Sinéad O’Connor dead aged 56 – Legendary singer dies just 18 months after devastating loss of son Shane
IRISH music icon Sinéad O’Connor has died aged 56.
The singer found worldwide fame with her epic ballad Nothing Compares 2 U in 1990 – one of the standout songs of the decade.
Her death comes just 18 months after the devastating loss of 17-year-old Shane O’Connor, who passed away in January last year after he went missing from Tallaght Hospital after years of struggling with mental health issues.
Sinead described him as the “light of my life”, adding: “My baby. I love you so much. Please be at peace.”
The singer has been married four times and has three other children, Jake Reynolds, Roisin Waters and Yeshua Francis Neil Bonadio.
Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has led tributes to the singing sensation, describing Sinead as being “loved around the world”.
He said: “Really sorry to hear of the passing of Sinéad O’Connor. Her music was loved around the world and her talent was unmatched and beyond compare.
“Condolences to her family, her friends and all who loved her music.
Comedian Dara O’Briain wrote: “Sinead O’Connor has died. That’s just very sad news. Poor thing.
“I hope she realised how much love there was for her.”
The star’s career has been defined by controversial moments due to her strong views and conversion to Islam in 2018.
In a final social media post in June 2016, she posted a black and white headshot captioned: “Love the life you have and be grateful for what you are!!!”
She was born in Glenageary, County Dublin on December 8, 1966, and was one of five children raised Roman Catholic.
Her troubled teenage years, involving shoplifting and truancy, saw her placed in the Magdalene asylums for 18 months.
There she began to discover her love of singing and in 1984 she met Colm Farrelly, with whom she formed a band called Ton Ton Macoute.
However, her mum died in a car crash the following year, resulting in Sinead leaving the band and moving to London.
There she worked with a fired U2 record boss Fachtna O’Ceallaigh, who eventually organised for her to produce her own debut album, while pregnant with her son Jack.
Her first LP was a big success but her breakthrough hit came in 1990 – power ballad Nothing Compares 2 U topped the charts in 13 countries.
The music video – filmed close-up on Sinead’s face as she sings in a black polo neck – is now thought of as one of the 20th century’s most iconic videos.
Sinead said her tears in the video were genuine and that she was thinking about her mother while using the bel canto singing technique that helps express emotion.
She won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance in 1990 but boycotted the awards ceremony.
The singer went on to release eight more albums, the most recent being 2014’s I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss.
In September 2019 she sang Nothing Compares 2 U on RTE’s Late Late Show in a hijab, with the performance quickly becoming the most-watched in the history of the show.
It garnered 1.6million plays on the RTE Twitter account by September 12, with another 800,000 plays on YouTube.
On October 25, 2018, Sinead, who was ordained a priest by a Catholic sect during the 1990s, announced she had converted to Islam, and changed her name to Shuhada’ Davitt.
The singer tweeted a picture of herself wearing a hijab and told fans: “This is to announce that I am proud to have become a Muslim.”
“This is the natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian’s journey.
“All scripture study leads to Islam. Which makes all other scriptures redundant.
“I will be given (another) new name. It will be Shuhada.”
Sinead changed her name last year to Magda Davitt, saying in an interview that she wanted to be “free of parental curses”.