The gifted Irish singer-songwriter who became a superstar in her mid-20s, but Was known as much for her private struggles and provocative actions as for her fierce and expressive music, has died aged-56. “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,” the singer's family said in a statement reported Wednesday by the BBC and RTE. No cause was disclosed.Recognizable by her shaved head and elfin features, O’Connor began her career singing on the streets of Dublin and soon rose to international fame. She was a star from her 1987 debut album “The Lion and the Cobra” and became a sensation in 1990 with her cover of Prince’s ballad “Nothing Compares 2 U,” a seething, shattering performance that topped charts from Europe to Australia and was heightened by a promotional video featuring the gray-eyed O’Connor in intense close-up.
She was a lifelong non-conformist - she would say that she shaved her head in response to record executives pressuring her to be conventionally glamorous - but her political and cultural stances and troubled private life often overshadowed her music.In 1999, O’Connor caused uproar in Ireland when she became a priestess of the breakaway Latin Tridentine Church - a position that was not recognised by the mainstream Catholic Church.She announced in 2018 that she had converted to Islam and would be adopting the name Shuhada’ Davitt, later Shuhada Sadaqat - although she continued to use Sinéad O’Connor professionally.“Her music was loved around the world and her talent was unmatched and beyond compare,” Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said in a statement on social media.O’Connor announced she was retiring from music in 2003, but she continued to record new material. Her most recent album was “ I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss,” was released in 2014 and she sang the theme song for Season 7 of the TV series “Outlander.” The singer married four times; her union to drug counsellor Barry Herridge, in 2011, lasted just 16 days. O’Connor had four children: Jake, with her first husband John Reynolds; Roisin, with John Waters; Shane, with Donal Lunny; and Yeshua Bonadio, with Frank Bonadio.