Nothing Compares 2 U

Written by Prince, the music video — directed by John Maybury and featuring almost nothing but O'Connor's close-up face — became one of the most iconic clips of the MTV era. But her truly shocking moment came two years later: on October 3, 1992, she appeared on Saturday Night Live and performed an a cappella version of Bob Marley's "War" before tearing up a photograph of Pope John Paul II on live television and saying "Fight the real enemy." NBC banned the episode from re-air; she was booed at a Bob Dylan tribute concert two weeks later. O'Connor had been trying to draw attention to child abuse in the Catholic Church — a cause that would take the world decades to fully reckon with.