"Good over Evil. Fight the REAL Thing." ~Sinead O' Connor

R.I.P Sinead O'Connor. In the wake of her passing, let's back to the time when O'Connor performed on SNL singing "War" in acapella showing a picture of the Pope ripping a picture of him causing her career to tarnish. Did she do the right thing or an ungrateful thing?

By Gladys W. MuturiPublished 9 months ago • 6 min read

Sinead O'Connor

On July 26, 2023, Irish outspoken singer Sinead O'Connor passed away at the age of 56 just nearly one year after her son's death. Her death was announced by her family. The cause and date of her death were not made public.

Statement from O'Connor Families

"It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time."

Most would remember her music during the 1990s and her hit single "Nothing Compares 2 U" and most would remember her "controversial" performance on Saturday Night Live ripping a photo of Pope John Paul II causing her career to implode. In the wake of her passing, let's look back to the time when O'Connor performed on SNL singing "War" in acapella showing a picture of the Pope and then ripping a picture of him causing her career to tarnish. Did she do the right thing or an ungrateful thing?

Born in Dublin, Ireland on December 8, 1966, O’Connor was the third of five children to her parents: John and Marie. Throughout her childhood, she was physically and psychologically abused by her mother, and her parents were divorced. At 13, she ran away from her mother to live with her father. Two years later, O'Connor was sent to a Magdalene asylum for 18 months for shoplifting. At 15, she formed a band called Ton Ton Macoute, she dropped out of school then she and her bandmates moved to Dublin. The band brought the attention of the music industry which wanted to sign her instead of them. She signed with Chrysalis Records and started working on her debut. She released her debut album the Lion and Cobra in 1987. The album received critical acclaim and became Gold. It received her Grammy nomination.

The second album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got was released in 1990. The album became a sensational international hit including her hit single Prince's cover "Nothing Compares 2 U" composed by Prince himself.

It earned her three Grammy nominations and huge accolades. That was until some controversy cost her music career.

"Fight the Real Enemy"

On October 3, 1992, O'Connor was a musical guest for Saturday Night Live while Tim Robbins was the host. She was supposed to sing "Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home" and "Scarlet Ribbons", two of the songs from the album she was promoting at the time, Am I Not Your Girl? However, she decided to sing Bob Marley's "War" and was granted permission to sing the song.

The night of her performance, O'Connor wearing a necklace with the Rastafari star and a scarf with the Rastafari and Ethiopian colors, singing "War" acapella and staring down the camera for the entirety of her gig.

At the end of the song, she finishes the performance by singing:

"Good over Evil."

She shows a picture of Pope John Paul II and then rips it to shreds.

Then says:

"Fight the Real Enemy"

Throwing the pieces of the picture on the ground.

After the performance, she blows out candles leaving the audience silent with no applause or no boos. According to Lorne Michaels, show creator and executive producer of SNL, He ordered the applause sign not to be used. Her performance was received mixed but mostly negative. According to O'Connor, she explains in an ET interview that she was protesting against child sex abuse in Catholic churches.

I didn't know about child sex abuse in Catholic churches until I had to google it. There were 16,800,000 results.

Here's what I found

During the 1990s, the cases began to receive significant media and public attention in countries including Canada, the United States, Chile, Australia, Ireland, and much of Europe and South America. Around the 90s, most of the child sex abuse in Catholic churches are ignored, denied allegations, and kept behind closed doors. In Ireland (O'Connor's hometown), their abuse started in the 80s, in the 1990s, a series of criminal cases and Irish government enquiries established that hundreds of priests had abused thousands of children over decades. Six reports by the former National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church established that six Irish priests had been convicted between 1975 and 2011. Most abusing priests were moved to other parishes to avoid embarrassment or a scandal, assisted by senior clergy.

However, most believed that O'Connor's performance was a "threat" to the Catholic community and believed she was targeting the Pope which was not the case. After SNL, O'Connor was banned from SNL for life. The following week, Actor Joe Pesci whose Catholic hosted SNL and said if he sees Sinead he was going to smack her. Also, Frank Sinatra who has a huge dislike towards O'Connor calls her "the face of hatred" and a "stupid broad".

Even pop star Madonna did the same thing only this time with a picture of Joey Buttafucco, a Long Island man who had a scandalous sexual affair to seventeen-year-old Amy Fisher aka Long Island Lolita who shot his then-wife Mary Jo Buttafucco.

It also received mixed reviews. I mean I thought it was understandable after all Buttafucco slept with an underage girl but I didn't think it was Madonna mocking O'Connor. However, she received support from several members of the Rastafarian community. Some called the Pope "the devil" and O'Connor a "hero". Three weeks later, O'Connor was booked to perform at Bob Dylan’s 30th-anniversary concert on an incredible bill that also included George Harrison, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder, Roger McGuinn, the Band, Eric Clapton, Tracy Chapman, Chrissie Hynde, and Lou Reed. When she made her appearance at the concert, she was booed at the show. Former fans who are Catholics would destroy her CDS and such. O'Connor shared no regrets and no apologies and has retired from music after that. In 2002, Pope John II would apologize to the victims but no apology to O'Connor before his death in 2005. Nearly two decades after O'Connor's controversial stand, Pope Benedict apologized to victims of abuse carried out by Ireland's Catholic clergy. But no apology was given to O'Connor not even from Joe Pesci or Sinatra...oh wait he died in 1998. Weeks before her death, O'Connor wrote on Facebook that she was working on new music and had hoped for an international tour.

"Hi All, recently moved back to London after 23 years absence. Very happy to be home : ) Soon finishing my album. Release early next year : )" she wrote on July 11. "Hopefully Touring Australia and New Zealand toward end 2024. Europe, USA and other territories beginning early 2025 : ) #TheBitchIsBack"

She made a final video touring her London apartment, expressing coming back to music, and life after her son Shane's death.

Tributes pour out on social media from fans including musicians and those who loved and support. Honestly, she was speaking the truth about child sexual abuse in the Catholic community. So far, preachers have been arrested even Catholic priests are getting charged with child sexual abuse and actual victims who were abused are now coming out with stories of being sexual and yet they called O'Connor "crazy" or "mental". Overall, O'Connor lived her traumatic life turning it into a beautiful legacy. She lives behind her three children: Jake, Roisin, Yeshua, and her grandchild.

Rest in Peace Sinead O'Connor