The estate of Sinéad O’Connor said the late singer would have been “disgusted” to know former U.S. president Donald Trump used her version of Nothing Compares 2 U at his political rallies.
On Monday, O’Connor’s estate released a joint statement with the Irish singer’s label, Chrysalis Records, demanding Trump cease using her music immediately.
The statement comes after it was reported that O’Connor’s Nothing Compares 2 U was played at Trump’s recent rallies in North Carolina and Maryland, where he was drumming up support for his 2024 presidential campaign.
According to her estate, it was well known that O’Connor — who died in July at age 56 — “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,” reads the joint statement, which was provided to Billboard. “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.’”
O’Connor was rarely discreet about her political opinions, even when her comments led to controversy or upset.
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In 2021, the Dublin-born musician told the Irish magazine Hot Press, “I actually do believe Donald Trump is the biblical Devil, the f—er.”
While noting that her take on Trump “may sound extreme,” O’Connor said she didn’t care what people thought and maintained that she is “convinced the man is actually a Satanist.”
O’Connor told the magazine that the American people should have “non-violently” dragged Trump out of political office akin to former president Richard Nixon, who resigned in 1974 before he could be impeached.
The singer’s estate and record label therefore demanded that “as the guardians of her legacy,” Trump and his team “desist from using her music immediately.”
Trump and his associates have not commented publicly on the statement from O’Connor’s people.
On July 26, 2023, O’Connor died from natural causes in her southeast London home, according to a coroner’s report.
Her death sent shockwaves through Ireland and the rest of the world, as her fans and admirers remembered the singer for her distinct voice and bold political protests.
Trump is currently campaigning for his second term in office as a hopeful Republican nominee. He was the 45th president of the United States, from 2017 to 2021.
O’Connor’s estate is not alone in the request for Trump to stay away from an artist’s music. Several artists, including Neil Young, Aerosmith, Pharrell, Tom Petty, Rihanna and The Smiths, have also insisted Trump not use their songs during his political events.
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