Singer Sinéad O’Connor, best known for her 1990 cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” announced Tuesday she is entering a year-long treatment program for “trauma and addiction.”
The 53-year-old tweeted that she had “a very traumatic six years and this year was the end of it but now recovery starts.”
She has postponed touring, except for a series of shows in her native Ireland, until 2022. No Canadian shows were scheduled.
“If I take this time to heal, I will be fit for a lifetime of touring. If I don't, I won’t,” she explained on Twitter. “If taking this step means my career is over then so be it.”
O’Connor told fans one of her children was “unwell” and she “lost someone beloved” this year which led her to become addicted “to a drug other than weed.”
The singer has two adult children and two teenagers.
She added: “I grew up with a lot of trauma and abuse. I then went straight into the music business. And never learned really how to make a normal life. Never took proper time to heal. Wasn't ready to either.”
In 2017, O’Connor begged for help in a heart-wrenching video she recorded in a motel room in New Jersey.
“I’ve walked this earth alone for two years now as punishment for being mentally f**king ill and being angry that nobody would f**king take care of me,” she said.
“I’m all by myself … My entire life is revolving around just not dying.”
O'Connor changed her name to Magda Davitt and then, in 2018, converted to Islam and adopted the name Shuhada Sadaqat.