{"id":95593,"date":"2025-07-27T02:17:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T02:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/95593\/"},"modified":"2025-07-27T02:17:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T02:17:11","slug":"on-this-day-in-2023-we-lost-sinead-oconnor-remembering-the-singer-songwriter-and-activist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/95593\/","title":{"rendered":"On This Day in 2023, We Lost Sinead O\u2019Connor: Remembering the Singer-Songwriter and Activist"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1990, Sin\u00e9ad O\u2019Connor became an international sensation with her rendition of the Prince-penned ballad \u201cNothing Compares 2 U.\u201d While her personal controversies<\/a> sometimes overshadowed her considerable talent, O\u2019Connor remained a powerful force until her death on July 26, 2023, at age 56. Even now, two years since her passing, her music still lives on.<\/p>\n

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Two years without Sin\u00e9ad O\u2019Connor.
Still louder than most.
\ud83d\udd4a\ufe0f\ud83d\udda4 Nothing compares. https:\/\/t.co\/4K0hBz4ufd<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/bZA4cMaBtl<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Anje Vela (@AnjeVela) July 26, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Remembering Sinead O\u2019Connor<\/p>\n

Two years ago today, police found Sinead O\u2019Connor unresponsive in her south London home. She was 56 years old.<\/p>\n

Throughout her career, and particularly in the last few years of her life, O\u2019Connor had spoken candidly about her own struggles with mental health. Her 17-year-old son, Shane, died by suicide 18 months before his mother\u2019s passing, causing many to speculate that the Irish songstress\u2019 mental health played a role in her death\/<\/p>\n

However, the\u00a0Irish Independent\u00a0reported\u00a0<\/a>last year that the \u201cMandinka\u201d singer died from COPD \u2014 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease \u2014 exacerbated by bronchial asthma. Additionally, the GRAMMY winner had been suffering from a low-grade\u00a0lower respiratory tract infection<\/a>, which heightened her pre-existing conditions.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Irish singer Imelda May paid tribute<\/a> to her friend on Ireland AM. \u201cSinead was absolutely brilliant; she spoke the truth and she was brave as anyone I ever knew. She was one of the bravest women,\u201d May said. \u201cShe took the grief that she got all the time and she was just full of love all the time and I really miss her, I\u2019ll miss her forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

[RELATED: How Sin\u00e9ad O\u2019Connor and Willie Nelson Ended Up Duetting on the Peter Gabriel Classic \u201cDon\u2019t Give Up\u201d]<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

She Had No Regrets<\/p>\n

Certainly, Sinead O\u2019Connor received her fair share of grief throughout her career. One notable controversy came in 1992, when she appeared as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live. After performing Bob Marley\u2019s 1976 song \u201cWar,\u201d O\u2019Connor held a photograph of\u00a0Pope John Paul II\u00a0up to the camera and tore it into pieces.<\/p>\n

\u201cFight the real enemy,\u201d she said, tossing the pieces to the floor.<\/p>\n

Nine years later, the same Pope would acknowledge ongoing child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. At the time, however, the gesture ignited a firestorm of backlash that culminated in O\u2019Connor being met with a torrent of boos at Bob Dylan\u2019s 30th anniversary tribute concert two weeks later.<\/p>\n

Decades later, the \u201cDrink Before the War\u201d singer remained unapologetic. \u201cA lot of people say or think that tearing up the pope\u2019s photo derailed my career. That\u2019s not how I feel about it,\u201d O\u2019Connor wrote in her 2021 memoir<\/a>\u00a0Rememberings. \u201cI feel that having a number-one record derailed my career and my tearing the photo put me back on the right track.\u201d<\/p>\n

Featured image by Andrew Chin\/Getty Images<\/p>\n