Prince’s Estate Blocked Sinéad O’Connor From Using ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ in Her Documentary
Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor rose to international recognition in 1990 with the song “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Although the song has since become O’Connor’s calling card, it was actually written by hit-making musician Prince. And despite O’Connor’s version being the one that became popular, she wasn’t allowed to use the song in her 2022 documentary Nothing Compares — at the request of Prince’s estate.
Sinéad O’Connor released a famous cover of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ by Prince
Sinéad O’Connor released her debut album The Lion and the Cobra in 1987. Her 1990 sophomore album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got contained her most famous song, “Nothing Compares 2 U”, itself a cover of a song written by Prince. The song eventually reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earned three Grammy Award nominations.
Prince originally wrote the song for his band, The Family, before O’Connor got to create her own version. A few years later in 1993, after O’Connor became synonymous with the song, Prince released his own live rendition of the song with Rosie Gaines, a singer from another one of his groups, providing guest vocals. This live version was included on Prince’s compilation album The Hits/The B-Sides (also known as The Hits 1), while his original 1984 studio recording of the song was eventually released in 2018 and included on the 2019 posthumous compilation album Originals.
Prince’s estate blocked O’Connor from using the song in her documentary
O’Connor’s version of the song is the most recognizable globally, and is often associated with the outspoken Irish singer. Still, she wasn’t allowed to use her most successful song in her 2022 documentary Nothing Compares because of a dispute with Prince’s estate.
In an interview with Billboard, Prince’s half-sister Sharon Nelson said there were a few reasons O’Connor was denied use of the song. One of those reasons was that the estate would rather prioritize Prince’s own rendition of the song. “Nothing compares to Prince’s live version with Rosie Gaines that is featured on the Hits 1 album and we are re-releasing that album on vinyl on November 4th,” Nelson said. “I didn’t feel [Sinéad] deserved to use the song my brother wrote in her documentary so we declined. His version is the best.”
Instead, the documentary included a note that the Prince estate denied use of the song. Instead, an ambient score played over the part where she discussed the song. “Initially we had intended to use the song, but we received a refusal (which as the rights holders, was their prerogative),” director Kathryn Ferguson told Billboard. “In the end we were very happy with that section of the film. It meant the focus remained on Sinéad’s words, and on her own songwriting.”
Prince and Sinéad O’Connor’s tumultuous relationship
O’Connor and Prince actually never met in person until after she had risen to fame with her version of “Nothing Compares 2 U.” She looked back on her first time meeting him in her 2021 memoir Rememberings, and it went less than swimmingly.
According to O’Connor, Prince lambasted her for swearing in interviews and suggested an innocent pillow fight that turned rough after he hit her with something hard in the pillowcase.
O’Connor has spoken about her experience with Prince multiple times in the past, and her story has remained the same. She first told her story in an interview with The Mirror in 2007. “He invited me to his house in Los Angeles and started to give out to me for swearing in interviews,” O’Connor said at the time. “When I told him to go f*** himself he got very upset and became quite threatening, physically. I ended up having to escape.”
“He can pack a punch,” she added. “A few blows were exchanged. All I could do was spit. I spat on him quite a bit.”
She recounted the story again in 2019 in an appearance on Good Morning Britain.
