Sinead O’Connor dead at 56

Irish music star Sinead O'Connor has died, aged 56, just 18 months after her 17-year-old son tragically lost his life.

In a statement, the singer and songwriter'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."

Her death comes 18 months after the mother-of-four's son Shane, 17, took his own life in January 2022 after escaping hospital while on suicide watch.

Writing on social media following his death, she said he had "decided to end his earthly struggle" and requested "no-one follows his example".

In her last Tweet, O'Connor posted a photo of her son Shane and said: 'Been living as undead night creature since. He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul."

O'Connor had struggled for years with her mental health.

In recent years, fans had become concerned when she posted some public messages on social media that sounded suicidal.

 

In 2018, she converted to Islam and changed her name to Shuhada Sadaqat, however she continued to perform under the name Sinead O'Connor.

Three years later, she announced her retirement from music and touring, writing that she'd "gotten older" and was "tired".

But after a few days, she recanted, saying, "I love my job. Making music that is. I don't like the consequences of being a talented (and outspoken woman) being that I have to wade through walls of prejudice every day to make a living."

O'Connor had previously said that her mother psychologically and physically abused her and "spent a good time trying to destroy my reproductive system."

"It was a torture chamber, really," she told PEOPLE in 2012.

"But I forgive my mother; she just wasn't well."

The singer first gained international stardom in 1990 with her heart-wrenching cover of Prince's Nothing Compares 2 U, which was named the number one world single in 1990 by the Billboard Music Awards.

Her first album The Lion and the Cobra came out in 1987, entering the top 40 in the UK and US.

The acclaimed Dublin performer released 10 studio albums, her most recent one was 2014's I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss.

Though the song was nominated for four Grammy Awards in 1991, she boycotted that year's ceremony, writing in an open letter that the Academy "acknowledge(s) mostly the commercial side of art."

O'Connor was presented with the inaugural award for Classic Irish Album at the RTÉ Choice Music Awards earlier this year.

The singer was outspoken with her social and political views.

In 1992, one of the most notable events of her career took place when she ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II on the US TV show Saturday Night Live, where she was the invited performer.

Following an acapella performance of Bob Marley's War, she looked at the camera and said "fight the real enemy", a protest against the Catholic Church, the BBC reports.

The incident resulted in her being banned for life by broadcaster NBC and protests against her in the US. But O'Connor doubled down on her stance.

"I'm not sorry I did it. It was brilliant," she said in an interview with the New York Times in 2021.

She also detailed the incident in her 2021 book Rememberings.

"A lot of people say or think that tearing up the pope's photo derailed my career. That's not how I feel about it," she wrote.

"I feel that having a number-one record derailed my career and my tearing the photo put me back on the right track."

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar paid tribute to her, saying her music "was loved around the world and her talent was unmatched and beyond compare"

She is survived by three of her four children.

 

Originally published as Sinead O'Connor dead at 56