Sinéad O’Connor had great success with her 1990 hit, but not everyone was thrilled about it.
Even though Nothing Compares 2 U was the greatest success for Sinéad O’Connor, it was actually written by another musician, Prince. The legendary singer wrote and composed the song for his own side project, called The Family. It landed on their self-titled debut album in 1985. Released by Prince’s record label, Paisley Park Records.
The Family’s version of Nothing Compares 2 U didn’t get much traction at all. It was never released as a single and Prince’s voice was barely recognizable in this recording. Five years later, when O’Connor released it as a single in 1990, it was a worldwide success. Partially because of O’Connor’s haunting voice, and partially because the poignant video was in heavy rotation on MTV.
Then in 1993 Prince released another version of the song, this time as a duet with singer Rosie Gaines. Prince didn’t specifically give any motive for rereleasing the song three years after O’Connor made it a hit. But the timeline suggests it might have been for a number of reasons. Maybe Prince was trying to finally capitalize on the success of the song that he never saw when he recorded it the first time. Maybe he wanted to prove to O’Connor he could do it better. Or maybe he was just jealous of her success with the song and wanted some of his own. Who knows.
It’s no secret that Prince was a pretty difficult musician to work with. So it seems feasible that he’d have this kind of reaction to someone other than him having success with a song he wrote for himself. Especially when he didn’t agree with things that musician did off the stage, which it seems Prince did not. At least according to this story told by O’Connor about the time they met in Los Angeles.
The night Sinead O’Connor met Prince wasn’t what she expected.
In 2020, Sinead O’Connor appeared on Good Morning Britain and told her story about the night Prince called her to his house in Los Angeles. It was the shortly after her version of Nothing Compares 2 U became a hit. O’Connor had never met Prince before so she didn’t know what to expect. Here’s what happened next. – Wendy Rush
Prince was bothered by O'Connor's use of his song without his collaboration.
According to O’Connor, she recorded her version of Nothing Compares 2 U without Prince. And in fact had never met him before the song was released. O’Connor said he was bothered by the fact that she recorded his song when she wasn’t a prodigy of his.
In the conversation, Prince demanded Sinead O'Connor stop swearing.
(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
According to O’Connor’s story, Prince was unhappy with her use of profanity in interviews. So she wasn’t even swearing in the song he wrote. He was allegedly trying to tell her what to do in her personal life.
The argument escalated into a car chase.
Photo by Motortion via Getty Images.
Not your typical chase down the street in two different cars. This was the two musicians running around the same car at 5:00 in the morning.
They were attacking each other, in their own ways.
VladimirFLoyd via Getty Images
According to O’Connor’s story, she was spitting at Prince from across the car, while he was trying to throw punches at her.
O'Connor claims Prince under the influence.
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
O’Connor told Good Morning Britain that Prince was on some “pretty dark drugs” at the time of their altercation.
The Notorious Pillow Fight.
Jupiterimages via Getty Images
In her memoir, Rememberings, O’Connor said that she and Prince once had a pillow fight when they were spending an evening together. But it wasn’t a friendly one. Allegedly Prince had stuffed the pillows with items that were meant to hurt her when they hit her. It is unclear if this pillow fight happened on the same night as the chase around the car.
How it ended.
eurobanks via Getty Images
In her interview on Good Morning Britain, O’Connor said that her father told her to ring a neighbor’s doorbell if she was ever in trouble. So that’s what she did. She went next door to the house of Prince’s neighbor and rang the doorbell for help. She said Prince took off after that.
And that was it.
Photo by Jo Hale / Stringer via Getty Images.
Some accounts say that O’Connor and Prince never met again. Others say they did, but one thing is agreed on. They were never friends.
