Sinead O'Connor, whose death was announced on Wednesday, became a huge pop star as a result of Nothing Compares 2 U, which topped the charts in early 1990 - in the UK, US, Ireland and many other countries. It's a brilliant record, that became spectacularly successful due to the immense impact of its music video, in which O'Connor provided an unforgettable performance. Perhaps the greatest ever in a music video.  

It was not planned to be as significant as it turned out, but when director John Maybury filmed O'Connor in a locked off head and shoulders shot against black, singing Nothing Compares 2 U, something happened that really transcended the intended boundaries of the medium of music video - possibly even of Film itself. 

First off, Maybury must take all the credit for removing any distraction whatsoever in the way that O'Connor's performance of the song is addressed directly to the viewer through the film camera. The rest of course is Sinead - the intimacy of it, the raw emotion of it. And then you get the tear. She means every word of it.

Within this studied, constructed shot (not a concert, or a TV show performance) she brings herself. Into the artful package, designed to highlight O'Connor's extraordinary face, intrude reality and authenticity. A small thing, but also it turns out, quite a seismic thing that connects on an instinctive leve with anyone who watches it. As proven by the incredible reaction that this received, across the world.

Of course, Sinead O'Connor was an emotional person, exhibiting elements of her own wounded psyche in the Nothing Compares 2 U video. She was a fiercely brave artist. The huge success that followed did not really do anything to alleviate her own personal suffering either - quite the opposite. But in the extremely sad circumstances of her death, it is still where we inevitably are drawn to see this important artist in all her great emotional glory - singing directly to us.

Below is an extract from '25 Music Videos That Changed The World,' a feature celebrating the 25th anniversary of the launch of MTV, in PROMO Magazine, September 2006. 

One tear runs down her face - that small moment is the climax of a video that due to its sheer stark simplicity transfixed millions on its release in early 1990. Basically the power of John Maybury's video for Sinead O'Connor's Nothing Compares 2 U, which consists almost solely of a close-up on the singer's face, shaven-headed with ghostly pale skin against a black background, is encapsulated by that tear.

What makes it so powerful, of course, is that the tear is involuntary, real emotion thought to have been conjured up by the line, "All the flowers you planted, Mama”, which allegedly reminded O'Connor of the difficult relationship with her mother. She was also under added stress at the time after splitting up with manager and sometime lover Fachtna O'Ceallaigh a few days before.

Perhaps the timing was right, but Maybury had the ability to capture the moment. He had worked with O'Connor previously on the video for The Value Of Ignorance, and when it came to shooting Nothing Compares 2 U, he engaged an all-female crew, including cinematographer Dominique LeRigoleur for a shoot in Paris.

Maybury was a highly regarded video director by this time, having served his apprenticeship with iconoclastic film-maker Derek Jarman: he was set designer on Jubilee (1977) and an editor on The Last Of England (1987). He became a highly regarded experimental filmmaker in the early Eighties, as part of the Neuro-mantic art collective, then moved into videos for a more reliable source of income.

Maybury engaged an all-female crew, including cinematographer Dominique LeRigoleur for a shoot in Paris.

Maybury made his first video for Everything But The Girl, then went on to work with Boy George, Cyndi Lauper, Neneh Cherry, The Jesus & Mary Chain and others before Nothing Compares 2 U provided his high point of his achievements in the medium. He has since returned to cinema, in experimental and more mainstream form, including Remembrance Of Things Fast (1994), Love Is The Devil (1998) and The Jacket (2005).

Maybury did not initially plan for O'Connor's performance to dominate the video as it does. There are shots of the singer walking through a park in the video, but others, including O'Connor driving around on a moped, were never used. It was a wise move: it's highly unlikely Nothing Compares would be so memorable if there were more shots of the singer travelling around Paris.

The video worked so well because it demonstrated the simple power of performance, and the human face, especially one as compelling as O'Connor's. Other artists and directors took note, although few could match the intensity generated by Nothing Compares 2 U.

Ironically the video did in some way serve to increase O' Connor's unhappiness over the next few years. She became a big international star and she did not enjoy fame, latter describing it as a curse. "It was the worst phase of my life, which I thank God I'll never have to go through again," she said in 1997. "I think we all have to go through that dark night of the soul, and I'm just grateful I got mine over with when I was young."