Who Wrote “Nothing Compares 2 U”?

Prince wrote “Nothing Compares 2 U.” U.S. copyright-registration records identify Prince Rogers Nelson as the author of the words and music, and the Recording Academy lists Prince alone as the songwriter. Sinéad O’Connor did not co-write the song, but her stark, deeply felt 1990 recording transformed a little-known composition into an international hit.

The full story involves several different “firsts.” Prince wrote and recorded the song first. The Family released it first. O’Connor created the version that most listeners know.

Prince Wrote and Recorded the Song First

The U.S. copyright registration for “Nothing Compares 2 U,” registration number PA0000261000, identifies Prince as the author of its words and music. A later federal complaint filed by Prince’s estate likewise describes him as the composition’s sole author.

Prince made his original studio recording at the Flying Cloud Drive warehouse studio in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, in July 1984. The Prince Estate identifies Susan Rogers as the engineer present for the initial session. Rogers recalled that Prince took his notebook into another room, wrote the lyrics quickly and returned to sing them.

The available authoritative sources confirm July 1984 but do not independently establish a precise day. The chronology is nevertheless clear: Prince recorded the song more than five years before O’Connor’s rendition reached No. 1.

That original recording was not released at the time. Instead, Prince transferred the composition to another act in his circle.

The Family Released the First Commercial Version

The first commercially released version of “Nothing Compares 2 U” appeared on the Family’s self-titled album in August 1985.

The Family was a Prince-created group associated with his Paisley Park label. Prince recorded the original instrumental and vocal parts for the album before members of the Family added their performances. On “Nothing Compares 2 U,” St. Paul Peterson supplied the principal lead vocal, with vocals from Susannah Melvoin. Eric Leeds contributed saxophone, while Clare Fischer provided the string orchestration.

The result was more elaborate than Prince’s initial recording, with layered vocals, prominent saxophone and sweeping strings. Yet “Nothing Compares 2 U” remained an album track rather than one of the album’s singles, and it did not become widely known until O’Connor recorded it.

This distinction is important: the Family made the first commercially released recording, but its members did not write the composition. Prince had already written and recorded it before their version appeared.

How the Song Reached Sinéad O’Connor

Several years later, “Nothing Compares 2 U” reached Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor as she worked on her second album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.

A 1990 profile in the Los Angeles Times reported that O’Connor credited her former manager, Fachtna O’Ceallaigh, with suggesting the song. Later accounts also identify O’Ceallaigh, although some name Prince associate Steve Fargnoli instead or describe the recommendation differently.

What matters most is what O’Connor heard in the composition. The Family’s recording had presented it as a polished ensemble performance. O’Connor stripped away much of that framework and placed the emotional weight on the voice.

What O’Connor Contributed

O’Connor was not one of the songwriters, but that does not mean her version was a simple copy.

A song and a recording are separate creative works. Songwriting credit belongs to the creators of the underlying words and music. A particular recording also depends on interpretation, arrangement, production, performance and engineering.

Contemporary trade coverage credited O’Connor and Nellee Hooper as producers of the 1990 recording. Engineer and producer Chris Birkett later described himself as its co-producer and engineer and discussed his work on the production, programming and arrangement. The formal contemporary credit and Birkett’s later account therefore describe his role somewhat differently.

Together, those choices produced a radically different listening experience. O’Connor’s vocal moves between restraint and force, leaving space around Prince’s melody instead of surrounding it with the fuller textures heard on the Family recording. Her performance gave the song its most widely recognized emotional identity.

That creative achievement did not alter the songwriting credit. Prince remained the sole credited writer, while O’Connor and her collaborators were responsible for the sound and impact of the hit recording.

The 1990 Version Becomes a Worldwide Hit

O’Connor’s version entered the United Kingdom chart on January 20, 1990, and spent four weeks at No. 1, according to the Official Charts Company. In the United States, it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated April 21 and remained there for four weeks.

The nominations for the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards illustrated the difference between composition and recording. O’Connor’s performance was nominated for Record of the Year, while “Nothing Compares 2 U” was nominated for Song of the Year with Prince listed as its songwriter. The Recording Academy describes Song of the Year as a songwriter’s award.

That division offers a useful way to understand the song’s legacy. Prince created the composition. O’Connor created its definitive hit performance. Giving Prince the correct authorship does not diminish her contribution; it clarifies the different forms of creativity involved.

Prince’s Original Recording Finally Appears

For decades, listeners could hear the Family’s 1985 release, O’Connor’s famous interpretation and later Prince performances—but not the original studio recording Prince had begun in 1984.

That changed on April 19, 2018, when the Prince Estate and Warner Bros. Records officially released the recording. It was subsequently included on Originals, the Prince Estate’s 2019 collection of Prince recordings connected with songs later released by other artists.

The release clarified an often-confused sequence. Prince’s studio rendition was the earliest recording, but it was not the song’s first commercial release. The Family holds that distinction.

Was It Written About a Specific Person?

No single inspiration has been established conclusively enough to present as fact. Susan Rogers has suggested that Prince might have been thinking about his housekeeper, Sandy Scipioni, whose absence he reportedly noticed after she left to be with her family. Other published accounts have associated the song with Susannah Melvoin.

Those remain interpretations rather than a definitive explanation from Prince. The surviving accounts conflict, and Prince did not publicly settle the question.

The song is broad enough to support several readings: romantic separation, loneliness, regret or the absence of someone whose importance becomes clear only after the relationship changes. That openness helped O’Connor make the song feel personal without changing its authorship.

The Story in Four Dates

1984: Prince writes and records “Nothing Compares 2 U” in Eden Prairie.
1985: The Family releases the first commercial version.
1990: Sinéad O’Connor turns the song into a No. 1 hit in the United Kingdom and United States.
2018: Prince’s original 1984 studio recording receives its official release.

So, who wrote “Nothing Compares 2 U”? Prince did—both words and music. But the song’s history belongs to more than one performance: Prince created it, the Family introduced it to record buyers, and Sinéad O’Connor made it unforgettable.