Sinéad O’Connor’s heirs denounce Donald Trump’s use of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ at his rallies: ‘She would be disgusted and insulted’

In 1990, Nothing Compares 2 U was one of the biggest songs of the year. A global hit performed by 23-year-old Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor, it was the hit track of her second album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got and went on to win many awards. The ballad — and the music video featuring a constant close-up of the recording artist’s face — is a 1990s classic that continues to be played all over the world. Despite originally being recorded by Prince, it is always associated with O’Connor, who died in July 2023 at just 56. Now, her heirs want to retain the spirit of the song and have spoken out because former president and current Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump is using O’Connor’s song at his rallies. And they have proceeded to publicly denounce him and ask him to stop, joining a long list of recording artists who have done the same, including the Rolling Stones, Adele, Rihanna and Prince, among others.

O’Connor’s song was played at two recent Trump campaign events in North Carolina and Maryland. For that reason, her heirs, as well as her record label Chrysalis Records, have demanded that the Republican candidate’s team stop playing the song immediately. “Throughout her life, it is well known that Sinéad O’Connor lived by a fierce moral code defined by honesty, kindness, fairness and decency towards her fellow human beings,” reads the statement distributed by the parties speaking on the late singer’s behalf.

“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,” the note, which was co-written by the performing artist’s legal heirs and the label, continued. “It is no exaggeration to say that Sinéad 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.” At the moment, it appears that no legal action is forthcoming, unless Trump continues to play the song.

In addition to her exceptional voice and 10 albums, O’Connor was heavily involved in politics, especially in the 1990s and 2000s. Abused by her mother as a child, she was always very critical against child abuse and pederasty. During a broadcast of Saturday Night Live, in October 1992, she tore up a photograph of Pope John Paul II; the moment was talked about around the world. A few weeks later she stated that “God is the truth.” In 2009, she demanded that Pope Benedict XVI speak unequivocally about abuse in the Church: “Popes have had no problem voicing their opinions when we wanted contraception or divorce. No problem criticizing The Da Vinci Code… No problem criticizing Naomi Campbell for wearing a bejeweled cross... Yet when it comes to the evils done by pedophiles dressed as priests they are silent. It is grotesque. Unbelievable. Bizarre and unprecedented. They stand for nothing now but evil.”

In 2018, O’Connor converted to Islam and changed her name. The exact identity of those in charge of her rights as a singer and author is unknown. The performer, who died of natural causes last year, had four children from four different relationships: Jake Reynolds, 36; Roisin, 26; Shane O’Connor, who was found dead at just 17 years old in January 2022, a week after his disappearance was announced; and her youngest, Yeshua Bonadio, who will turn 18 this year.

The Irish singer’s heirs are not the only ones to speak out against Trump’s use of music at rallies. Just this January, The Smiths’ Johnny Marr complained on social media after Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want played at a South Dakota Trump rally: “I never in a million years would’ve thought this could come to pass,” said Marr. “Consider this shit shut right down right now.” But it’s been going on for a long time. In 2018, Pharrell Williams went so far as to threaten to sue the then-candidate for the use of his well-known song Happy at a rally in Illinois in October of that year; the event took place just hours after a mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue. “Pharrell has not, and will not, grant you permission to publicly perform or otherwise broadcast or disseminate any of his music,” the artist’s lawyers stated in a letter. “On the day of the mass murder of 11 human beings at the hands of a deranged ‘nationalist,’ you played his song Happy to a crowd at a political event in Indiana. There was nothing ‘happy’ about the tragedy inflicted upon our country on Saturday, and no permission was granted for your use of this song for this purpose.” Months earlier, in August, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler also demanded that Trump stop using the band’s Livin’ On The Edge: “Mr. Trump is creating the false impression that our client has given his consent for the use of his music, and even that he endorses the presidency of Mr. Trump.”

The Rolling Stones complained about the use of You Can’t Always Get What You Want, which played at the 2016 Republican National Convention: “The Rolling Stones do not endorse Donald Trump,” the band wrote on Twitter. “You Can’t Always Get What You Want was used without the band’s permission.” Tom Petty’s heirs also demanded that Trump stop using I Won’t Back Down in his 2020 appearances; there were similar complaints by Prince’s heirs over the politician’s use of Purple Rain in 2019 and George Harrison’s heirs for playing Here Comes The Sun without permission in 2016. Rihanna, Guns N’ Roses, Adele, Linkin Park, Village People, Neil Young, Queen, Ozzy Osbourne, Nickelback and Panic! at the Disco, among others, have also objected to Trump using their music.

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