Saturday Night Live has banned quite a few musicians through the years. Some of those banishments have been warranted, while others are admittedly quite silly. Let’s take a look at just a few of the most famous examples from the history of the famed television program, shall we?
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1. Fear
SNL wanted John Belushi to host the show desperately back in 1981. He obliged, but only on the condition that hardcore punk band Fear could perform as the musical guest. Fear definitely performed, but they also insulted the state of New York, spurred on a mosh pit, and caused $200,000 worth of studio damage. What else would you expect from a hardcore punk band? I know John Belushi was giggling in the green room.
2. The Replacements
The Replacements were famously banned from Saturday Night Live after performing a last-minute set following the original guests’ sudden cancelation. The band performed “Kiss Me On The Bus” while visibly drunk, then dished out “B*stards Of Young” out of tune. Paul Westerberg shouted out a swear word, and the rest is history. Consider this performance a standard guide to getting banned from live television.
3. David Bowie
This one’s kind of surprising, considering how huge Bowie was back in the day. However, it’s also an incident that has more mystery surrounding it than known fact. Allegedly, Bowie was banned from the show over creative differences with Lorne Michaels. During his set, he performed “Scary Monsters” instead of the planned tune “Telling Lies”. Bowie was allegedly escorted off the premises after the song was over, and he was peeved that he couldn’t grab his dressing room fruit basket on the way out.
4. System Of A Down
Saturday Night Live banned System Of A Down for a classic reason. The band refused to edit the naughty words out of their song “B.Y.O.B.”, a track that protests the Iraq War. The censors, obviously, struggled to keep up with Serj Tankian’s rapid-fire F-bombs during the song. They were successful, though… Until guitarist Daron Malakian grabbed the mic and yelled “f*ck yeah!”
5. Rage Against The Machine
Who thought it would be a good idea to have a notoriously loud protest band perform the same night as a billionaire Republican presidential candidate was set to host the show? Naturally, RATM responded by hanging the American flag upside down from the stage and blaring “Bulls On Parade”. A few other mishaps happened off-camera, and the band was banned from the show for good.
6. Sinead O’Connor
This is by far the most famous instance of a musician getting banned from SNL. While performing “War”, O’Connor famously ripped up a photo of the pope, and she was banned from the show afterwards. O’Connor was bullied badly for the protest stunt, but she stuck to her political statement until the very end. And she ended up being right about it, too.
7. Cypress Hill
It’s kind of understandable that SNL wouldn’t be happy about a musician lighting up a blunt in real-time, on camera, in front of millions of people. It was a silly move on DJ Muggs’ part, but also low-key kind of hilarious.
8. Elvis Costello
Saturday Night Live banned Elvis Costello for his act of protest during his set. He decided in the middle of his performance to stop playing “Less Than Zero” and started to play “Radio Radio” instead. The song criticizes the commercialization of television and art, which didn’t exactly please the showrunners.
Photo by Alan Singer/NBCU Photo Bank
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