1990 Breakup Anthem Reached No. 1 36 Years Ago Today
It's been exactly 36 years since Sinéad O'Connorbegan a historic run at the top of the music charts.
On April 21, 1990, O'Connor's "Nobody Compares 2 U" rose to the summit of the Billboard Hot 100, occupying the No. 1 spot for four consecutive weeks.
The song was a massive global success, hitting No. 1 in 18 different countries and becoming a worldwide phenomenon. It was the No. 3 best-selling single of that year, and has since been ranked as one of the top songs of the entire decade, earning the No. 10 spot on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s list.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CzPqFaauYim/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
It has also been included on a number of other best-of music lists, including Rolling Stone's ranking of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, (placed at No. 184) and the All-Time 100 Biggest Songs by Billboard (No. 87).
Though it was O'Connor's version of the song that brought it to the mainstream, the song was originally written and recorded by Prince in 1984. His version wasn't released until 1993 on his The Hits/The B-Sides album, while the original 1984 studio demo was released posthumously in 2018.
O'Connor's cover of the song was accompanied by a now-iconic music video directed by John Maybury, which famously features powerful close-up shots of her face and genuine tears running down her cheeks. It even won the Video of the Year award at the MTV Video Awards in 1990, making O'Connor the first female artist to ever win that award.
The beloved Irish songstress died unexpectedly in July 2023 at the age of 56. A cause of death wasn't initially reported at the time, but a coroner later confirmed in 2024 that O'Connor died of "natural causes."
Related: 1980 New Wave Rock Anthem Became a No. 1 Hit 46 Years Ago Today
Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 4:08 AM.