Irish singer and activist Sinead O’Connor, who shot to global fame in the 90s with her hit Nothing Compares 2 U, has died aged 56.

O’Connor’s passing comes over a year after the tragic death by suicide of her 17-year-old son Shane.

O’Connor’s family released a statement, but did not state the cause of death.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad,” the statement said.

“Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.”

In one of her last tweets, the Dublin singer described her unrelenting sorrow over losing her boy in January 2022.

“Been living as undead night creature since. He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul,” the mother of four wrote on July 17.

“We were one soul in two halves. He was the only person who ever loved me unconditionally. I am lost in the bardo without him.”

O’Connor was best known for her emotional cover of the Prince song Nothing Compares 2 U which was released in 1990 and topped music charts around the world, earning her awards.

The single was from her second album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got which followed up her first album The Lion and the Cobra released in 1987.

She released 10 studio albums over her career.

Brash and outspoken, O’Connor changed the image of women in music in the early 1990s.

Her shaved head, pained expression and shapeless wardrobe were a direct challenge to popular culture’s long-prevailing notions of femininity and sexuality.

She was known as much for her outspoken views on religion, sex, feminism and war as for her music.

In 1992, at age 26, she sparked controversy and backlash for ripping up a photo of Pope John Paul II during a TV appearance on Saturday Night Live.

It was her own protest against the Catholic church’s abuse of children which was exposed to be true many years later.

“Everyone wants a pop star, see?” she wrote in her 2021 memoir Rememberings.

“But I am a protest singer. I just had stuff to get off my chest. I had no desire for fame.”

In later years she was open about her personal struggles with mental health and addiction and detailed her unconventional and difficult childhood in her 2021 memoir.

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

“Her music was loved around the world and her talent was unmatched and beyond compare,” Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar posted on Twitter, sharing his condolences with “all who loved her music”.

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