The Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor has died at the age of 56.

In a statement, the singer’s family said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad.”

She was best known for her single Nothing Compares 2 U, released in 1990, which went on to hit number one around the world.

She spoke to the BBC’s Heaven and Earth programme in 2002, and talked about the way songs are “your soul speaking to you and sometimes you speaking to them.”