Sinéad O’Connor fans gather in late singer’s Irish hometown for heartfelt seaside sendoff

Fans of Sinéad O’Connor, who died in July at age 56, mourned the singer as she was laid to rest Tuesday. Fans lined the streets singing O’Connor’s hit “Nothing Compares 2 U” as a flower-filled hearse carrying the singer’s body made its way to her home. Fans also tossed an array of flowers onto the hearse, which was led by a black-and-white VW camper blasting Bob Marley’s “Natural Mystic.” At O’Connor’s home, fans left handwritten notes and flowers thanking her for her activism and her work, the Associated Press reported. “Gone too soon.” O’Connor, who rose to fame in 1990 with a shaved head and the Prince-written song “Nothing Compares 2 U,” died July 26. “Artists are supposed to act as an emergency fire service when it comes to spiritual conflict — not preaching or telling people what to do but being a little light that tells us that there is a spirit world.” London police told The Times in a July statement that the singer’s death was not being treated as suspicious.