Sinead O’Connor and the story of her second Prince cover – after vow ‘never to sing another’
Sinead O’Connor had a complicated relationship with the single that skyrocketed her to international fame.
Nothing Compares 2 U was, famously, written by Prince for The Family, but it will always be O’Connor‘s song. Like Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You and Amy Winehouse’s Valerie, it’s a cover that transcended the original.
Released in 1990, O’Connor’s stunning vocal performance, coupled with the video that made it one of the all-time greats, meant her version topped charts around the world.
Prince in 1985. Pic: AP/Liu Heung Shing
“I love it, it’s great!” Prince reportedly said publicly of the song. “I look for cosmic meaning in everything. I think we just took that song as far as we could, then someone else was supposed to come along and pick it up.”
But O’Connor would recall in interviews that privately, the star was not happy.
Years later, after meeting Fun Lovin’ Criminals drummer and Prince fan Frank Benbini at a charity gig in Dublin, he asked her if she would record a different song for an album of Prince covers, Purple Reggae.
Released in 2014 by Radio Riddler, Benbini’s reggae side project, the album also featured collaborations with Suggs, Beverley Knight and Campbell.
But O’Connor initially declined, saying she had told herself she would never sing another Prince song.
“I discovered that she had a massive love for reggae music – which those that have followed her career will know,” Benbini tells Sky News. “We just hit it off. Obviously everybody knows Sinead really for Nothing Compares 2 U and at the time we were doing a tribute to Prince, while Prince was still alive.”
They were recording songs from the album Purple Rain, including the single, I Would Die 4 U. “That was the song I always thought Sinead would sound amazing on,” he says. “I spoke to her about it and she said: ‘I always vowed never to do another Prince song.’ But I said I’d send it anyway.”
‘She was misunderstood, nothing like how she was perceived’
O’Connor agreed and the pair swapped numbers and stayed in touch. When she eventually heard his demo, she agreed to record the version together at a studio in Dublin.
The singer was “absolutely amazing”, says Benbini. “She was obviously a troubled soul over the years and I think at times very much misunderstood. Especially by some of the press, I think some were mean to her, just simply because they didn’t understand her. But she was such a strong woman – she came from performing on the streets of Dublin busking, so she had tremendously thick skin.
“I’d heard stories about her – and I’ve worked with some famous artists in the studio, so I’m thinking, what’s this going to be like? But she was super humble and really funny. She was nothing like she’d been perceived to be over the years… there was an air of shyness about her but also an air of, she knew what she wanted, knew who she was. She didn’t have any airs or graces, she was very much down to earth, which is quite rare in rock’n’roll.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘One of the most complex pop stars’
In fact, O’Connor only asked for one thing. “A cheese sandwich. That’s all she wanted, all day. ‘I don’t want any butter on it, Frank. No butter.’ So just brown bread and cheddar cheese? That’s it? ‘Yeah.’ No problem!”
O’Connor had something that many others could learn from, he says. “A lot of new artists should take a little pinch of Sinead – and that is, you know, to always be yourself.”
Read more:
An unapologetic singer’s rise to stardom
‘Beyond compare’: Tributes paid to O’Connor
He says there was never any discussion about O’Connor singing the Prince cover that made her famous.
“I’m an uber Prince fan,” Benbini says. “But, you know, she told me one or two stories… how Prince summoned her to his house in LA at the time and he wasn’t very happy because she was doing some press on an American chat show, and she swore. He said, ‘if you’re representing my song, don’t use filthy language’.” He laughs. “She told him to do one.”
Benbini continues: “For the longest time, I think a lot of people didn’t even realise Nothing Compares 2 U was a Prince song. They just thought it was a Sinead song, because it was such a beautiful approach. The delivery is just ghostly beautiful.
“She said she’d vowed she’d never cover another Prince song. But I think coming from the world of reggae… that was really what got her to do I Would Die 4 U. It was the second time she ever did a Prince song, which I’m super proud of and it’s such a beautiful version.”
