Kris Kristofferson fans remember his show of support for Sinead O’Connor

Kristofferson memorably comforted the younger artist after she was booed and heckled following her protest on ‘Saturday Night Live’

Tributes are pouring in for Grammy Award and Golden Globe-winning country artist, songwriter and actor Kris Kristofferson, following his death aged 88.

Over a career spanning six decades, the prolific artist collaborated with fellow country outlaws including Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, wrote hits for Janis Joplin and Gladys knight, and starred in films by Martin Scorsese and Sam Peckinpah.

Among the many highlights picked out by fans and friends is a poignant moment between Kristofferson and late Irish artist Sinead O’Connor.

In 1992, the “Nothing Compares 2 U” star sparked mass controversy after she tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live, a protest said to have been inspired by Ireland’s shifting relationship with the Catholic church.

In the US, the stunt was met with a fierce backlash; O’Connor was banned by studio NBC for life and pelted with eggs outside the studio.

Two weeks later, at a Bob Dylan tribute concert in New York’s Madison Square Garden, O’Connor was booed (amid shouts of support) as she appeared onstage.

The moment Sinead O’Connor tore up a photo of the Pope on ‘Saturday Night Live’ (Saturday Night Live)

Putting an arm around her, Kristofferson told her not to “let the bastards get her down”.

O’Connor responded, “I’m not down”, and began to sing “War”, the centrepiece from her just-released covers record, Am I Not Your Girl?

Kristofferson later released “Sister Sinead” in honour of O’Connor, with lyrics including the lines: “It's askin' for trouble to stick out your neck/ In terms of a target a big silhouette/ But some candles flicker and some candles fade/ And some burn as true as my sister Sinéad.”

Speaking about the incident years later in an interview on RTÉ One's Saturday Night with Miriam in 2010, Kristofferson said he felt that O’Connor’s SNL gesture had been “very misunderstood”, and hit out at the reaction from the audience at Dylan’s birthday concert.

Kris Kristofferson supports Sinead O’Connor at a Bob Dylan tribute concert (YouTube)

“I went out,” he recalled. “They told me to get her off the stage and I said, 'I'm not about to do [that]. I went out and I said, 'Don't let the bastards get you down'. And she said, 'I'm not down' – and she sang.

“It was very courageous. It just seemed to me wrong booing that little girl out there, but she's always had courage.”

Sinead O’Connor waits as the crowd boos her at New York’s Madison Square Garden, during a Bob Dylan tribute concert (YouTube)

Kristofferson and O’Connor then sang a duet on the show of his classic song, “Help Me Make It Through the Night”.

O’Connor died in July 2023, aged 56, of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma.

The Grammy-winning was buried in Bray, County Wicklow, in August last year, in a ceremony attended by Irish government officials, family, friends and her fellow musicians.

Kristofferson is survived by his wife, Lisa; his eight children and his seven grandchildren.