10 SNL Musical Performances That Made Headlines for All the Wrong Reasons

WatchMojo

Ladies and gentlemen... the controversy! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the musical performances at Studio 8H that, for better or worse, got people talking.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the musical performances

00:07at Studio 8H that, for better or worse, got people talking.

00:13Number 10.

00:14Kacey Musgraves

00:19Country pop superstar Kacey Musgraves is a known trendsetter, taking influence from and

00:24collaborating with a wide swath of musical artists outside of the world of country music.

00:29Her performance on SNL's 47th season premiere with host Owen Wilson also broke edgy new

00:35ground.

00:43As confirmed by Musgraves' representation, the High Horse singer became the very first

00:48SNL musical guest to play in the nude.

00:51The stunt was explained by testimony from audience members on Reddit.

00:54One wrote that, after her performance, people gathered around her with large towels to wrap

00:58her so she could stand and walk off stage.

01:02Musgraves implied on social media that she'd been inspired by a certain scene from the

01:051994 film, Forrest Gump.

01:16Number 9.

01:17Phoebe Bridgers

01:23Just a few months prior to Kacey Musgraves' bare-it-all SNL performance, another rising

01:28star of pop music had taken to the variety show's musical stage and aroused the ire

01:32of grouchy internet commentators, and at least one rock legend.

01:37Hired as the musical guest on an episode hosted by Schitt's Creek star Dan Levy, Bridgers

01:41capped off her performance of I Know The End by dramatically smashing her guitar.

01:56While this is a time-honored tradition among rock musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Keith Moon,

02:01and Kurt Cobain, Bridgers was criticized by Twitter users for her supposed technique,

02:06and by David Crosby, who called Bridgers pathetic for it.

02:10Unfazed, she fired back via Twitter, calling Crosby a little bitch in response.

02:24Number 8.

02:25Lana Del Rey

02:262012 was a great year to be alt-pop singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey, well, with the rather significant

02:39exception of the infamous SNL moment.

02:42Just a few weeks ahead of the release of Born To Die, her major-label debut album, the crooner

02:47born Elizabeth Grant engaged in the rite of passage that is playing the legendary sketch

02:53comedy show.

03:01While the album itself was critically acclaimed and launched Grant into overnight superstardom,

03:06you might not have known it from this pair of performances.

03:09The singer's vocal shakiness and generally absent vibe led to harsh critiques on social

03:14media.

03:15This, in turn, prompted a Weekend Update sketch parodying the incidents, with Kristen Wiig

03:20playing Grant and ultimately defending her from internet haters.

03:37Number 7.

03:38Fear

03:39If nothing else, it's kind of beautiful that a performance by a band endorsed by John Belushi,

03:52who else, reportedly culminated in up to $500,000 in damages.

03:57The famously animated SNL cast member had caught wind of LA hardcore punk's fear after

04:02catching the influential Penelope Sfira's documentary, The Decline of Western Civilization,

04:07which chronicled the 80's punk rock scene in Los Angeles.

04:15Belushi got them booked on SNL's Halloween show, and in a hilariously predictable turn

04:19of events, it was pure chaos.

04:21The band antagonized the audience and performed with a gang of moshers, who commemorated the

04:26holiday by starting a food fight with ripe pumpkins.

04:34Number 6.

04:36Rage Against The Machine We have, like, so many questions about what

04:45happened here.

04:46First and foremost, who thought it was a good idea to book the firebrand leftist rap rockers

04:52on the same episode as billionaire then Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes?

04:57Secondly, and this may be just as important, who thought the aforementioned Hellraisers

05:02could be trusted to play nice with Forbes?

05:05The band, in quiet protest, had decided to hang upside down American flags from their

05:10guitar and bass amplifiers during rehearsals.

05:22Asked to remove them, Rage complied, at least until the live performance, when they sneakily

05:26put them back up and NBC employees scrambled to take them down.

05:30Unsurprisingly, they were asked to leave immediately and haven't played the show since.

05:40Number 5.

05:41Elvis Costello If refusing to play the song you're scheduled

05:56to and having Lorne Michaels flip you off throughout your entire performance isn't punk,

06:01then we're not sure what is.

06:03Perhaps Costello was inspired by the Sex Pistols, who had pulled out of performing on the show

06:07at the last minute, leaving Costello little time to prepare.

06:18Columbia Records, Costello's label, insisted that he perform Less Than Zero, his debut

06:23single, with which American audiences would be more familiar.

06:27However, Costello was reportedly uneasy with this pressure, feeling that its hyper-specific

06:33British political references would go unappreciated by SNL's American audience.

06:38Costello started playing the song before immediately launching into Radio Radio.

06:43Costello was then banned from SNL until 1989.

06:53Number 4.

06:54The Replacements These founding fathers of modern day alternative

07:03rock sure know how to put on a, let's say, lively show.

07:08Having been founded as a punk band, you've seen from a few of our previous entries that

07:12this is a recipe for disaster insofar as it pertains to playing on Saturday Night Live.

07:26Once again, being asked to replace a last minute cancellation resulted in an SNL performance

07:31for the ages.

07:32Although, not even remotely, in a good way.

07:35While the band had a successful dress rehearsal performance, a free flow of alcohol and drugs

07:39into their dressing room led to The Replacements being banned by Lorne Michaels from the SNL

07:44stage.

07:45That said, lead singer Paul Westerberg was allowed to perform solo in 1993.

08:00Number 3.

08:01Kanye West What?

08:11Kanye West said something inflammatory that he probably didn't think through beforehand?

08:16Say it isn't so.

08:17Following a bizarre, sluggish performance of the normally profanity laden, I Love It,

08:22in which West and featured artist Lil Pump dressed as water bottles, the rapper and occasional

08:27presidential candidate went on a characteristically extended rant after the show's credits rolled.

08:42The content of the speech was highly controversial, even among SNL cast and crew members who spoke

08:47out against it after the fact.

08:49Wearing a bright red Make America Great Again baseball cap, West made statements endorsing

08:54then President Donald Trump and espousing numerous conspiracy theories.

09:04Number 2.

09:05Ashley Simpson Oof.

09:13This is one performance that's just straight up hard to watch.

09:17You can't help but feel bad for poor Ashley, who was only 20 at the time.

09:21Simpson has gone on record as saying that she had been suffering from acid reflux prior

09:25to her SNL performance, even claiming she was under doctor's orders not to sing.

09:34Determined for the show to go on, Simpson attempted to lip sync.

09:37Simpson's band began to play Autobiography, intended to be her second song of the night,

09:42but the vocals from Pieces of Me began to be piped into the studio.

09:46The result?

09:47According to Lorne Michaels, who has said he was unaware of Simpson's plan to lip sync,

09:51the show's first ever unplanned walk off.

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10:171.

10:19Sinead O'Connor Yeah, you probably saw this one coming.

10:31But as possibly the only SNL musical performance with its own Wikipedia page, O'Connor's

10:36impossibly brave act of resistance is in a category of its own.

10:40While performing an a cappella version of Bob Marley's War, the Irish provocateur tore

10:45up a photo of Pope John Paul II before exclaiming, Fight the real enemy!

10:56The backlash was swift and harsh.

10:58NBC was subject to literally thousands of angry callers and incensed protesters demonstrated

11:03outside of 30 Rock while smashing O'Connor's records.

11:07Of course, in the decades since, O'Connor, who passed away in 2023, has been vindicated

11:12following the exposure of severe crimes against children within the Catholic Church.

11:19Which SNL performance shocked you the most?

11:21Let us know in the comments below.

11:25Check out these other clips from WatchMojo, and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell

11:28to be notified about our latest videos.

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