World-famous Irish pop singer Sinead O’Connor, who converted to Islam in 2018, passed away on Wednesday, July 26. She was 56.
Her family announced the news “with great sadness”, saying “her family and friends are devastated”.
The cause of her death has not been made public.
O’Connor death comes one year after her 17-year-old son Shane died in an alleged suicide.
In her last Tweet on Monday, July 17, O’Connor posted a photo of Shane and said: ‘Been living as undead night creature since. He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul.’
“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,” she added.
Irish singer broke into international stardom in 1990 with her cover of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 charts that year.
She was known for speaking out about her struggles with mental health issues, especially after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
O’Connor converted to Islam in 2018 and changed her name to Shuhada Sadaqat, though she continues to perform under the name Sinead O’Connor.
“This is to announce that I am proud to have become a Muslim,” she wrote on Twitter in October 2018.
“This is the natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian’s journey. All scripture study leads to Islam. Which makes all other scriptures redundant.”
“I read chapter two of the Quran and I realised I’m home, and that I’ve been a Muslim all my life. There’s a way of thinking,” she said in an interview on RTE’s The Late Late Show in September 2019.
“You can be a Muslim without actually being a Muslim as it’s a mindset.”
When asked about wearing a hijab, she said it was something she hadn’t worn all the time.
“There are no rules about it. I would associate myself with the Sufi element of Islam, I am not at my age required to wear the hijab… I wear it because I like it,” she added.
“Her music was loved around the world and her talent was unmatched and beyond compare,” Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar tweeted on Wednesday, July 26, sharing his condolences with “all who loved her music”.
