The Oct. 3, 1992 musical performance on Saturday Night Live was a watershed moment for both Sinead O’Connor and SNL. The Irish singer-songwriter performed two songs: “Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home” and a cover of Bob Marley’s “War.” During the latter, she held up an image of Pope John Paul II at the end and ripped it in half. Meaning to protest widespread abuse in the Catholic Church, O’Connor was fully prepared to ruffle a few feathers. However, no one — especially her — could have predicted the fallout.
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O’Connor died on July 26, 2023, at the age of 56. And Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels says that her death is the only reason she didn’t participate in this year’s SNL50: The Anniversary Special.
In February 2025, Saturday Night Live took viewers on a trip down memory lane, celebrating a half century as a cultural touchstone. The three-hour TV special included appearances from some of the show’s most iconic performers, including Paul McCartney, Lil Wayne, Paul Simon, and Sabrina Carpenter.
Additionally, Miley Cyrus teamed up with Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard to perform “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Written by the iconic Prince, Sinead O’Connor recorded a version for her 1990 sophomore studio album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got. The song catapulted O’Connor to international fame, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks.
One might think that SNL creator Lorne Michaels would want to bury one of the most contentious moments in the show’s 50-year history. They would be wrong.
“If [O’Connor] were still alive, I would have asked her to sing that song,” Michaels, 80, recently told Puck. “But it was represented by Miley singing it with so much power.”
Sinead O’Connor Remained Unapologetic
Lorne Michaels has certainly changed his tune on Sinead O’Connor in the three decades since her controversial appearance. In a 1993 interview with Spin, the TV producer and writer called the stunt “inappropriate.”
[RELATED: Sinead O’Connor’s Cause of Death Revealed One Year After Her Passing]
“Tearing up a picture of the Pope comes under the heading of a Comedy Killer,” he said. “It kind of breaks the spirit of the evening.”
For her part, Sinead O’Connor never wavered on her decision.
“A lot of people say or think that tearing up the pope’s photo derailed my career. That’s not how I feel about it,” she wrote in her 2021 memoir Remberings. “I feel that having a number-one record derailed my career and my tearing the photo put me back on the right track.”
Featured image by RONCEN Patrick/KIPA/Sygma via Getty Images
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