Family confirms singer’s death
Irish singer Sinead O’Connor has died at the age of 56 after years of suffering from mental health issues. Her family confirms the news to The Irish Times, who were first to report the death.
“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 family writes.
No additional details have been revealed. The singer had admitted in the past to attempting suicide multiple times. Her passing comes 18 months after her 17-year-old son Shane took his life in January 2022 after escaping a hospital while on suicide watch. She is survived by three children.
In the days before her death, she shared her emotions about losing Shane on social media.
“Been living an 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,” she wrote on July 17th.
The acclaimed Dublin singer was most notable for her Prince cover of “Nothing Compares To U” which Billboard crowned a No. 1 global single in 1990. The pop star released 10 albums during her career.
O’Connor converted to Islam in 2018 and changed her name to Shuhada Sadaqat, although she continued to perform under Sinead O’Connor. She released a memoir in 2021 that tells the story of her fraught childhood, musical triumphs, fearless activism, and enduring power of song.
Last year, she released Nothing Compares, a feature documentary that charts OʼConnorʼs phenomenal rise to worldwide fame and examines how she used her voice at the height of her stardom, before her iconoclastic personality led to her exile from the pop mainstream. Focusing on O’Connor’s prophetic words and deeds from 1987 to 1993, the film presents an authoritative, richly cinematic portrait of this fearless trailblazer through a contemporary feminist lens.
