The estate of world-renowned singer Prince denied the use of 'Nothing Compares 2 U' in a recently debuted documentary about the life and career of Sinéad O'Connor.
Originally written by Prince for his side project The Family, the song was released in 1985 but shot to popularity after O'Connor released her own version of the song for her second studio album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got in 1989.
In December 1990, the song was named by Billboard as the no.1 single of the year at the Billboard Music Awards.
Now, a new documentary about O'Connor by Kathryn Ferguson called 'Nothing Compares' is notably missing the song with the exception of a few chords, despite being referenced in the film's title.
The documentary debuted at the virtual Sundance Film Festival, and its credits state:
"The Prince estate denied use of Sinéad's recording of 'Nothing Compares 2 U' in this film."
Prince and O'Connor were not close, and she recounts in her memoir Rememberings that he assaulted her in his house shortly after her release of the song.
She writes that he suggested a pillow fight, only to then thump her with something hard he had slipped into the pillowcase.
When she left his house on foot in the middle of the night, she says he stalked her with his car, leapt out and chased her around the highway.
"You've got to be crazy to be a musician," she said. "But there's a difference between being crazy and being a violent abuser of women."
In Nothing Compares, O'Connor looks back on her career as a singer, with voiceover retrospectives on fame and public scrutiny playing over footage.
She also recounts the mental and physical abuse that she endured from her late mother and the fallout of tearing up a photo of Pope John Paul II from the Studio 8H stage in protest of the Catholic Church.
The documentary has been released just weeks after the passing of her 17-year old son Shane.
