Sinéad O'Connor Dead at 56

The "Nothing Compares 2 U" singer had struggled for years with her mental health, and announced her retirement in 2021.

Transcript

00:00 Irish singer Sinead O'Connor has died.

00:03 Her family confirmed the sad news

00:13 Wednesday in a statement to RTE.

00:15 O'Connor broke through in 1990 with

00:17 her number one hit Nothing compares

00:19 to you, which was nominated for

00:22 four Grammy Awards in 1991,

00:23 though she would boycott that year

00:26 ceremony writing in an open letter

00:28 to the Academy quote acknowledges

00:30 mostly the commercial side of art.

00:32 Two years after that,

00:33 O'Connor made headlines again with

00:35 the now infamous appearance on

00:37 Saturday Night Live tearing up

00:38 a photo of the Pope on air.

00:40 The stunt sparked serious backlash,

00:42 though she later said she had no regrets.

00:45 She went on to release 10

00:46 albums over her career.

00:48 In 2021, she announced her

00:49 retirement from music and touring,

00:51 writing that she'd gotten older and was tired.

00:54 But days later she reversed course,

00:55 saying in part, I love my job.

00:58 And in spite of her complicated success,

01:00 O'Connor's life was marred by tragedy

01:02 and mental health struggles.

01:03 In 2020 she announced she'd entered rehab.

01:06 Then two years later in January of 2022,

01:09 she revealed her 17 year old son.

01:11 Shane had died.

01:12 Sinead O'Connor was 56 years old.