Sinead O’Connor: Police issue statement after Irish singer’s death

Police have issued a statement on the death of Sinead O’Connor, as tributes pour in for the Irish singer who died on Wednesday (26 July), aged 56.

O’Connor was found “unresponsive” in “a residential address” in the Lambeth area of London, police said.

According to The Irish Sun, authorities said in a statement that O’Connor “was pronounced dead at the scene” and that her “death is not being treated as suspicious”.

O’Connor’s death was confirmed by her family in a statement provided to BBC News. No cause of death has been disclosed.

Days before she died, O’Connor shared a tribute to her 17-year-old son, who died in 2022, in what would be her final social media post.

Throughout her life, O’Connor was known for her political activism and personal candour, as well as a string of acclaimed albums and her 1990 cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U”.

O’Connor changed her name to Shuhada’ Sadaqat in 2018 after converting to Islam, but continued to work and perform under her birth name.

The world of entertainment has paid tribute to O’Connor, with Russell Crowe going viral for an anecdote he shared about the singer.

The Gladiator actor had a chance encounter with O’Connor outside an Irish pub last year and, after she joined him and his friends for a cup of tea, Crowe said: “We sat there the four of us and variously expressed the same thing. What an amazing woman. Peace be with your courageous heart Sinéad.”

O’Connor released 10 studio albums over the course of her career, the second of which, 1990’s I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, sold more than seven million copies.

It was when her video for “Nothing Compares 2 U” first aired on MTV in 1990 that O’Connor was propelled to stardom. Her cover of the half-forgotten Prince track had a particularly poignant resonance for O’Connor, who alleged abuse at the hands of her mother.