When Sinéad O’Connor decided to cover a Prince song, she gave obvious contenders such as When Doves Cry and Raspberry Beret a swerve, instead opting for an obscure number from side project The Family’s self-titled debut LP from 1985. One could argue that the Purple One didn’t realise what he had with the original Nothing Compares 2U (which he never released as a single or performed live), but that rather negates what O’Connor brought to the song, tapping into its pained, melancholic core, and delivering a vocal of such soaring beauty that it became an instant classic, topping the charts in multiple countries worldwide. O’Connor had recorded the track without even talking to Prince, but after its success, he asked her to his house, where, according to Sinéad, the singer berated her for swearing in interviews. “So I told him to fuck off,” she said. “He got quite violent,” she went on to claim. “I had to escape out of his house at five in the morning. He packed a bigger punch than mine.”
Steve O’Brien