Featured Image Credit: David Corio/Redferns / ShowBizIreland.com/Getty Images
Jess Battison
Legendary Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor left her children specific instructions to follow in the event of her death.
Her family confirmed she had died in an announcement on Wednesday (26 July).
They wrote: “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."
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The ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ singer was mum to four children; Jake Reynolds, Roisin Waters, Shane Lunny and her youngest, Yeshua Bonadio.
O’Connor’s son Shane tragically died in January 2022 at the age of 17.
No cause of death was given for the 56-year-old, but in a statement the Met police said her passing was not being treated as suspicious.
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They said: “Police were called at 11:18hrs on Wednesday, 26 July to reports of an unresponsive woman at a residential address in the SE24 area. Officers attended. A 56-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene.”
The singer’s death came two years after she spoke to People about the instructions she had made for her family should she pass away. They related to her desire to protect her art and finances.
“See, when the artists are dead, they're much more valuable than when they're alive. Tupac has released way more albums since he died than he ever did alive, so it's kind of gross what record companies do," O'Connor told People at the time.
So, with that in mind, the mum-of-four told her family they should contact her accountant before contacting emergency services to inform them of her passing.
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"I've always instructed my children since they were very small, 'If your mother drops dead tomorrow, before you called 911, call my accountant and make sure the record companies don't start releasing my records and not telling you where the money is'," she said.
O’Connor used late artist Prince - who wrote her 1990 hit ‘Nothing Compares to U’ - as an example, saying: “All musicians, we have songs that we really are embarrassed about that are c**p. We don't want anyone hearing them.
"Now [Prince] is a man who released every song he ever recorded, so if he went to the trouble of building a vault, which is a pretty strong thing to do, that means he really did not want these songs released. And I can't stand that people are, as I put it, 'raping' the vault."
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Throughout her career, O’Connor recorded 10 studio albums. Her music earned her eight Grammy nominations and one win.