Muslim Irish singer Sinead O’Connor dies

DUBLIN: Sinead O’Connor, the Irish singer known for her evocative voice, 1990 chart-topper “Nothing Compares 2 U” and outspoken views, has died at the age of 56, Irish media said on Wednesday.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinead. Her family and friends are devastated and request privacy at this very difficult time,” RTE reported.

Her unmistakably brash look, her shaved head, pained expression, and shapeless wardrobe was a direct challenge to pop culture’s ideas of femininity and sexuality. O’Connor changed the image of women in music.

O’Connor crashed onto the global music scene with her mesmerizing version of “Nothing Compares 2 U”, originally written by Prince and accompanied by a music video in which she faced directly into the camera and cried.

She was also famous for her outspoken views on religion, sex, feminism and war. She will be remembered in some quarters for ripping up a photo of Pope John Paul II during a 1992 television appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” declaring: “Fight the real enemy”.

Her criticisms of Catholicism were especially controversial in parts of Ireland but also a representation of society’s shift away from the Church, whose deep influence began to collapse later that decade over a string of clerical child sex abuse scandals.

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

The circumstances of her death are unclear.

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