You know that feeling when you realize two people you admire actually couldn't stand each other? It’s a bummer. For decades, the world has wept to the soaring, tear-streaked vocals of "Nothing Compares 2 U." It is, for many, the definitive breakup anthem. But behind that haunting melody lies one of the most bizarre, uncomfortable, and downright scary feuds in music history. The story of Prince on Sinead O'Connor isn't a tale of two geniuses collaborating in a purple-hued studio. Honestly, it's more like a psychological thriller that ended in a 5:00 AM car chase through the streets of Los Angeles.
Most people assume they were friends. They weren't. They didn't even record the song together. Sinead recorded her version without ever speaking to Prince. When it became a global juggernaut in 1990, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks, Prince finally reached out. He "summoned" her to his Hollywood mansion. What happened next depends on who you believe, but Sinead’s account is the stuff of nightmares.
The Night a Pillow Fight Turned Dangerous
When Sinead arrived at Prince’s home, she wasn't met with a celebratory toast. Instead, she found a man who was deeply uncomfortable with the fact that she wasn't one of his "proteges." Prince liked control. He liked to mold artists. Sinead O'Connor? She was nobody's clay.
According to Sinead’s 2021 memoir Rememberings, the evening started out weird and got progressively worse. Prince allegedly began by berating her for swearing in interviews. Think about that for a second. The man who wrote "Darling Nikki" was telling an Irish woman to watch her mouth. She told him where he could go, in no uncertain terms. Then came the soup. Prince apparently ordered his butler to serve her soup repeatedly, even though she told him she didn't want any.
But then things took a sharp turn into the surreal. Prince suggested a pillow fight. Sounds fun, right? Kinda like something out of a 1980s teen movie. Except Sinead claimed that when he swung at her, the pillow was heavy. He had allegedly stuffed something hard—she suspected a rock or a weighted object—into the pillowcase.
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The Malibu Highway Chase
Sinead realized she was in a "scary" situation. She fled the house on foot in the middle of the night. But the ordeal wasn't over. In various interviews, including a famous sit-down with Good Morning Britain, she described Prince stalking her in his car.
- He reportedly followed her down the road.
- He jumped out of the car and chased her around a tree.
- She ended up ringing a random neighbor's doorbell at five in the morning to escape him.
"You’ve got to be crazy to be a musician," she told the New York Times, "but there’s a difference between being crazy and being a violent abuser of women." It's a heavy accusation. Prince, who passed away in 2016, never publicly detailed his version of that specific night, though his estate has consistently denied claims of his being a violent man.
Why Prince Actually Disliked the Cover
While the personal drama is what grabs the headlines, the professional friction was just as intense. Prince had a very specific philosophy about music. He famously loathed the "compulsory license" law that allowed artists to cover songs without the original creator's permission. To Prince, when someone covered his song, his own version essentially ceased to exist in the public's mind.
He told George Lopez in 2011 that he didn't mind fans singing his songs, but he hated when the industry "covered" them. He felt it was about money and lazy artistry rather than building something new. With "Nothing Compares 2 U," the sting was likely even sharper because Sinead's version became the definitive one.
- The Family Version: Prince originally wrote the song for his side project, The Family, in 1985. It went nowhere.
- The Sinead Effect: She stripped it down. She made it raw. She made it hers.
- The Royalties: While Prince reportedly hated the cover, he didn't hate the checks. He once joked that the royalties from Sinead’s version bought him several houses.
Even after his death, the tension remained. In 2022, the Prince estate—specifically his half-sister Sharon Nelson—refused to let Sinead use her recording of the song in her documentary, Nothing Compares. Sharon's reasoning was blunt: she didn't feel Sinead "deserved" to use it and claimed Prince’s own version was superior.
Two Different Worlds
It’s important to look at the power dynamics here. Prince was the "Purple King," a man used to total devotion from those in his orbit. Sinead was a punk at heart, a survivor of childhood abuse who used her voice as a weapon against the status quo. When Prince tried to act as a mentor or a "father figure," she saw right through it. She didn't want a master; she wanted her own life.
Interestingly, despite the trauma of their meeting, Sinead never lost her respect for Prince as an artist. She still called him a genius. She just thought he was a "devil" of a human being. She even recorded another Prince cover later in her life—a reggae version of "I Would Die 4 U"—after being convinced by Frank Benbini of Fun Lovin' Criminals. She did it because she loved the music, even if she couldn't stand the man who wrote it.
Lessons from a Contentious Legacy
So, what do we do with this? How do we listen to that beautiful song knowing the creator and the performer were at each other's throats?
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Honestly, it makes the song more powerful. It’s a reminder that art often transcends the people who make it. "Nothing Compares 2 U" is no longer just a Prince song or just a Sinead song. It belongs to the millions of people who have used it to get through their own heartbreaks.
Actionable Takeaways for Music Lovers
If you're digging into the history of Prince on Sinead O'Connor, here's how to get the full picture:
- Listen to the 1985 original: Find the version by The Family. It’s much more "Prince-heavy" with synthesizers and a different groove. You’ll see why Sinead’s version was such a radical departure.
- Read "Rememberings": If you want Sinead’s unfiltered perspective on her life and her encounter with Prince, her memoir is essential. It’s raw and doesn't hold back.
- Watch the 1993 Live Version: Check out Prince and Rosie Gaines performing the song. This was Prince "reclaiming" the track after Sinead made it a hit. It’s a masterclass in vocal performance.
- Understand the Law: If you're a musician, look up "Compulsory Mechanical Licensing." It’s the reason why Sinead could record that song without Prince’s "okay," and why the industry works the way it does today.
The relationship between Prince and Sinead O'Connor was a collision of two immovable objects. One was a perfectionist who wanted to control the world; the other was a rebel who refused to be controlled. They gave us one of the greatest songs of all time, but the price of that gift was a lifetime of bitterness.
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To truly appreciate the track, you have to acknowledge the messiness. Music isn't always about harmony. Sometimes, it's born from a fight.
Next Steps:
Research the history of Prince's "The Family" project to see how he utilized side bands to release his massive backlog of vault material. Pay close attention to the production style of Nellee Hooper on Sinead's album to understand how the "trip-hop" influence transformed the original ballad into a global phenomenon.