Sinead O’Connor looks set to miss the premiere of her new documentary, Nothing Compares.
Her agent confirmed Sinead won’t be doing any press until next year after the loss of her beloved teenage son Shane, who died tragically earlier this year.
A spokesman for Sinead said: “Due to bereavement Sinéad will be out of any communication until next year.”
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A host of famous faces look set to gather at the Stellar Cinema in Rathmines, Dublin tonight for a special screening of the film.
But fans hoping to hear her rendition of Nothing Compares 2 U in the feature will be left disappointed after it was revealed Prince’s half-sister Sharon Nelson refused to give clearance to include Sinead’s iconic cover of his song in the film.
Belfast director Kathryn Ferguson had planned to make John Maybury’s acclaimed video for the singer’s 1990 version of Nothing Compares 2 U a key part of her documentary but was refused permission by the late Prince’s estate.
In an interview with Billboard magazine, Prince’s half-sister and co-heir, Sharon Nelson, said the estate refused the request because "I didn’t feel she deserved to use the song."
"Nothing compares to Prince’s live version with Rosie Gaines that is featured on the Hits 1 album and we are re-releasing that album on vinyl on November 4th," she added.
"I didn’t feel [Sinéad] deserved to use the song my brother wrote in her documentary so we declined. His version is the best."
Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment, Ferguson said, "We found out late in the day that we were denied the licence to the song. We don’t have a very clear answer why and it’s their prerogative to do what they want with it.
"But it was obviously very disappointing and not something that we anticipated but I suppose that it did do was create a fantastic creative challenge because you can bet your boots we were going to use the video!"
She added: "We had been granted the rushes for it and we really wanted to use this iconic video and also that section of the film is very biographical where Sinéad is discussing her sadness over the passing of her mother.
"So, we really had to work together to try and keep the narrative we had in place intact and so many people who have seen the film have said they can actually hear the song just by looking at the video.
"It is what it is, and we did our best to get through it!"
Nothing Compares is in cinemas on October 7.
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