Posted in: NBC, TV | Tagged: saturday night live, snl

SNL 50: Lorne Michaels Would Have Invited Sinead O'Connor to Perform

EP Lorne Michaels regrets not inviting the late Sinead O'Connor back to perform at SNL since 1992, and that she couldn't attend SNL 50.

In the 50 years of running Saturday Night Live, there were bound to be some misses or regrets from creator Lorne Michaels. One such miss was not inviting vocalist Sinéad O'Connor back to the weekly late-night series following her controversial appearance in October 1992 when at the end of her cover of Bob Marley's "War," she tore up a photo of John Paul II to protest the ongoing child abuse from the Catholic Church, nine years before the Pope finally publicly acknowledged the rampant sexual abuse. While O'Connor would be proven right, the backlash was intense for the Irish vocalist and Grammy Award winner. SNL creator Lorne Michaels refuted the idea that O'Connor was banned, telling People about musicians, "We've never banned anyone. We're way too crass and opportunistic. If something's hot, we're going to go for it and have it on." He opened up to Puck (via Entertainment Weekly) about his regret not having the singer, who passed in 2023, back since, and wishes she could have performed her signature hit Nothing Compares 2 U at SNL 50.

Lorne Michaels Wished Sinead O'Connor Could Have Performed at SNL 50

O'Connor burst onto the music scene in 1984, joining the band Ton Ton Macoute before embarking on her own solo career, working with the likes of U2's The Edge, and working her way up to her first album, "The Lion and the Cobra," in 1987. Her second album, "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got," helped vault her to superstardom, covering Prince's Nothing Compares 2 U, which became the most popular rendition. Just as O'Connor was known for her vocal talents, she was equally boisterous as an activist and feminist voice, bringing attention to the vulnerable.

Following the infamous October 1992 appearance, Michael told Spin in 1993, "I thought it was sort of the wrong place for it, I thought her behavior was inappropriate," Michaels told the outlet at the time. "Because it was difficult to do two comedy sketches after it, and also it was dishonest because she didn't tell us she was going to do it. … We were sort of shocked, the way you would be shocked at a houseguest pissing on a flower arrangement in the dining room."

Michaels changed his tune during the SNL 50 music special, Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music, "There was a part of me that just admired the bravery of what she'd done, and also the absolute sincerity of it;" he would pay tribute to O'Connor with Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard performing Nothing Compares 2 U. ""If [O'Connor] were still alive, I would have asked her to sing that song," Michaels told Puck. "But it was represented by Miley singing it with so much power." Sadly, NBC has not made O'Connor's appearance available on SNL's YouTube channel. Still, they have Joe Pesci's monologue from the following episode, which features the actor showing the ripped photo of John Paul II taped back together.

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