UPDATE: Missing Singer Sinead O'Connor Found Safe in Chicago Suburb

By: Caryn Robbins May. 17, 2016

UPDATE: 5/17: USA Today reports that Sinead O'Connor has been located according to local police.

Police in the village of Wilmette, Ill., north of Chicago, confirmed that O'Connor was found Monday, and is no longer missing and is safe. According to the local paper, The Wilmette Beacon, the Irish singer had been staying with friends in Wilmette for several weeks.

5/16: USA Today reports that a search is underway by police in a suburb of Chicago for missing singer Sinead O'Connor. According to reports, the Irish singer, who has a history of mental illness, was last seen yesterday morning when she went for a bike ride in the village of Wilmette, Ill. She never returned. While police have declined to share details on the investigation, an unnamed called reportedly contacted police and expressed concern for the singer's absence.

Last November, O'Connor took to Facebook to reveal she had taken an overdose because of "horrifying set of betrayals." "There is only so much any woman can be expected to bear," read the post. "I've taken an overdose. There is no other way to get respect."

She added, "I'm at a hotel, somewhere in Ireland, under another name. If I wasn't posting this, my kids and family wouldn't even find out."

The Irish singer-songwriter rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra. O'Connor achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a new arrangement of Prince's song "Nothing Compares 2 U". In addition to her ten solo albums her work includes many singles, songs for films, collaborations with many other artists and appearances at charity fundraising concerts.

Since then, while maintaining her singing career, she has occasionally encountered controversy, partly due to her statements and gestures-such as her ordination as a priest despite being a woman with a Roman Catholic background-and her strongly expressed views on organised religion, women's rights, war, and child abuse.

Image courtesy of the Sinead O'Connor site