The London coroner’s office said in a statement on Tuesday that Sinead O’Connor died of natural causes. The finding clearly rules out the possibility that the Irish singer-songwriter died from suicide or a drug overdose, contrary to widespread speculation among her fans after she was found unresponsive in a London home in July.
Best known for hit pop songs in the 1980s and 1990s such as her song “Nothing Compares 2U,” O’Connor is known around the world for speaking out about mental health, abortion, and protesting sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Her death at the age of 56 came just over a year after her teenage son Shane died by suicide in early 2022 — a tragedy that landed the singer in hospital after she threatened to harm herself. Days before her death, O’Connor announced via social media that she had almost finished working on an album and planned to go on tour.
It remains unclear how O’Connor died, but the coroner’s ruling on Tuesday rules out some of the more frightening possibilities.
Andre Rebelo, secretary of the Coroner’s Society of England and Wales, explained: “All suicides are ‘unnatural’ cases. Most deaths from natural causes are not reported to any coroner, but if the coroner finds natural causes it will not be a suicide.” never.
He added that if a person died of “natural causes,” that means he did not die by suicide, in an accident, or from a drug overdose. Rebelo stressed that he was speaking generally, not about any specific case.
Southwark Coroner’s Court said it had no further comment on O’Connor’s death.
This article has been updated.