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.
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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.
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