April 21, 1990 –
Sinead O’Connor’s cover of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2U, went to No 1 on the Billboard Charts, on this date.
The attention from the song hitting no. 1 had some deleterious effects on the singer. Sinead O’Connor claimed she hated the fame the song brought her, and she struggled with the commercialization of her music. Nothing Compares 2 U earned her a Grammy for Best Alternative Performance (it was also nominated for Record Of The Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Best Short Form Music Video) but she rejected the award along with all others offered to her, and refused to appear at the ceremony in protest of materialism in the music industry. O’Connor believed she was being honored for putting up impressive sales figures, not for her art. She wanted no part of it.
Prince wrote and recorded this song in 1984, but didn’t release it. He did release a live version with Rosie Gaines on his 1993 album The Hits/The B-Sides, but his original solo recording didn’t appear until 2018, when his estate released it from the vault. His version is guitar-based, with more of a rock feel. (Unfortunately, Prince was found dead at his home in Minnesota at the age of 57, on this date in 2016.)
Did you make it through Jimmy Scott’s version without crying? Stronger people than you couldn’t.
The Haus of Dcaligari 