Sinead O'Connor's Drama With Prince Fully Explained
The following article includes allegations of abuse and assault.
The career of Sinead O'Connor was inextricably linked to Prince in both success and personal controversy. O'Connor — who died on July 26 at 56 years old — had a major hit song in 1990 with "Nothing Compares 2 U" which appeared on her second album "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got." That song was originally written by Prince, but despite the chart-topping success of the track, the two singers had a contentious relationship.
In 2013, the Irish singer hinted about the tension between her and the "Purple Rain" artist. She referenced a meeting with the "Nothing Compares 2 U" writer. "Did I ever meet Prince? I did and, again, we didn't like each other. At all," she told Uncut at the time. "It got violent too, which is why I can't go into it, but it is a very funny story," O'Connor added while mentioning that she would likely someday include the tale in her late-life memoirs.
By 2019 — a few years after Prince's death in 2016 — the "I Want Your (Hands On Me)" singer gave some insight into that fateful meeting, and claimed that Prince had attacked her. "We meet on the highway in Malibu at five in the morning — I'm spitting at him, he's trying to punch me," she said on "Good Morning Britain" (via NME). O'Connor alleged Prince was abusive to other female artists. True to her word, O'Connor offered more details about that meeting in her book.
Why Prince was upset with Sinead O'Connor
Sinead O'Connor wrote about Prince in her 2021 book "Rememberings." According to the "Thank You For Hearing Me" singer, Prince was never happy that she repurposed "Nothing Compares 2 U" into her own hit song. "Firstly, Prince didn't like people covering his songs," O'Connor wrote in her book (via Metro). "Secondly, he had all these female proteges and he was annoyed that I wasn't one of them," she added. The Irish-born singer also alleged that the "When Doves Cry" artist had a history of being abusive. "On top of all this he was a woman-beating c***. I'm certainly not the only woman he laid a hand on."
As O'Connor wrote in her book, the meeting between the two took place at Prince's mansion, where he displayed controlling characteristics which included trying to force her to eat soup. At one point in the evening, Prince suggested a pillow fight, but slipped "something hard ... into his pillowcase" (via the New York Times). That led to O'Connor eventually fleeing the mansion, but Prince chased after her in his car and they had a confrontation on the highway. "[Prince] starts chasing me round the car, telling me he's gonna kick the s*** out of me," she wrote (via the New York Post). Apparently, Prince partly acted out because he had legal issues with O'Conner's manager Steve Fargnoli. O'Connor would later have her own legal issues with the singer.
Prince's family snubbed O'Connor
In September 2022, a documentary about Sinead O'Connor called "Nothing Compares" was released on Showtime. Despite how prominent her cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U" was for her career, her version of the song didn't make it into the film. In fact, Prince's heirs forbade it, according to Billboard.
Sharon Nelson, one of Prince's half-siblings who were in charge of his estate at the time, said, "I didn't feel [Sinéad] deserved to use the song my brother wrote in her documentary, so we declined. His version is the best." Ultimately, the documentary's director Kathryn Ferguson believes this was for the best. She told the outlet, "Initially, we had intended to use the song, but we received a refusal (which, as the rights holders, was their prerogative)."In the end, we were very happy with that section of the film. It meant the focus remained on Sinéad's words and on her own songwriting."
Though O'Connor was a talented musician on her own merit, she will probably always be best-known for her rendition of "Nothing Compares 2 U." Despite the conflict between O'Connor and Prince in life, it seems their legacies will be forever intertwined in death.