Ana Navarro posted a photo with her longterm friend Christina Casado

Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor has died at the age of 56 and tributes celebrating her life have poured in. Her death was announced on Wednesday (26 July) by her family in a brief statement. No cause of death was given. It read: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.” The singer hailed from Dublin, Ireland, and rose to fame thanks to a global hit with the 1990 ballad Nothing Compares 2 U. Throughout her musical career, O’Connor was no stranger to controversy and famously shocked the US by ripping up a picture of Pope John Paul II during a 1992 appearance on the talk show Saturday Night Live in protest against child abuse in the Catholic Church. The news of her death stunned many, from the world of entertainment and beyond, and has led to an outpouring of heartfelt tributes for the musical icon. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter O’Connor’s death comes 18 months after that of her 17-year-old son Shane. In one of her last posts on social media, she said he was “the love of my life, the lamp of my soul”. She will be remembered not only for her singing voice but for her activism and bravery in opposing atrocities, even in the face of significant backlash. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A fan's teenage dream of meeting Zayn Malik came true years later after they starred in his latest music video as his love interest. Grace Dumdaw (@grumdaw), an actor and musician (who uses they/she/he pronouns), took to TikTok to reveal how they were previously a "deranged" fangirl back in Malik's One Direction days. “POV: You went from being a deranged fangirl at 15 to being Malik’s lead love interest in his MV [music video] and getting posted on his IG [Instagram]," the on-screen text read. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Dumdaw even revealed some of the tweets they posted about Malik back in 2014 during their teen years - with one including: "I would kill my family to touch Zayn." Well, Dumdaw did not have to reach those extreme lengths as nearly nine years later they appeared in Zayn's music video for his new single "Love Like This," where the two kissed. Revealing more details about the process, Dumdaw also noted in the caption that they did not audition for the role as the director reached out directly. "Fun fact, I didn't even audition for this. the directors had been keeping an eye on me & reached out directly you never know who’s watching— dream big, work hard, & put yourself out there," they wrote. @grumdaw fun fact, i didnt even audition for this. the directors had been keeping an eye on me & reached out directly ? you never know who’s watching— dream big, work hard, & put yourself out there ? #zaynmalik #lovelikethis #zayn #zsquad #actor Since sharing this video Grumdaw has received 4.9m views, 631,000 likes and thousands of comments from people who wanted to know more. One person said: "THE DIRECTOR REACHED OUT TO YOUUU?!!!!! GURRRLLLL YOU LIVING A WATTPAD STORY." "Need your manifestation routine," another person said. To which they replied: "I have an absurd amount of people praying for me and rooting for me, esp back home in Myanmar & Kachin." Someone else added: "How does it feel to live my dream." "Specifically loved the representation seeing an Asian girlie get chosen for this I'm so happy for u," a fourth person commented. In a follow-up TikTok, Grumdaw shared a video of themselves a day after being cast for the music video as they were "processing [their] emotions" at dinner. "I can't believe this is my life…. I delusioned my way into becoming Y/N. so grateful for this life & everyone supporting me," they added in the caption. Elsewhere, Zayn Malik finally speaks out on the infamous 2021 incident with Yolanda Hadid and fans can't get over how strong Zayn Malik's accent is after six years of no interviews. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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