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Sinead O’Connor opens up about infamous ‘SNL’ performance in new ‘Nothing Compares’ trailer

Fri 16 September 2022 12:30, UK

A trailer has been unveiled for an upcoming documentary detailing the rise of Sinead O’Connor in the early 1990s. The teaser for Nothing Compares – available for streaming on September 30th – begins with footage of the singer being greeted by a swirl of cheers and boos during one of her concerts. A quick cut brings us to a discussion of her 1990 hit ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’, which caused controversy for a large part of her career.

Discussing the track, one of the documentary’s narrators says: “The level when ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ became a hit was extraordinary”, noting that “the song went number one everywhere in the world.” Later we hear from an employee who worked on the set of Saturday Night Live, a sketch comedy show where O’Connor famously ripped apart a photo of Pope Paul II live on air in protest of clerical child abuse.

O’Connor explains: “I had come across an article about families who had been trying to lodge complaints against the church for sexual abuse and were being silenced. An artist’s job is sometimes to create difficult conversations that need to be had.”

O’Connor’s decision to replace the word “racism” with “child abuse” during her 1992 SNL performance of Bob Marley’s ‘War’ also sparked controversy and was the subject of parodies for years afterwards. In the trailer, O’Connor discusses the backlash, noting: “they tried to bury me. They didn’t realise I was a seed.”

In the past, O’Connor has remembered her SNL appearance fondly. In a 2021 Interview with Today, she called it “a blessing”, arguing that her criticisms helped prompt the discussion around historical child sex abuse in America. “Ten years after the pope-ripping episode, you all then found out in America that this was going on,” she said.

Nothing Compares is directed by Kathryn Ferguson and will feature input from friends and collaborators close to the singer, as well as an interview with O’Connor herself.

Check out the trailer below.