On This Day in 1992: The Sinead O’Connor Controversy That Sparked a Kris Kristofferson Song

Sinead O’Connor never had any real interest in becoming a pop star. But the late Irish singer-songwriter never shied away from using her international platform to amplify the causes she believed in. On this day 32 years ago (Oct. 3, 1992) the “Nothing Compares 2 U” singer famously shredded a photo of then-Pope John Paul II in front of a Saturday Night Live audience of millions. The gesture would become, as avowed Sinead defender Kris Kristofferson wrote, “profoundly misunderstood.”

Sinead O’Connor Was Taking a Stand Against Child Abuse

Oct. 3, 1992 should have been a career milestone for Sinead O’Connor. Her 1990 sophomore album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, nabbed four GRAMMY nominations, winning one. Now, O’Connor was making her much-anticipated Saturday Night Live debut—a sure sign to up-and-coming artists that they’ve “made it.”

However, no one was prepared for how O’Connor would follow her performance of Bob Marley’s “War.” Holding up a photograph of then-Pope John Paul II, the “Mandinka” singer tore it to shreds. Saying simply, “Fight the real enemy,” she tossed the pieces to the floor.

The backlash was swift and fierce, but O’Connor never wavered. In an interview several weeks later, she explained that her actions were in protest of widespread physical and sexual abuse by the Catholic Church.

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It would later surface that she had taken the photo from her abusive mother’s bedroom wall after the woman died in a 1986 car crash. So the gesture was both a personal and political one.

The Bob Dylan Incident

Two weeks later, Sinead O’Connor joined Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash and more at Madison Square Garden for a concert commemorating the 30th anniversary of Bob Dylan’s first album. However, when she took the stage for her performance, boos rang throughout the venue.

Someone told Kris Kristofferson to get her off the stage. But as Kristofferson decisively put it in an interview years later, “I said, ‘I’m not about to do that.’”

Instead, the outlaw country legend put his arm around the younger artist, whispering, “Don’t let the bastards get you down.”

According to Kristofferson, O’Connor defiantly replied, “I’m not down,” before performing “I Believe In You.”

Kristofferson would later immortalize the moment in his 2009 song “Sister Sinead:” And maybe she’s crazy and maybe she ain’t / But so were Picasso and so were the saints.

Featured image by Marton Monus/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock