Garbage, Billy Corgan and Ice-T lead tributes to the late Sinead O’Connor
Acclaimed Irish singer and activist Sinéad O’Connor has died at the age of 56, her family has announced.
“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,” read a statement by the singer’s family reported by The Guardian.
The news of her passing comes a year after her 17-year-old son Shane took his own life in January 2022. Her final social media post was a tweet of a picture of her late son with the caption: “Been living as undead night creature since. He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul.”
No cause of death has been revealed.
Born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O’Connor in Dublin on 8 December 1966, she rose to fame in the late 80s with her debut album ‘The Lion And The Cobra’.
Throughout her career, O’Connor released 10 studio albums, with her cover of Prince‘s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ reaching worldwide acclaim and peaked at Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 that same year.
Her rendition of the song topped the charts around the globe and earned her three Grammy nominations. The iconic accompanying video for the track, directed by English filmmaker John Maybury, became as famous as the song itself.
O’Connor would go on to have a falling out with Prince himself claiming in an interview with The New York Times that she faced a violent confrontation with the musician at his home after securing a hit with ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’.
Tributes have been pouring in for the singer from fans and celebrities across social media.
Outlander star Caitríona Balfe posted a photo of O’Connor to her Instagram page with a caption that read: “I hope you are at peace … and with your baby boy. Thank you for sharing your soul with us and soothing us with your incredible voice beautiful Sinéad. RIP.”
Garbage took to Twitter to share a photo of the singer with a caption that read: “I am heartbroken”.
The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan also took to his Instagram to share a photo of the Irish crooner with a caption that read: “I knew Sinead a little, having met her at a show of hers and then later when she was living at the Walker’s home outside of Chicago.”
He continued: “Fiercely honest and sweet and funny, she was talented in ways I’m not sure she completely understood. But Sinead stands alone as a figure from our generation who was always true to the piercing voice within and without. And for that I will always admire and respect her. And never forget that she was once cancelled for an act of simple resistance. Her crime? Tearing up a photo.”
Rapper Ice-T tweeted a tribute to her sharing: “Respect to Sinead … She stood for something … Unlike most people … Rest Easy..”
Check out more tributes to the legendary Irish singer below:
I am heartbroken . 🖤 pic.twitter.com/EDpYLEdU8M
— Garbage (@garbage) July 26, 2023
Respect to Sinead….. She stood for something… Unlike most people…. Rest Easy..🙏🏽 https://t.co/3nbO3w22zv
— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) July 26, 2023
Oh my God – Sinead. THE greatest voice of her generation, no contest. And so egoless: her harmonies on eg: John Grant’s “GMF” are so minimal, but lift it up into the cathedral rafters.
— Caitlin Moran (@caitlinmoran) July 26, 2023
I hope there’s peace for Sinéad at last pic.twitter.com/9EpvfA3EVb
— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) July 26, 2023
Nothing Compares 2 U. Heart broken hearing the news of the passing of Sinéad O’Connor, such an inspiration pic.twitter.com/bZVm4HXt0r
— Patrick Dexter (@patrickdextervc) July 26, 2023
RIP Sinead O’Connor.
She took a Prince song and made it her own and turned it into one the biggest hits of a new decade.
Took on the church when people were too afraid and knew it could (and would) destroy her career. pic.twitter.com/1D98iAg487
— Danny Deraney (@DannyDeraney) July 26, 2023
Though O’Connor made headlines for her music, she also garnered a lot of attention for her activism and provocations.
Most notable was her infamous SNL performance of Bob Marley’s ‘War’ in which she ripped up a photo of the pope and replaced the song’s lyric “racism” with “child abuse”. She ended the performance by saying “Fight the real enemy,” and would later go on to explain the move was in protest of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
The performance was met with a lot of criticism. Actor Joe Pesci threatened to smack her in his Saturday Night Live monologue, Madonna mocked her by ripping up a photo of a sex offender and saying “Fight the real enemy” and Frank Sinatra called O’Connor “one stupid broad”.
Earlier this year, O’Connor was presented with the inaugural award for Classic Irish Album at the RTÉ Choice Music Awards.
She dedicated the award for the album, ‘I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got’, to “each and every member of Ireland’s refugee community,” adding: “You’re very welcome in Ireland. I love you very much and I wish you happiness.”
O’Connor is survived by her three children Jake Reynolds, Roisin Waters and Yeshua Bonadio.