Photo Credit: Bryan Ledgard / CC by 2.0
A London corner has revealed the cause of death for Sinead O’Connor. The 56-year-old singer died of natural causes.
In a terse statement on Tuesday, the coroner said Ms. O’Connor died of natural causes, and that the coroner had “therefore ceased their involvement in her death.” No further details about her death were released. O’Connor is most well-known for her rendition of the Prince song “Nothing Compares 2 U.” She caused controversy in the ‘90s after ripping up a picture of Pope John Paul II to protest child abuse in the Catholic Church during her appearance on ‘Saturday Night Live.’
Prior to her death, Sinead O’Connor released 10 albums with the most recent being 2014’s I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss.
Sinead O’Connor was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1966 and was the third of five children. After a rocky childhood, O’Connor said she struggled with mental issues throughout her life. At 13, she ran away to live with her father, but later was sent to an asylum for ‘unruly’ women for 18 months after she was caught shoplifting. She moved to London in 1985 following the death of her mother.
In 2003, she revealed she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and complex post-traumatic stress disorder. “You can never predict what might trigger the [PTSD], I describe myself as a rescue dog—I’m fine until you put me in a situation that even slightly smells like any of the trauma I went through—then I flip my lid,” the singer told People in 2021. “I manage very well because I’ve been taught brilliant skills. There was a lot of therapy. It’s about focusing on the things that bring you peace as opposed to what makes you feel unstable.”
Sinead O’Connor also discussed the moment in which she ripped the photo of John Paul II in her book, saying she felt it a moment of clarity for her.
“A lot of people say or think that tearing up the pope’s photo derailed my career,” she writes in the book, Rememberings. “That’s not how I feel about it. I feel that having a number-one record derailed my career and my tearing the photo put me back on the right track.”
