At the time, it was unclear what point she meant to make by this action and these words, which seemed to condemn the Catholic Church, and the then-current Pope in particular. The American media condemned her to the point that whatever her message was became completely ignored.
She was trying to make a point about how the Church had abused children, boys and girls alike, in many ways, in her native Ireland and elsewhere. Neither her career nor her life has ever recovered. She threw her career away for the truth, but blaming the most popular Pope of all time did no one any favors.
Born as Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor on December 8, 1966 in Dublin, she had been launched to stardom with her 1987 album The Lion and the Cobra, and had hit Number 1 with a cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U" in 1990. But the SNL incident ended her run as a star.
Just a few days later, she was one of the performers at the Bob Dylan tribute concert at Madison Square Garden in New York, and was booed off the stage. Master of ceremonies Kris Kristofferson, who had cited her courage in introducing her, hugged her, and said, "Don't let the bastards get you down."
But they did. She never had another hit. She explored other avenues of religion, becoming a priest in a radical offshoot of the Catholic Church; then later converting to Islam, taking the name Shuhada' Sadaqat. But she didn't seem to find peace in either of her new attempts at religion. A few times in the 2010s and early 2020s, she had threatened suicide, and even disappeared for a few days.
She married 4 times, and had 4 children. But on January 7, 2022, her son Shane, only 17, committed suicide. She canceled her planned tour, and an album she was set to release was postponed indefinitely.
John Paul must have learned something from the experience, because he made more of an outreach to more people than any other Pope. Time magazine named him their Man of the Year for 1994.
UPDATE: Sinéad O'Connor died on July 26, 2023, at the age of 56. An autopsy listed the cause of death as Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
*
October 3, 1992 was a Saturday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 7-5 at Fenway Park in Boston. Don Mattingly went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and Wade Boggs went 1-for-2 before being removed for a pinch-hitter. Wade Boggs, removed for a pinch-hitter? It worked: Phil Plantier hit a home run.
* The New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1 at Shea Stadium. Dwight Gooden went the distance for the win, and Dave Gallagher went 3-for-4. Eddie Murray went 0-for-3 for the Mets. Barry Bonds went 0-for-3.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 1-0 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, in a game shortened to 6 innings due to rain. Tony Gwynn did not play.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-1 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Cal Ripken went 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Montreal Expos beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-6 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. (It was renamed Kauffman Stadium the next season.) George Brett went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Kevin Koslosfki singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at the Astrodome in Houston. Mike Simms singled home Craig Biggio in the bottom of the 13th inning. Before the game, the Houston Astros retired the Number 25 of former outfielder Jose Cruz Sr. and the Number 33 of former pitcher Mike Scott.
* The California Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 4-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 10-3 at the Oakland Coliseum. The A's got home runs from Mark McGwire, Harold Baines, Scott Brosius and Mike Bordick. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-2 with 3 walks. Robin Yount went 0-for-3 with an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Paul Molitor went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.
* The Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs.
There was also college football that day, including these games:
* Number 1 and defending Co-National Champion University of Washington beat Number 20 Southern California, 17-10 at Husky Stadium in Seattle. Washington won the Pacific-10 Conference title.
* Number 2 Miami beat Number 3 Florida State, 19-16 at the Orange Bowl in Miami. For the 2nd season in a row, Florida State lost to Miami when a last-second field goal was missed. In 1991, it was "Wide Right I." In 1992, it was "Wide Right II."
Defending Co-National Champion Miami continued its undefeated streak through the regular season. Florida State won the Atlantic Coast Conference title, and beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Nebraska won the Big Eight Conference title. This week, they were ranked Number 15, and were idle.
* Number 4 Michigan beat Iowa, 52-28 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Michigan won the Big Ten Conference title, and beat Washington in the Rose Bowl.
* Number 5 Texas A&M beat Texas Tech, 19-17 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. A&M won the Southwest Conference title.
* Number 6 Notre Dame were upset by Number 18 Stanford, 33-16 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame still managed to reach the Cotton Bowl, where they beat Texas A&M.
* Number 7 Tennessee beat Louisiana State, 20-0 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
* Number 8 Penn State beat Rutgers, 38-24 at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The attendance was 72,203, the largest crowd that Rutgers has ever had for what has been designated as a "home game" for them. The game is played there, instead of on campus at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, 36 miles away, because arch-rival Penn State bring so many fans, and attract so many fans from New Jersey and New York City, that it feels more like a home game for them.
* Number 9 Alabama beat South Carolina, 48-7 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 'Bama went on to win the Southeastern Conference title, and beat Miami in the Sugar Bowl to end their streak and replace them as National Champions.
* Number 11 UCLA were upset by Arizona, 23-3 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson.
* Number 12 Ohio State were upset by Wisconsin, 20-16 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.
* Number 23 Georgia Tech beat Number 21 North Carolina State, 16-13 at Grant Field in Atlanta.
* Navy lost to North Carolina, 28-14 at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Army were idle this week.
* And Princeton beat Lehigh, 38-29 at Goodman Stadium in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
And in English soccer, Arsenal beat West London team Chelsea, 2-1 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London.
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