Beloved singer and activist Sinéad O’Connor died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, according to her death certificate.
ADVERTISEMENTSinéad O’Connor’s exact cause of death has been revealed, one year after her death.
The celebrated Irish singer and activist died on 26 July 2023 aged 56. She was found unresponsive in her south London home by police.
At the time, the authorities said they did not treat her death as suspicious. Coroners later confirmed in January this year that O’Connor had died of natural causes.
Now, first reported by the Irish Independent, it has been revealed that O’Connor died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and bronchial asthma.
O’Connor’s first husband and close friend, John Reynolds, registered the death certificate in London last Wednesday. The certificate also stated that O’Connor had also reportedly been suffering from “a lower-grade respiratory tract infection”.
O’Connor’s death drew an outpouring of tributes, with Ireland’s taoiseach at the time, Leo Varadkar, saying: “Her music was loved around the world and her talent was unmatched and beyond compare.”
Her death came 18 months after her 17-year-old son Shane died after going missing.
In other news, the National Wax Museum Plus in Dublin has recently apologised and removed their Sinéad O’Connor wax figure, which went viral for all the wrong reasons.
The figure, which was revealed on 25 July to serve as a tribute to the musician, was met with scathing reviews online – aimed at the figure itself and its placement among sculptures of Star Wars characters.
The museum announced that they would be removing the figure and launching a new project to “create a more accurate representation” of the singer.
Museum director Paddy Dunning decided that they “can do better”. The museum also shared a statement in regard to the public’s feedback and reactions to the figure and shared that they “acknowledge that the current representation did not meet our high standards or the expectations of Sinead’s devoted fans.”
John O’Connor – Sinéad’s brother – told RTÉ’s Liveline that it did not look like his sister “at all”, adding that he was “shocked” that it looked more like something “between a mannequin and something out of the Thunderbirds”.
“It looked nothing like her, I thought it was hideous,” he added.
He was upset by the timing of the unveiling and the fact that no one had contacted his family.
“As I said earlier, the world may have lost a star, and they did, but I lost my sister," he said. "It just should not have been put there even without checking with somebody: ‘Is this all right?’”
