"Many artists covered Prince songs in the ‘80s and usually chose selections from his solo albums that were already great, fully realized tracks. “Nothing Compares 2 U” was a relative obscurity though, having been released in 1985 by the short-lived Paisley Park band the Family. Prince wrote the song while his housekeeper Sandy was on an extended leave of absence, and the lyric “All the flowers that you planted in the backyard all died when you went away” was not a metaphor – the pop superstar was simply sad that his house was a mess. O’Connor and her co-producer, British dance hitmaker Nellee Hooper (Soul II Soul, Bjork), turned “Nothing Compares 2 U” into a regal, heartbreaking love song which topped charts all over the world and proved, for once, that
someone besides Prince could make the definitive recording of a Prince song."