Sinéad O’Connor, Irish musician, has died at 56.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad,” the singer’s family said in a statement reported Wednesday by the BBC and RTE. “Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.”
No cause of death has been revealed at this time.
O’Connor gained fame in the 90’s following the release of her hit song, “Nothing Compares 2 U.” The song was named the number one world single in 1990 by the Billboard Music Awards, according to the Irish Times.
“Nothing Compares 2 U” received three Grammy nominations and was the featured track off her acclaimed album “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got,” which helped lead Rolling Stone to name her Artist of the Year in 1991. “She proved that a recording artist could refuse to compromise and still connect with millions of listeners hungry for music of substance,” the magazine declared.
Shortly after, the singer-songwriter tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II on “Saturday Night Live.” However, O’Connor saw the move as putting her career “on the right track.”
“I feel that having a No. 1 record derailed my career,” O’Connor wrote in her memoir, according to the New York Times, “and my tearing the photo put me back on the right track.”
She wrote about her rise to fame, saying, “The media was making me out to be crazy because I wasn’t acting like a pop star was supposed to act.”
“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.”
She was a lifelong non-conformist – she would say that she shaved her head in response to record executives pressuring her to be conventionally glamorous – but her political and cultural stances and troubled private life often overshadowed her music.
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O’Connor announced she was retiring from music in 2003, but she continued to record new material. Her most recent album was “I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss,” released in 2014.
O’Connor is survived by three of her children. Her fourth child, Shane, was found dead in Ireland in January 2022 after the Irish singer-songwriter notified authorities that he had gone missing. Police said the missing person case was closed after a body was found in the eastern coastal town of Bray, about 12 miles south of Dublin.
“The very light of my life, decided to end his earthly struggle today and is now with God,” O’Connor wrote on Twitter at the time. “May he rest in peace and may no one follow his example. My baby, I love you so much. Please be at peace.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.