Lorne Michaels, the creator of Saturday Night Live, has stated that had she lived, Sinead O’Connor would have been invited to perform Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” on the SNL50 special that took place earlier this year.

“If she were still alive, I would have asked her to sing that song,” Michaels recently told Puck. The song was instead performed by Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard.

O’Connor passed away in July of 2023 at the age of 56. However, back in 1992, the Irish singer appeared on SNL and famously tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II while performing Bob Marley’s “War,” an act of protest against the Catholic Church which was then facing accusations of child abuse and subsequent coverups. She urged audiences to “fight the real enemy.”

As a result, O’Connor faced severe criticism from the media and was never invited back to SNL. Just two weeks after the incident, she performed at The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration, an event honoring Bob Dylan. She was introduced by Kris Kristofferson with the following: “I’m really proud to introduce this next artist whose name became synonymous with courage and integrity. Ladies and gentlemen, Sinead O’Connor.”

O’Connor was then booed by the crowd.

READ MORE: Five Reasons Sinead O’Connor Should Be in the Rock Hall of Fame

Other episodes of SNL targeted O’Connor. When Catholic actor Joe Pesci hosted the show, he remarked that he would’ve liked to grab O’Connor “by the eyebrows” and “[give] her such a smack.” At another point, Madonna tore up a photo of Joey Buttafuoco, a convicted rapist, and used the same “fight the real enemy” line.

In 1993, Michaels reflected on what transpired.

“I thought [it] was sort of the wrong place for it; I thought her behavior was inappropriate,” he said then to Spin (via The Daily Beast). “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.”

Sinead O’Connor Did Not Regret Her Choice

In the decades that followed her picture-tearing incident, O’Connor remained steadfast in her decision.

“I had a pretty good feeling,” she told People in 2021. “And part of me just as an artist, particularly an Irish artist — there’s a tradition in Irish art, particularly among playwrights; there used to be riots in the streets over plays. This is a tradition in Irish art of the type of ‘Let’s see what happens if.’ So there was a part of me that was curious to see what would happen.”