R.I.P. Sinéad O'Connor, acclaimed Irish singer

Sinéad O’Connor, the Irish singer known for breaking out in the ’90s with the Prince-penned “Nothing Compares 2 U,” has died, according to The Irish Times. No cause of death has yet been reported. She was 56 years old.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad,” her family said in a statement (via The Guardian). “Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.”

O’Connor rose to acclaim in the late 1980s with her album The Lion And The Cobra, which earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal performance. Her profile rose ever higher with her second album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, which featured the single “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Her striking look in the video—the signature shaved head, the single tear rolling down her cheek—made a huge cultural impact.

O’Connor made perhaps an even greater cultural impact in her outspoken political statements, some of which became so legendary that they may have overshadowed her art. In the early 1990s, she made waves for withdrawing from an appearance on Saturday Night Live because of the episode’s controversial host, Andrew Dice Clay. Later, and even more memorably, she was banned from the show entirely for ripping up a picture of Pope John Paul II during her performance, as a form of protest about child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Despite facing intense backlash time and again for the way she used her platform, she continued to be vocal about her principles throughout the entirety of her career, from turning down a Grammy in 1991 to dedicating her 2023 RTÉ Choice Music Award win to Ireland’s refugee community. “You’re very welcome in Ireland. I love you very much and I wish you happiness,” she said at the ceremony (per The Irish Times).

O’Connor continued to release music that explored multiple genres through the 2000s and 2010s, and had recently revealed she was working on a new album to be released next year (per Variety). However, in her later years the singer was beset by mental health issues that impacted her career. She had long been vocal about experiencing abuse in her childhood, and in 2007 opened up about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. (She later claimed to have been misdiagnosed.) On multiple occasions, her social media posts raised red flags that she might harm herself, most recently in the immediate aftermath of the 2022 suicide of her youngest son, Shane.

In 2020, she announced she’d be checking into a yearlong trauma and addiction treatment program. The following year, she released a memoir, Rememberings, that recontextualized her controversial career in her own words; that was followed by a 2022 documentary, Nothing Compares that further vindicated her as both an artist and a public figure.

Per The Irish Times, she is survived by her three remaining children.