derailed my career," she told The New York Times.

She regularly avoided award shows and was loathe to do publicity, but wound up releasing 10 full-length studio albums between 1987 and 2014. Her chart topper "Nothing Compares 2 U" was her sole U.S. Billboard Top 40 hit.

O'Connor, a longtime supporter of women's rights who spoke out frequently about child abuse and racism, changed her name in 2017 to Magda Davitt. In 2018, she converted to Islam, changing her name to Shuhaha' Sadaqat, in spite of appearing professionally as Sinéad O'Connor.

She is survived by her three children Jake, Roisin and Yeshua.