Every Musician Banned From SNL
#7: The Replacements
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This rock band made their first and last appearance on “Saturday Night Live” on January 18, 1986. Serving as a major influence in the alt rock genre, The Replacements had released their fourth studio album, Tim, the previous September. Tim was the band’s major label debut, having been released by Warner’s Sire Records. The band performed a song called “Bastards of Young” before making their way backstage and doing what ‘80s rock stars did - getting totally wasted. When they returned to perform “Kiss Me on the Bus”, the audience was met with a complete horror show. The Replacements barely even played the song, resorting instead to stumbling around the stage and bumping into each other in a drunken frenzy. Suffice to say, they were never asked to return to “SNL”, and they were even banned from NBC for 30 years!
#6: Fear
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“Saturday Night Live” owes a lot to John Belushi, but they were incensed with the comedian at the end of 1981. Formed in the late ‘70s, Fear is a hardcore punk band that greatly influenced the likes of Guns N’ Roses, Megadeth, and Soundgarden. Belushi was a huge fan of the band, and he personally recommended them for the 1981 Halloween episode of “Saturday Night Live”. His intentions were good, but that was a bad, bad idea. The band used obscene language and intentionally trolled the audience by stating “It’s great to be in New Jersey!” They also brought in slang dancers (including Belushi), who reportedly caused $20,000 worth of damage. While performing their final song, “Let’s Have a War”, director Dave Wilson cut the transmission and faded to commercial, effectively ending Fear’s night and their time on “SNL”.
#5: Cypress Hill
As one of the most influential acts in West Coast hip hop, Cypress Hill were incredibly popular in the early ‘90s. Four of their first five albums went platinum (with the first two going multi-platinum), and they earned three straight Grammy nominations for Best Rap Performance. The group appeared on “Saturday Night Live” at the height of their careers, serving as the musical guest on October 2, 1993. They had just released their #1, triple-platinum album Black Sunday. After performing, the group trashed their instruments while DJ Muggs lit a joint on live TV. That’s a big no no today, never mind back in 1993. The band had just finished performing “I Ain’t Goin’ Out Like That”, but they did indeed … go out like that.
#4: Elvis Costello
Sometimes Lorne Michaels has been a little ban happy. Case in point - banning the otherwise inoffensive Elvis Costello. Costello helped usher in the new wave craze of the ‘80s with albums like This Year’s Model and Armed Forces. His debut album, My Aim Is True, was released in July of 1977. Five months later, he served as the musical guest on “Saturday Night Live”. Costello was supposed to play “Less Than Zero”, but he stopped the performance fifteen seconds in and launched into a media-critical song called “Radio, Radio”. The unexpected surprise and critical message behind the song ticked off Michaels, and Costello was banned from “Saturday Night Live” for the next twelve years. He eventually returned on March 25, 1989.
#3: Frank Zappa
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A hard musician to categorize, Frank Zappa was an eclectic artist who dabbled in experimental music, jazz, orchestral, and traditional rock and roll, just to name a few genres. While never a big commercial success, Zappa nevertheless generated strong acclaim and respect from his peers for his technical complexity and originality. Zappa hosted “Saturday Night Live” on October 21, 1978. His 24th studio album, Studio Tan, was released just one month prior. Zappa proved just as experimental in front of a camera as he was behind a microphone. Zappa intentionally sabotaged his own performance by making faces at the camera, reading his lines slowly and without much effort, and continuously referring to the cue cards. Everyone hated working with him, and he was never asked to return.
#2: Rage Against the Machine
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Sometimes an artist decides to go off script and sabotages an episode through their own creative imagination. And sometimes the producers bring it on themselves. This is exactly what happened on April 13, 1996. For some bizarre reason, “SNL” decided to pair Republican Presidential nominee Steve Forbes with musical guests Rage Against the Machine. Rage was widely known as a very outspoken and political rock band with a hard left and revolutionary persuasion, and they weren’t afraid to get active. And get active they did. The band performed their hit song “Bulls on Parade”, and to protest the political views of host Steve Forbes, they decided to hang inverted American flags from their amplifiers. This really ticked off the producers, and the band wasn’t given a second chance. The set was cut short, and the members were asked to leave.
#1: Sinéad O’Connor
You could say that nothing compares to this legendary “Saturday Night Live” ban. O’Connor was best known for her cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U”, with the song receiving heavy rotation on MTV and peaking at #1 around the world. By the end of 1990, “Nothing Compares 2 U” was the best-performing song on the Eurochart Hot 100, the second-best on the UK Singles chart, and third on the Billboard Hot 100. O’Connor subsequently appeared as the musical guest on the October 3, 1992 episode of “Saturday Night Live”. However, O’Connor planned much bigger things than performing a popular song. To protest sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, O’Connor performed a cover of Bob Marley’s “War” and ripped a photo of Pope John Paul II into pieces. This generated an enormous amount of controversy, and O’Connor never returned to “SNL”.
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