How Kris Kristofferson comforted Sinead O’Connor at Bob Dylan tribute concert
It is quite an oddity in the unfurling life of Bob Dylan that he found himself on the receiving end of vicious boos and jeers from time to time. Famously, the legendary singer-songwriter was lambasted as ‘Judas’ when he moved from folk to electric rock star. During his Born-Again Christian phase, he was castigated at an Arizona University show for not playing the hits and responded: “If you want rock ‘n’ roll you can go see Kiss, and rock ‘n’ roll all the way down to the pit!”
In short, the point is that being booed does not necessarily make you a bad performer – at least in some cases. Far from it, in fact, it often proves that an artist has the integrity to do their own thing and disavow the demands of the gallery.
The late Sinead O’Connor was also no stranger to public wrath, albeit sometimes for her own unique wayfaring reasons. In an excerpt from her memoir, Rememberings: Scenes from my Complicated Life, she recalls the time that she received a wave of abuse at a 1992 concert in honour of Bob Dylan.
The show was to celebrate 30 years since the folk troubadour had released his self-titled debut album. Only 13 days prior to her appearance on Dylan’s star-studded bill, O’Connor had been banned by NBC for life for tearing up a picture of the Pope on live television. Therefore, things were already somewhat cagey when she was due to perform amid the likes of George Harrison, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder, the Band, Lou Reed, Chriss Hynde, Tracy Chapman and others.
As it happens, Kris Kristofferson also took the stage and announced to those in attendance: “I’m real proud to introduce this next artist whose name became synonymous with courage and integrity. Ladies and gentlemen, Sinead O’Connor.”
Instantly, the boos rang out as though it was Pavlovian conditioning on the audience’s part to respond to her name that way. After a solid awkward minute in which she faced an intense barrage, the boos subsided just enough for her band to begin playing ‘I Believe in You’.
However, it would seem that the Dylan fans in attendance were merely catching their breath as, once again, the intensity of the onslaught increased. The noble Kristofferson emerged on stage and whispered some words of encouragement to the visibly saddened Irish star. He departed, and after a few more bars of music, the boos continued. At this point, O’Connor called a halt to her band and, just as she had done during her SNL Pope fouling debacle, she sang a section of Bob Marley’s ‘War’ before bolting off stage and into the arms of Kristofferson.
The excerpt to her book concludes: “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. I feel that having a number-one record derailed my career and my tearing the photo put me back on the right track. I had to make my living performing live again. And that’s what I was born for. I wasn’t born to be a pop star. You have to be a good girl for that. Not be too troubled.”
O’Connor’s decision to use Saturday Night Live as a vessel to spread a damning message about the Catholic church was one she knew would be heavily scrutinised and impact her career detrimentally. If she cared about commercial interests, the Irish singer would have played it safe and used it as a platform to appease the mainstream, but that simply wasn’t in her nature. While her appearance on Saturday Night Live made O’Connor unpopular to many, most importantly, she had stayed true to herself.
During this testing time for O’Connor, Kristofferson was a source of moral support when she needed it most. The country star used his voice to speak truth to power on many occasions, such as on ‘Don’t Let the Bastards (Get You Down)’. On the track, he sang, “They’re killing babies in the name of freedom”. Although the song didn’t mention the Iraq War by name, it was released months before the invasion. As he’d previously served as a captain in the US Army, Kristofferson felt aggrieved by his country’s actions, which he channelled through his music.
During a 2010 appearance on the Irish talk show Saturday Night With Miriam, Kristofferson explained what he said to O’Connor upon coming to her aid, revealing that he referenced his song, ‘Don’t Let the Bastards (Get You Down)’.
“I went out, and I said, ‘Don’t let the bastards get you down,’ and she said, ‘I’m not down,’ and she sang. It was very courageous. It just seemed to me wrong, booing that little girl out there, but she’s always had courage,” Kristofferson revealed.
Despite her young age, O’Connor was fearless. While most would have frozen if they were subject to a chorus of boos, she was a resilient force who knew her heart was in the right place, much to the admiration of Kristofferson.
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