"Nothing Compares 2 U" is a song written in the 1980s by Prince for The Family. In 1990, a recording of the song by Sinéad O'Connor became a number-one hit in many countries, charting in the U.S., UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, and Germany, and launched O'Connor's mainstream career. The subject of the song is actress Susannah Melvoin.

In 1985, The Family, a funk band created as an outlet to release more of Prince's music, released their first and only album, the self-titled The Family. "Nothing Compares 2 U" appeared on the album, but was not released as a single and received little recognition.

Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor re-recorded the track in 1989 and included it on her second album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, bringing the song to worldwide prominence. The song's music video was a hit on MTV. The single topped the charts worldwide, including the United States, UK and Australia. The song also topped the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart. O'Connor's version was listed at #77 on Billboard's "Greatest Songs of All Time and at #10 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s".

Due to the popularity of the O'Connor recording, Prince began to perform the song in concert, and included a live duet between himself and Rosie Gaines on his 1993 compilations The Hits/The B-Sidesand The Hits 1. Prince also recorded a solo version of the song for his 2002 live album, One Nite Alone... Live!.

Mainly shot in Paris, the video for "Nothing Compares 2 U" was directed by John Maybury. The clip consists almost solely of a closeup on O'Connor's face as she sings the song's lyrics. Towards the end of the video, two tears roll down her face, one per cheek. O'Connor stated on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90sthat it was caused by the lyric "All the flowers that you planted, Mama/in the back yard/All died when you went away", because she had a very complex relationship with her late mother, who she claims abused her. The clip won Best Video at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards – the first video by a female artist to win in this category.