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The shaved head and provocation were her trademark: Sinéad O'Connor on Italian television in 2014. The Irish singer has died at the age of 56.

Photo: Antonio Calanni / AP

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Her song »Nothing Compares 2 U« became a worldwide hit and reached the top of the charts around the globe. O'Connor was often opinionated, as here in 2000 at an anti-racism demonstration in Dublin with her daughter.

Photo: Reuters Photographer / REUTERS

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O'Connor was an early denunciator of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. In the US television show "Saturday Night Live" she showed a photo of the then Pope, John Paul II, and tore it up in front of the camera.

Photo: AP

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Her appearance on "Saturday Night Live" was supposed to follow O'Connor. There was a real outcry, here she is comforted by country singer Kris Kristofferson in 1992 when she is booed during a Bob Dylan birthday concert. It was her first live performance after the show.

Photo: Ron Frehm / AP

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O'Connor at a festival in Perth, Australia, in 2008. Her appearance changed, what remained was her voice and her controversies.

Photo: Paul Kane / Getty Images

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The gifted singer was able to do it powerfully ...

Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images

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... and with feeling, like here in 2013 at the Carthage Jazz Festival in Tunis.

Photo: Zoubeir Souissi / Reuters

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Over the course of her career, O'Connor repeatedly spoke about mental health issues. "Mental illness is a bit like drugs — it doesn't care who you are," she said in 2017. In 2022, her son took his own life.

Photograph:

Jean-Christophe Bott / dpa

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O'Connor converted to Islam in 2018 and changed her name to Shuhada Sadaqat. She continued to appear on stage as Sinéad O'Connor. Here she sings in a Budapest club in 2019.

Photo: Marton Monus / AP

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Over the years, O'Connor had announced several times that she wanted to end her career. What remained were performances like this one in Switzerland in 2008. And the music video for the world hit »Nothing Compares 2 U«, which shows her close-up with alert eyes and a serious look and has made history.

Photo: ENNIO LEANZA / EPA

CZL/HBA