Who is 'Shuhada Davitt'? Sinead O'Connor Converts to Islam, Changes Her Name

Sinead O'Connor has announced she is converting to Islam nearly 20 years after she was ordained as a Catholic priest.

The Irish singer, best known for her 1990 hit "Nothing Compares 2 U," said she has also changed her name to Shuhada Davitt after saying all other religious scriptures are "redundant."

The announcement was made in a series of Twitter posts, including pictures of her wearing a hijab, and a video of her singing the Adhan, or Islamic call to prayer.

"This is to announce that I am proud to have become a Muslim. This is the natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian's journey. All scripture study leads to Islam. Which makes all other scriptures redundant. I will be given (another) new name. It will be Shuhada," she wrote on Twitter.

In a follow-up tweet, she added: "My best friend, Elaine just gave me my 1st Hijab and she got chills all over her body when I put it on. Not gonna post a photo because is intensely personal. And I'm an ugly old hag. But I'm a very, very, very happy old hag."

The singer has also changed her Twitter avatar to the Nike logo along with the words "Wear a Hijab just do it."

The 51-year-old apologized for getting the words wrong after uploading the video of her singing the Islamic call to prayer, promising that "once I've practiced the [Adhan] a hundred times I promise I'll sing it much better than the one I've posted."

She has also thanked "all my Muslim brothers and sisters" for their support since she made the announcement.

"You can't begin to imagine how much your tenderness means to me," she added.

In 1992, O'Connor sparked controversy by ripping up a photograph of Pope John Paul II during an appearance on Saturday Night Live. Seven years later, she was ordained by a fringe catholic group, although the Catholic Church did not officially recognize the ceremony because it does not allow female priests.

In 2016, police in Chicago said they were "seeking to check the well-being" of the musician after she failed to return from a bike ride. There were fears she may have taken her own life following worrying Facebook messages she posted describing how her her family had abandoned her in the wake of her much-publicized mental health issues.

She was eventually found unharmed at a hotel in a Chicago suburb.