Sinead O'Connor "To Cease Singing Nothing Compares 2 U"

Sinead O'Connor, 48, on her March 16 entry in her Facebook page wrote: "OK, the time has come for me to cease singing Nothing Compares 2U. The first principle of the manner in which I'm trained as a singer (Bel Canto) is we never sing a song we don't emotionally identify with. After twenty-five years of singing it, nine months or so ago I finally ran out of anything I could use in order to bring some emotion to it. I don't want audiences to be disappointed coming along to a show and then not hearing it, so am letting you know here that you won't. If I were to sing it just to please people, I wouldn't be doing my job right, because my job is to be emotionally available. I'd be lying. You'd be getting a lie. My job is to give you honesty. I'm trained in honesty. I can't act. It just isn't in my training. I have ceased singing other songs over the years for the same reason."

It was through her performance of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U" that O'Connor achieved worldwide success during the 1990s. Helped by a well-crafted accompanying video made by John Maybury, consisting almost solely of her face as she performed the song, it became a massive international hit, reaching No. 1 in several countries. She also received Grammy nominations including Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and eventually won the Grammy for the Best Alternative Music Performance. "Nothing Compares 2 U" was released as a single from her second studio album, "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got."

In an interview with Norwegian station NRK [via Independent], O'Connor revealed she came to blows with Prince over "Nothing Compares 2U," the song he wrote which made her world-famous. She said: "I did meet him a couple of times.  We didn't get on at all.  In fact we had a punch-up. He summoned me to his house after "Nothing Compares." I made it without him. I'd never met him. He summoned me to his house - and it's foolish to do this to an Irish woman - he said he didn't like me saying bad words in interviews.  So I told him to f*** off. He got quite violent. I had to escape out of his house at 5 in the morning. He packed a bigger punch than mine."