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Sinéad O’Connor, Irish singer, dead at 56

Wed 26 July 2023 18:59, UK

The legendary Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor has passed away at the age of 56.

The Irish singer was best known for her studio career, releasing 11 studio albums and famously covering Prince’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’. She was also known for her duets with Peter Gabriel on the album Us, lending her vocals to the songs ‘Blood of Eden’ and ‘Come Talk To Me’.

At the start of her career, O’Connor came under fire for her infamous performance on Saturday Night Live. After performing a cover of Bob Marley’s ‘War’, O’Connor tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on live television while encouraging viewers to “Fight the real enemy”.

The backlash behind O’Connor’s comments led to her taking an extended break from music, not returning to alternative music until 1994’s Universal Mother. As her career progressed, O’Connor began to infuse traditional Irish folk traditions into her sound on albums like Sean-Nós Nua.

O’Connor’s death comes over a year after her 17-year-old son Shane’s tragic passing in January of 2022, taking his own life after escaping from a mental hospital. After his passing, O’Connor tweeted, “Been living as undead night creature since. He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul”.

O’Connor had been vocal about her struggles with her mental health throughout her life. After revealing a bipolar diagnosis on The Oprah Winfrey Show, O’Connor also made a post of Facebook in 2017 regarding how upset she was not to have custody over her children.

O’Connor is survived by her three children. As of yet, no official cause of death has been revealed.