Irish singer Sinead O’Connor, who changed her name to Shuhada’ Sadaqat after converting to Islam in 2018, has passed away at the age of 56. She rose to international fame in 1990 with her emotionally powerful cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.” The cause of her death has not been confirmed yet.
The sad news was confirmed by The Irish Times, and her family released a statement expressing their deep sadness and requesting privacy during this difficult time.
Throughout her life, O’Connor was an advocate for abused children, having endured physical abuse herself after her parents’ divorce when she was young. She was open about her struggles with mental health, revealing her bipolar disorder diagnosis on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2007. In 2011, she suffered a breakdown and later clarified that she was not bipolar, attributing her mental state to a lack of hormone-replacement therapy following a hysterectomy.
Beyond her music, O’Connor used her voice to raise awareness for various charities and causes. However, she also faced controversies throughout her career, most notably during a 1992 performance on Saturday Night Live when she protested child abuse by ripping a picture of Pope John Paul II while singing the word “evil.”
Tragically, a year before her passing, her 17-year-old son, Shane, took his own life in January 2022. O’Connor described Shane as the “light of my life” and checked herself into the hospital after his death.
In her final tweet on July 17th, O’Connor shared a photo of herself and Shane, expressing her profound grief and the feeling of being “lost in the bardo” without him.
