Roisin Waters has delivered a musical tribute to her mom Sinead O’Connor, with a performance of the late artist’s signature song, “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
The emotional moment happened during a tribute concert on Wednesday (March 20) for O’Connor and fellow Irish artist Shane MacGowan at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
In fan-filmed footage from the show, Waters, barefoot and wearing a flowery dress, encourages the audience to sing along with the global smash. Waters joined a starring lineup of performers at the “St. Paddy’s Celebration,” which included Billy Bragg, David Gray, Amanda Palmer, Glen Hansard, Cat Power, Dropkick Murphys and more.
“Oh man…I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house,” writes Palmer, sharing her own angle of the performance on social media. “Every other performer was crammed side of stage to watch this bittersweet majesty unfold. And my god, could you feel the power of musical alchemy in the hall last night. The soaring sharp needle of sung and played notes that tear us asunder and stitch us back together. The way it isn’t about any one thing. The way music can communicate more than mere words ever can.”
Composed and originally recorded by Prince, “Nothing Compares 2 U” gave O’Connor a career defining hit, the type few artists come close to matching.
The single and its enthralling, multiple award-winning music video dominated the airwaves for months following its release at the start of the 1990s, logging four weeks at No. 1 in the U.S. and U.K. and eight weeks in Australia. The single returned to charts everywhere following her death July 26, 2023, at age 56. MacGowan of the Pogues died Nov. 30, 2023 at the age of 65.
O’Connor, the powerhouse, iconoclastic artist, is nominated for the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame class of 2024, recognition for her influence, the “indelible mark” she left “on the soul of popular music,” and her activism which, the Rock Hall notes was “ahead of her time expressing her unrepentant rage and sorrow over then-taboo subjects like women’s rights, organized religion, child abuse, and oppression.”
The singer-songwriter debuted with The Lion and the Cobra in 1987 and released 10 studio albums over the course of her lifetime. Her sophomore LP, 1990’s I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The collection featured “Nothing Compares 2 U,” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” her only other Billboard Hot 100 hit (peaking at No. 60).
O’Connor, struggled with mental illness throughout her life, including PTSD, depression and suicidal tendencies. In 2022, her 17-year-old son Shane died by apparent suicide. O’Connor is survived by three children, including Waters, aged 28.