Nothing Compares to Sinéad O’Connor’s Early 90s Style

Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor has died at the age of 56, her family has announced. In a statement, the singer’s family said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.”

When a record exec invited teenage Sinéad O’Connor to lunch, he told her to wear miniskirts and grow out her short hair. In response, she marched straight to the barbers to get a buzz cut. It subsequently became one of the most iconic buzz cuts in music.

The Irish singer, who will be remembered for her emotional hit cover of Prince’s song “Nothing Compares 2 U,” had a punk attitude, with matching punk style. In 1989, O’Connor became the first artist to publicly attack the Grammys while being nominated for four awards that same year. In 1992, she famously tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on stage on “Saturday Night Live” in protest of the Catholic Church’s alleged complicity with child abuse cases.

Sinéad O’Connor – who changed her name to Shuhada Sadaqat in 2018 after converting to Islam, but still performs under and answers to Sinéad – maintains the hairstyle, taking a razor to her head approximately every 10 days. The look complemented her skinhead punk-meets-90s normcore personal style: a uniform of leather jackets, slogan tees, straight leg denim and Doc Martens that cemented her place on many 90s revival mood boards.