IRISH MUSIC LEGEND SINEAD O’CONNOR, DIES AT 56!

 Irish singer Sinead O’Connor has died at the age of 56, it was reported last night

By CHRIS MATTHEWS/DailyMail/UK 

Sinead O’Connor has died at the age of 56 after years of mental health battles, her ‘devastated’ family confirmed.

The Irish singer shot to stardom across the world in 1990 by her heartrending cover of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U.

It comes a year after the mother-of-four’s son Shane, 17, took his life in January 2022 after escaping hospital while on suicide .At the time of her death, the musician, who changed her name to Shuhada’ Sadaqat in 2018 when she converted to Islam, was thought to be spending her time between Co Roscommon, Ireland, and London.

In her last Tweet, O’Connor posted a photo of Shane and said: ‘Been living as undead night creature since. He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul. +13View gallery

Irish music legend Sinead O’Connor has died at the age of 56, it was reported last night+13View gallery

The Irish singer shot to stardom across the world in 1990 by her heartrending cover of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U+13View gallery

At the time of her death, the musician, who changed her name to Shuhada’ Sadaqat in 2018 when she converted to Islam, was thought to be spending her time between Co Roscommon, Ireland, and London+13View gallery

After signing with Ensign Records she released her first album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got in 1990, which sold more than seven million copies+13View gallery

The album also included her breakthrough hit Nothing Compares 2 U, a cover of one of Prince’s songsTRENDING

‘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.’

The mother-of-four also posted a series of Spotify links to relatively sad and heart breaking songs, including one she dedicated to ‘all mothers of Suicided children’.

In a statement, O’Connor’s family said: ‘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.’

Tributes have been pouring in for the adored singer after her death was announced.

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar 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. 

‘Ar dheis Dé go Raibh a hAnam. [Rest in peace.]’

Comedian Dara O’Briain said: ‘Ah s****, Sinead O’Connor has died. That’s just very sad news. Poor thing. I hope she realised how much love there was for her.’

O’Connor was born into a troubled family in Dublin on December 8, 1966.

Later in her life she claimed she started having mental health issues because her mother physically and sexually abused her as a child.

She was placed in corrective school aged 15 after bouts of stealing. An Grianán Training Centre, in Dublin was previously a notorious Magdalene laundry for ‘fallen women’.+13View gallery

The singer was known to have had years of mental health battles before her death was reported last night+13View gallery

It comes a year after the mother-of-four’s son Shane, 17, took his own life in January 2022 after escaping hospital while on suicide watch+13View gallery

In her last Tweet, O’Connor posted a photo of Shane and said: ‘Been living as undead night creature since. He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul’+13View gallery

She added: ‘We were one soul in two halves. He was the only person who ever loved me unconditionally’Sinead O’Connor delivers a powerful live performance on GMBLoaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00PreviousPlaySkipMuteCurrent Time0:00/Duration Time0:50FullscreenNeed Text+13View gallery

In the years after her breakthrough she wrote other hits including You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart – for the soundtrack of Daniel Day-Lewis film In the Name of the Father – Drink Before The War and This Is The Day

Comedian Dara O’Briain said: ‘Ah s****, Sinead O’Connor has died. That’s just very sad news. Poor thing. I hope she realised how much love there was for her’

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar 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. Ar dheis Dé go Raibh a hAnam [Rest in peace]’

Although O’Connor said it was no longer an abusive place, she said being kept away from her family was upsetting.

However, one of the nuns there spotted her musical talent and bought her a guitar and pushed her to have lessons. 

Through an advert in a Dublin music magazine she met Colm Farrelly and together formed the band Ton Ton Macoute, which brough O’Connor to the attention of the global music industry.

After signing with Ensign Records she released her first album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got in 1990, which sold more than seven million copies and included her breakthrough hit Nothing Compares 2 U.+13View gallery

Ms O’Connor has struggled with mental health issues for years, especially since her son Shane, 17, took his own life in January 2022, after escaping hospital while on suicide watch. She posted this photo with her son last week+13View gallery

Sinead O’Connor (pictured in 1990) shared how she had been living as an ‘undead night creature’ since her son’s suicide last year in a final Twitter post

In the years after her breakthrough she wrote other hits including You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart – for the soundtrack of Daniel Day-Lewis film In the Name of the Father – Drink Before The War and This Is The Day.

She released 10 studio albums in her career, and Nothing Compares 2 U was named the number one world single in 1990 by the Billboard Music Awards.

Long known as much for her shaved head and outspoken views on religion, sex, feminism and war as for her music, she will be remembered in some quarters for ripping up a photo of Pope John Paul II during a television appearance on ‘Saturday Night Live.’

Brash and outspoken – her shaved head, pained expression, and shapeless wardrobe a direct challenge to popular culture’s long-prevailing notions of femininity and sexuality – O’Connor changed the image of women in music in the early 1990s. 

‘Everyone wants a pop star, see?’ she wrote in her 2021 memoir Rememberings. ‘But I am a protest singer. I just had stuff to get off my chest. I had no desire for fame.’

O’Connor is survived by her three children.