The singer died in July at age 56, after being found unresponsive at a home in southeast London.
ADVERTISEMENTIrish singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor died from “natural causes” in July, a coroner confirmed on Tuesday (9 January).
London's Metropolitan Police had previously said the singer's death was not considered suspicious, after she was found unresponsive at a home in southeast London on 26 July. O'Connor was 56.
The Southwark Coroner's Court said in their report that O'Connor died of natural causes, which means circumstances when an illness or condition is not linked to external forces. It did not provide further details.
The singer, who began her career performing on the streets of Dublin, rose to worldwide fame with her cover of Prince's ballad “Nothing Compares 2 U,” released in 1990.
O’Connor was public about her struggles with mental illness – she survived an abusive mother, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress syndrome and borderline personality disorder.
In 2022, she was hospitalised after her teenage son, Shane, died by suicide.
A lifelong non-conformist, she was known for her outspoken political and cultural stances and fierce criticism of the Roman Catholic Church, long before allegations of sexual abuse in the clergy were widely reported.
O’Connor announced she was retiring from music in 2003 and again in 2021, yet she continued to record new material. Her most recent album, "I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss," was released in 2014, while she also published singles such as "Trouble Of The World" — including an acapella version — in 2020.
Most recently, O'Connor sang the theme song for Season 7 of the TV series “Outlander”, released this February.
The singer married four times and had four children: Jake, Roisin, Shane, and Yeshua. Shane died in January 2022 at the age of 17.
Thousands of fans lined the streets of Bray, the Irish town she had called home, during O'Connor's funeral procession in August. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar attended, along with U2's Bono.
