Sinéad O’Connor ‘died of broken heart’ after death of teenage son-Robert Oliver-Entertainment – Metro

A friend and collaborator of Sinéad O’Connor has claimed the singer ‘died of a broken heart’ (Picture: Getty)

A friend of Sinéad O’Connor has claimed the singer ‘died of a broken heart’ following the tragic death of her 17-year-old son Shane.

The legendary Irish songwriter died at her home in Herne Hill, London in July 2023, aged 56, just 18 months after her second-youngest child.

Last year, no medical cause for her death was established and the coroner’s report confirmed an autopsy would take place but the full details are yet to be revealed.

But now, in a new retrospective documentary that covers her stellar career, her friend and producer David Holmes has claimed O’Connor ‘died of a broken heart’.

Speaking on the RTÉ production, he said: ‘Even though Sinéad was this incredibly resilient survivor, I totally believe that people can die of a broken heart.’

Holmes, 54, spent five years working with O’Connor on her planned 11th studio album, No Veteran Dies Alone, which remains unfinished and unreleased.

O’Connor’s life will be looked over in the new RTÉ documentary, Sinéad (Picture: AP)

Shane died two years ago after being reported missing (Picture: Twitter)

He continued: ‘We ended up backstage. I just stopped and introduced myself. At that moment wasn’t a good time for Sinéad – everybody knows she had mental health issues.’

The pair ended up working on nine songs together and plans were made to release the record before O’Connor’s death, but the 10th and final song would ultimately never be finished.

At the time of her death, tributes to the Nothing Compares 2 U singer poured in from across the music and entertainment industries, with thousands celebrating her life and work.

Shane, the ‘light’ of O’Connor’s life, died in January 2022 (Picture: Redferns / Twitter)

David Holmes worked with O’Connor during her final years as a musician (Picture: Getty)

In January 2022, O’Connor shared the devastating news of her son’s passing, calling him the ‘light of [her] life’, after he was reported missing in the days leading up to his death.

She wrote: ‘The light of my life. The lamp of my soul. My blue-eye baby. You will always be my light. We will always be together. No boundary can separate us.’

Songwriter Phoebe Bridgers said at the time: ‘Even before I heard Sinéad’s music, I knew she was a revolutionary. I was obsessed with her and the Nothing Compares 2 U video.’

The songwriter then revealed: ‘I even had a very, very short-shaved head in high school. I definitely shaved it for her.’

Thousands turned out for the Nothing Compares 2 U singer’s funeral (Picture: Getty)

Meanwhile, Just Like a Pill singer Pink called O’Connor ‘brave’ and ‘outspoken’ and recalled her days of being a child, recording demo tape covers of Nothing Compares 2 U.

Thousands lined the streets of Bray in Ireland’s County Wicklow as O’Connor was buried in an Islamic ceremony – she adopted the name Shuhada’ Sadaqat in 2018 after converting to the religion.

The funeral was attended by the likes of U2’s Bono and Sir Bob Geldof, while a reading said O’Connor was a ‘resonant’ singer who was blessed with a ‘gift’.

Sinéad, which is being broadcast in Ireland on Monday night on RTÉ at 9.35pm, will focus on the ups and downs of the Thank You For Hearing Me singer’s career.

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