‘She would have been disgusted’: Sinéad O’Connor’s furious estate demands Donald Trump stop using singer’s music
4 March 2024, 14:59 | Updated: 4 March 2024, 15:01
Sinéad O’Connor’s estate has demanded Donald Trump to stop using the singer’s music at his political rallies to ‘protect her legacy’.
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The late singer’s team made the demand after learning the former US president had been using a version of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ at his political rallies.
In a joint statement from O’Connor’s estate and record label Chrysalis Records, they demanded Mr Trump “desist from using her music immediately”.
The statement said: "Throughout her life, it is well known that Sinead O'Connor lived by a fierce moral code defined by honesty, kindness, fairness, and decency towards her fellow human beings.
"It was with outrage therefore that we learned that Donald Trump has been using her iconic performance of Nothing Compares 2 U at his political rallies.
"It is no exaggeration to say that Sinead would have been disgusted, hurt and insulted to have her work misrepresented in this way by someone who she herself referred to as a 'biblical devil'.
"As the guardians of her legacy, we demand that Donald Trump and his associates desist from using her music immediately."
The hit propelled the Dublin-born singer to fame after it spent weeks at number one in the UK in the 90s.
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It comes after O’Connor’s cause of death was announced in January with coroners ruling she died of natural causes in July last year.
O’Connor was known for her outspoken political views throughout her life, gaining her iconic status in Ireland by challenging issues of misogyny, abuse and “uncomfortable truths” - particularly in the 1980s and 1990s.
She had struggled with her mental health, saying on the Oprah Winfrey show in 2007 that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder four years earlier.
Her estate's demand follows a number of other artists who have also called on the former US president to desist using their music.
The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr blasted Mr Trump earlier this year, as he wrote on X: “I never in a million years would've thought this could come to pass. Consider this s**t shut right down right now."
Other artists to have made such demands include Rihanna, Neil Young, Linkin Park, the late Tom Petty and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler.
Mr Trump, who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021, is running for a second term after he was ousted by current US President Joe Biden.
He is currently campaigning to be the Republican nominee for the upcoming 2024 election.
