Prince’s estate blocks Sinéad O’Connor’s version of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ being used in Nothing Compares documentary

Prince’s Estate blocked producers of a documentary about Sinéad O’Connor’s life from using her hit version of Prince’s song ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ in the film.

Nothing Compares, a documentary about the singer’s life and career, recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The absence of O’Connor’s cover of Prince’s song and her most famous hit from the film was explained in the credits:

“The Prince estate denied use of Sinéad's recording of 'Nothing Compares 2 U' in this film,” the credits read. Prince originally released the record as part of his side project The Family on their self-titled 1985 album.

The track remained relatively obscure until O’Connor covered the song on her 1990 album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. O’Connor’s music video for the cover and her emotional rendition of the song catapulted her to global stardom and the song to iconic status.

The pair’s paths crossed in more than artistic terms, O’Connor recalled in her memoir Rememberings. Prince invited O’Connor to his LA mansion where she said he behaved aggressively towards her. "I never wanted to see that devil again,” she wrote in the book about the encounter.

The singer-songwriter also claimed that Prince threw several tantrums during their meeting and tried to stop her from leaving and pursued her in his car once she left.

In Nothing Compares — directed by Katrhyn Ferguson — O’Connor discusses her life. It plots her journey from the physical and mental abuse she suffered as a child, to her emergence as a superstar. The film also explores the fallout of her appearance on SNL where she ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II in protest against clerical child abuse.

The film hit screens weeks after the tragic death of O’Connor and Dónal Lunny’s 17-year-old son Shane. Upon her son’s death, O’Connor paid tribute to him via Twitter.

She described him as “The light of my life. The lamp of my soul. My blue-eyed-baby.”
“You will always be my light,” she added. "We will always be together. No boundary can separate us.”