Sinead O’Connor death latest: Tributes after Nothing Compares 2 U star dies aged 56

Last year, it emerged that Prince’s estate denied permission to use O’Connor’s version of “Nothing Compares 2 U” in Kathryn Ferguson’s critically acclaimed documentary about the singer, titled Nothing Compares.

Near the conclusion of the film, which is now available to watch on Sky and NOW, a message on screen reads: “The Prince estate denied use of Sinead’s recording of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ in this film.”

“Nothing compares to Prince’s live version with Rosie Gaines that is featured on the Hits 1 album,” Prince’s sister Sharon Nelson told Billboard in a statement in 2022, referring to a version of the song that debuted in 1993.

“I didn’t feel [Sinéad] deserved to use the song my brother wrote in her documentary so we declined. His version is the best.”

Prince and Sinead O’Connor famously did not have a good relationship. The Irish singer made a number of allegations against the “Purple Rain” musician – read more about that here.

Regarding O’Connor’s cover of his song “Nothing Compares 2 U”, however, Prince praised the song in 1990 – despite famously not being a fan of people covering his work.

While many are paying homage to O’Connor’s expansive musical and political legacy, others are remembering the singer for her 1990 cover of “Nothing Compares 2 U”.

After the release of her viral music video for her hit single “Wrecking Ball”, Cyrus (then 20 years old) told Rolling Stone magazine that she’d been inspired by the O’Connor’s accompanying visuals for “Nothing Compares 2 U” (1990).

In response, O’Connor wrote to Cyrus “in the spirit of motherliness and with love” and told her that it was not “cool” to be “naked and licking sledgehammers in your videos”.

During a 1992 appearance on SNL, O’Connor controversially ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II in a protest against the sexual abuse of children by the Catholic Church.

The move led to a huge and lengthy backlash – something O’Connor herself reflected on in her 2021 memoir, Rememberings.

“A lot of people say or think that tearing up the Pope’s photo derailed my career,” she wrote. “That’s not how I feel about it I feel that having a No 1 record derailed my career and my tearing the photo put me back on the right track.”

While it is her cover of Prince’s 1985 song “Nothing Compares 2 U” that is the most famous, Sinead O’Connor’s rendition of Nirvana’s grunge anthem “All Apologies” was also hugely popular.

Released just months after Cobain’s death, the song featuers O’Connor’s stunning, hushed vocals.

Today is Kate Bush’s 65th birthday.

The “Running Up That Hill” singer wrote a lovely tribute to Sinead O’Connor earlier this week in the wake of her death.

“A beacon on a high mountain. Sinead dind’t just move us with her incredibly emotive voice, she stood up with it,” wrote Bush on her website.

“I salute her. We were lucky to have such a magical presence move among us.”

In her life, O’Connor lived for a while in a cottage in Dalkey, a coastal Dublin suburb where she was able to find some anonymity.

As reported by The Guardian, director Neil Jordan told public broadcaster RTÉ: “I was walking down there and she was sitting outside on the bench, just smoking cigarettes and all these tourists were passing by and had no clue who she was.”

In the days since Sinead O’Connor’s death, stories of her kindness have surfaced.

One such story comes from Philip Woolcock who recalled how O’Connor had called his daughter, Louise, out of the blue after learning that she had terminal cancer in 1991.

“Sinéad had heard of Louise’s illness from some source, probably the press, as we were raising funds for our local hospice,” Woolcock told The Irish Mirror. “My daughter was a great admirer of her and loved her music.”

O’Connor invited Louise to London and proceeded to give his daughter “the best week of her short life”, taking her out to dinners, for drinks and dancing.

“During all this time, Sinéad never sought any publicity for these acts of love and compassion,” Woolcock said. “Today my thoughts are with two remarkable women who, I have no doubt, will be somewhere still laughing, dancing and singing.”

The award-winning documentary by Kathryn Ferguson has been applauded by fans for its “brilliant” insight into Sinead O’Connor.

While Nothing Compares was originally released in 2022, the film has only recently become available on Sky and NOW over the weekend. The timing of the release is coincidental given that it had been scheduled for months.