New Delhi: Sinéad O'Connor, the talented Irish singer-songwriter who rose to fame in her mid-20s and was well recognised for both her strong and emotive songs as well as for her personal struggles and controversial behaviour, passed away at age 56.
As reported by BBC, the singer's death was announced by her family in a statement, "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 cause of Sinead's death is not disclosed yet.
She disclosed earlier that she was diagnoses with bipolar disorder. O'Connor said in a 2017 Facebook video from the motel in New Jersey where she was staying that she was doing it for the sake of others and that if it were up to her, she would be "gone."
O'Connor tweeted that there was "no point living without him" following the suicide of her teenage son Shane last year, post which she was shortly admitted to the hospital. Her last tweet, which was posted on July 17, had the words "For all mothers of Suicidal children" and a link to a Tibetan compassion mantra.
O'Connor began her career singing on the streets of Dublin and quickly gained international recognition. She is easily recognisable by her shaved head and multi-octave mid soprano voice with a remarkable emotional range. She gained popularity 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 enhanced by a promotional video featuring the gray-eyed O'Connor in intense close-up. She had been a star since the release of her debut album, "The Lion and the Cobra," in 1987. She claimed that she shaved her head in reaction to pressure from record executives to seem conventionally glamorous. Her political and cultural opinions, as well as her turbulent personal life, frequently overshadowed her music.
Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor took to her Instagram stories to pay tribute to the legendary singer as she wrote, "Nothing Compares To You... You Legend."