‘She’s so much more than Nothing Compares 2 U’
Despite being disappointed by her meeting with Prince, O’Connor was not bitter, telling Benbini she still had great respect for his work. “‘Don’t get me wrong, he’s the most incredible writer’, she said. She loved his songwriting, his words.”
Paying tribute, Benbini says he hopes a positive to be taken from O’Connor’s death can be people discovering, or rediscovering, her music.
“I’ve listened to [our version of] I Would Die 4 U, since finding out the news, over and over,” he says. “I’ve not listened to it for years and it’s really beautiful.
“The one thing you can take from this is that there’s a whole legacy of work she’s done – and she’s so much more than just Nothing Compares 2 U – she’s got a wealth of music. I hope people go digging now and find all the beautiful things she managed to get on record. People should celebrate her work. It’s a great way of honouring someone.”
Entertainment
‘Love you bro’: Zayn Malik’s tribute to Liam Payne at first show since former bandmate’s death
Entertainment
Joy star James Norton on the ‘postcode lottery’ of IVF – and playing the scientist who was part of creating the first ‘test-tube baby’
Actor James Norton, who stars in a new film telling the story of the world’s first “test-tube baby”, has criticised how “prohibitively expensive” IVF can be in the UK.
In Joy, the star portrays the real-life scientist Bob Edwards, who – along with obstetrician Patrick Steptoe and embryologist Jean Purdy – spent a decade tirelessly working on medical ways to help infertility.
The film charts the 10 years leading up to the birth of Louise Joy Brown, who was dubbed the world’s first test-tube baby, in 1978.
In the UK, statistics show the proportion of IVF cycles paid for by the NHS has dropped from 40% to 27% in the last decade
Norton, who is best known for playing Tommy Lee Royce in the BAFTA-winning series Happy Valley, told Sky News he has friends who were IVF babies and other friends who have had their own children thanks to the fertility treatment.
“But I didn’t know about these three scientists and their sacrifice, tenacity and skill,” he said. The star hopes the film will be “a catalyst for conversation” about the treatment and its availability.
“We know for a fact that Jean, Bob and Patrick would not have liked the fact that IVF is now so means based,” he said. “It’s prohibitively expensive for some… and there is a postcode lottery which means that some people are precluded from that opportunity.”
Bill Nighy, Thomasin McKenzie and James Norton star in Joy. All pics: Netflix/ Kerry Brown
Now, IVF is considered a wonder of modern medicine. More than 12 million people owe their existence today to the treatment Edwards, Steptoe and Purdy worked so hard to devise.
But Joy shows how public backlash in the years leading up to Louise’s birth saw the team vilified – accused of playing God and creating “Frankenstein babies”.
Bill Nighy and Thomasin McKenzie star alongside Norton, with the script written by acclaimed screenwriter Jack Thorne and his wife Rachel Mason.
The couple went through seven rounds of IVF themselves to conceive their son.
Norton portrays scientist Bob Edwards, while McKenzie plays embryologist Jean Purdy
While the film is set in the 1970s, the reality is that societal pressures haven’t changed all that much for many going through IVF today – with the costs now both emotional and financial.
“IVF is still seen as a luxury product, as something that some people get access to and others don’t,” said Thorne, speaking about their experiences in the UK.
“Louise was a working-class girl with working-class parents. Working class IVF babies are very, very rare now.”
In the run-up to the US election, Donald Trump saw IVF as a campaigning point – promising his government, or insurance companies, would pay for the treatment for all women should he be elected. He called himself the “father of IVF” at a campaign event – a remark described as “quite bizarre” by Kamala Harris.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Bill Nighy ‘proud’ of new film on IVF breakthrough
“I don’t think Trump is a blueprint for this,” Norton said. “I don’t know how that fits alongside his questions around pro-choice.”
Read more:
Boy George on the price of fame
The fan club president who joined the band
In the UK, statistics from fertility regulator HEFA show the proportion of IVF cycles paid for by the NHS has dropped from 40% to 27% in the last decade.
“It’s so expensive,” Norton said. “Those who want a child should have that choice… and some people’s lack of access to this incredibly important science actually means that people don’t have the choice.”
Joy is in UK cinemas from 15 November, and on Netflix from 22 November
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports8 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway