The star, best known for her No.
1 hit “Nothing Compares 2 U,” released 10 studio albums during her career.
She was 56.The Irish Timesalso reported the news.
Sinéad O’Connor.Michel Linssen/Redferns
Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time."
Representatives for O’Connor did not immediately respond to EW’s request for comment.
A cause of death has not been revealed at this time.
However, O’Connor has been open about her struggle with mental illness throughout her life.
She routinely criticized the Catholic Church and its handling of sexual abuse accusations.
Everybody treated me like I was a crazy bitch cos I ripped up the Pope’s picture.
We know I’m a crazy bitch, but that’s not why."
But O’Connor wore controversy like a badge of honor.
“I don’t do anything so that cause trouble,” she toldNMEin 1991.
“It just so happens that what I do naturally causes trouble.
I’m proud to be a troublemaker.”
“Music is always under attack.
The industry is so frightened of music that they want to silence it.
The industry was frightened of me,” said O' Connor.
“The industry asked: ‘What do we do with her?
Well, she’s very strong so we can’t kill her.
The next best thing is to make it look like she’s crazy.
In 2015, she underwent a radical hysterectomy, which led to multiple suicide attempts.
Her mental health was a lifelong challenge that she addressed candidly, often sharing her struggles on social media.
In 2017, she posted a video to Facebook, saying she was suicidal.
O’Connor had a public health crisis in 2022, following the death of her 17-year-old son Shane.
She published a series of tweets, writing, “There is no point living without him.
Everything I touch, I ruin.
I only stayed for him.
And now he’s gone.”
Shane, her son with Irish singer Donal Lunny, wasfound on Jan. 7after being put on suicide watch.
The light of my life.
The lamp of my soul.
You will always be my light.
We will always be together.
No boundary can separate us.”
Her first album, 1987’sThe Lion and the Cobra,brought her modest acclaim and a Grammy nomination.
The Purple One reportedly was not a fan of O’Connor’s version.
O’Connor told EW in 2021 that she never considered removing the song from her repertoire despite the altercation.
“The song wasn’t his, it was mine,” she said.
“It’s my song.
It never crossed my mind before I met him, or after.
I never heard him sing it before I recorded it.
I didn’t associate it with him at all.”
The accompanying video for “Nothing Compares 2 U” would become one of music’s most iconic.
More than 4,000 people called NBC to complain about the incident.
It was also during this period that O’Connor gave birth to her two youngest children.
“The two of us, without meaning to, did quite a good job.”
That incident in 2011 wasn’t the only time the public got a glimpse of O’Connor’s personal demons.
Over the years she has spoken openly about depression.
“It was a journey towards happiness.
There are certain artists… that are on a journey but they never got to joy.
I was determined I was getting there.”
O’Connor postponed the album following the death of her son in 2022.
She is also survived by a grandson by her son Jake and his girlfriend Lia.
O’Connor was most recently married to Barry Herridge.
They wed in 2011 and announced their split 17 days later, only to reunite in 2012.
