Sinead O'Connor first came to prominence in the 80s when her album, 'The Lion And The Cobra', was nominated for a Grammy Award at the 1987 ceremony. This was a major feat for the Irish-born singer and one that allowed her to grow in popularity within the United States. Due to her increasing success, Sinead O'Connor was invited to be the musical guest on NBC's 'Saturday Night Live' on October 3, 1992. While Sinead's dress rehearsal went impeccably well, it was her live performance that stunned the world.
O'Connor sang an a cappella cover of Bob Marley's 'War', which included anti-apartheid lyrics, further tying into what Sinead was about to do. After changing up the lyrics to focus on issues surrounding abused youth, Sinead followed her song by holding up a photo of Pope John Paul II before ripping it into shreds. This was one of 'SNL's' first major scandals, but certainly not the last, and one that affected Sinead O'Conno's career for good.
Sinead O'Connor 'SNL' Scandal
Sinead O'Connor debuted back in 1987 with the release of her album, 'The Lion And The Cobra', which managed to not only reach gold status but also earned the singer her very first Grammy nomination. The Irish-born singer and songwriter came to release two other albums, one in 1990 and another in 1992. Sinead's 1992 album, 'Am I Not Your Girl', was released on September 22, only a week before her appearance on 'Saturday Night Live'.
Come October 3, 1992, Sinead O'Connor was invited to 'SNL' as the night musical guest, and this would become the singer's biggest career scandal! The singer was set to perform a song by Bob Marley, 'War', which includes anti-apartheid lyrics, was switched up to touch on Sinead's frustrations with abused youth, mainly involving the Catholic Church. It was at this moment that Sinead O'Connor altered the lyrics, singing, "we have confidence in good over evil", Sinead sang, only moments before she would lift up a photo of Pope John Paul II and tear it up into pieces on camera.
"Fight the real enemy", Sinead said as she tore the photo into pieces. This left the audience in complete shock, becoming one of the biggest scandals on 'SNL' to date. The network received a whopping 4,400 calls that night, most of which were to complain about Sinead's actions on-screen. The star was officially banned from the show moving forward, and any reruns use Sinead's rehearsal performance rather than her actual live performance.
A week later, actor Joe Pesci appeared as the show's host, in which he brought the same photo of Pope John Paul II, claiming he had taped it back together. After receiving huge applause, Pesci said, "she's [Sinead] lucky it wasn't my show. Cause if it was my show, I would have given her such a smack". While Joe Pesci's statement would not have been tolerated today, it appears as if Sinead O'Connors would have!
The public has gone as far as demanding 'SNL' to publicly apologize for their response to Sinead's performance, claiming she was scrutinized for something that has since become a pressing topic of today, proving that Sinead was certainly ahead of her time!
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