Brian Niemietz | New York Daily News
The death of Irish singer Sinead O’Connor at age 56 was met with sorrow by fans, politicians, athletes and musical contemporaries on both sides of the pond.
In remembrance of the international star, Public Enemy rapper Chuck D from Flushing Queens cited his band’s 1987 single “Bring the Noise.”
“Rest In Beats and PowEr Sinead O Connor who always Brought The Noise,” Chuck D posted on social media Wednesday.
His bandmate Flavor Flav called O’Connor “a legend that’s gone too soon.”
Newark, N.J. rapper Ice T also brought local flavor to a long list of online tributes to the politically active Dublin native.
“Respect to Sinead….. She stood for something… Unlike most people…,” he tweeted.
“Cuts Like a Knife” Canadian singer Bryan Adams burst onto the international music scene along with O’Connor in the 1980s.
“RIP Sinéad O’Connor, I loved working with you making photos, doing gigs in Ireland together and chats,” he tweeted. “All my love to your family.”
Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins remembers O’Connor as a national treasure.
“What Ireland has lost at such a relatively young age is one of our greatest and most gifted composers, songwriters and performers of recent decades, one who had a unique talent and extraordinary connection with her audience, all of whom held such love and warmth for her,” he tweeted.
Irish politico and Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O’Neill mourned that “Ireland has lost one of our most powerful and successful singer, songwriter and female artists.”
Fellow Dublin native and MMA fighter Conor McGregor said he “lost a friend” when O’Connor died.
“Sinead’s music will live on and continue to inspire!” he tweeted. “Rest In Peace, Sinead you are home with your son I am sure.”
Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan remembered his fellow rockstar for her willingness to do things that weren’t always popular, like tearing up a photo of Pope John Paul II — who she called “the real enemy” — during a 1992 appearance on “Saturday Night Live.”
“Fiercely honest and sweet and funny, she was talented in ways I’m not completely sure,” he wrote on social media. “But Sinead stands alone as a figure from our generation who was always true to the piercing voice within and without.”
As of Wednesday evening, O’Connor’s cause of death has not been reported.
The “Nothing Compares 2 U” singer had been outspoken about her grief in the wake of her son’s death by suicide in January 2022. Shortly after, she was briefly hospitalized following a string of tweets in which she said she planned to “follow my son.”