From the moment 'Saturday Night Live' first appeared back in 1975, it established itself as one of the most important musical venues in the nation. With just two short songs, up-and-coming singers and bands could create an entire career thanks to the buzz that would follow a memorable SNL debut -- performances that in many cases have since become legendary. And that still holds true today: if you're great on 'Saturday Night Live,' chances are you're going to make it big.
But what if you, you know... suck?
Welcome to Ke$ha's world. As anyone who has been online this week knows, Ke$ha, the songstress behind the ubiquitous pop hit 'Tik Tok,' had her maiden SNL performance last weekend. And the result was nothing short of disastrous, as media outlets around the hemisphere raced to be the first to post their "Was Ke$ha the worst 'SNL' musical guest ever?" articles.
With that in mind, we thought this would be a good time to take a look back at her competition for the title, those musical guests that were memorable for all the wrong reasons. So without further ado, here's our list of the worst 'SNL' performances ever.
• Ke$ha -- No doubt you've already seen this by now, but we thought it only fair to remind everyone just why this list is necessary. It was a toss-up just which of Ke$ha's two performances were worse, but despite the day-glo body paint she used in 'Your Love is My Drug,' we ended up going with 'Tik Tok.' And not just because it was the worst use of space imagery in a live performance since William Shatner's rendition of 'Rocket Man.' So what was the deciding factor? Two words: Laser. Harp.
• Ashlee Simpson -- As bad as Ke$ha was, she still couldn't quite topple the undisputed queen of bad performances, Ashlee Simpson, whose 2004 lip-sync fiasco put a major dent in her career plans. She tried to excuse it away by explaining that she began losing her voice during rehearsals, but no excuse was ever offered for the totally bizarre jig she launched into as an attempt to cover up the gaffe. She then fled the stage and let the band jam without her -- arguably the best musical decision of the night.
• Kanye West -- Ashlee Simpson isn't the only musical guest to get involved in a lip-sync controversy, but luckily for Kanye West, he had an ironclad alibi: If his 2008 version of 'Love Lockdown' had been lip-synced it wouldn't have sounded so awful. Instead, it appeared the true issue was with a messed up vocoder, which normally would have disguised his caterwauling with its cybernetic overtones. We've always been on the fence about these kinds of electronic voice manipulations, but after seeing this video we're convinced: If singers are going to sound this bad without them, by all means, cover up as much as you can.
• Nelly Furtado -- There aren't really any words to describe Furtado's 2006 performance of 'Maneater,' but a few that come pretty close are inexplicable, bizarre, weird, unfortunate and "wtf," although the last of those is technically an acronym. We will say that unlike most of the folks on this list, Furtado's singing was actually okay. However, we're not sure which was worse, the creepy song itself or the 80's style interpretive dance troupe that surrounded her in what appeared to be a bad outtake from some off-off-Broadway performance of 'Cats.'
• Taylor Swift -- Let's get this out of the way right up front: This performance from last year isn't nearly as cringe-inducing as her duet with Stevie Nicks at the Grammys. And Lorne Michaels obviously liked it enough to invite her back as host. But as much as we love Taylor, in the interest of fairness, we have to include her here with this bit of advice: Work on the live performances, okay? Because as Randy Jackson would say, it's pitchy, dawg.
• Coldplay -- Don't get us wrong, we usually love Coldplay almost as much as we love Taylor Swift. But this 2008 performance has a couple things going against it: the singing and the dancing. If, in fact, this was dancing and not something requiring medical attention. Our plea to Chris Martin: Just concentrate on having enough breath in your lungs to hit the notes, bro. If you do that, we fans can take care of the dancing. Deal?
• Fear -- How bad you think this performance is depends entirely on your definition of bad. Fear's 1981 appearance on the Halloween edition of 'SNL' is one of the show's most famous musical moments ever. The punk band kicked off their set with the epic song 'Beef & Bologna,' which is about... well, exactly what you think it's about. That was enough to set off the dozens of hardcore punk fans they snuck into the building, who proceeded to start a full scale riot using pumpkins as the weapon of choice. The NYPD had to be called in and over a quarter of a million dollars in damages ensued. For fans of punk, this is one of the best shows ever. For everyone else, though, not so much.
• Sinead O'Connor -- Finally, we end with Sinead O'Connor's infamous 1992 appearance where she scandalized the nation by tearing a photo of the Pope in half while shouting, "Fight the real enemy!" Due to this act, O'Connor instantly became a pariah; booed offstage at live shows and widely trashed in the media, she quickly became the consensus choice as worst musical guest in 'SNL' history. This is one case where the (admittedly questionable) "performance" overshadowed the actual music, though, as O'Connor was in the middle of presenting a haunting, powerful a capella rendition of Bob Marley's classic song 'War.' And given the current tide of public opinion, we have a feeling she may not find herself on lists like this for too much longer.
Sinead O'Connor was way ahead of the power curve. She's been talking about abuse of children and women (the laundries) by ordained clergy in the Roman Church since the 1990s. It's long past time to acknowledge that she has a valid message and that we should take heed of it.
Well, you figured it out. Pop music sucks!!! These no talent, image conscious, wanna be famous kooks are truly exposed when they have to play live. Ha Ha! Oh yeah American Idol sucks too!!
Fear was the last time Saturday Night was LIVE! Every host and musical act for the last 20 years on the show have been pre-programmed robots, there to sell something as opposed to what SNL started out with. I miss George Carlin and Buck Henry.
I used to watch SNL many years ago, when they were cutting edge, relevant, and funny.
I want to nominate Ellen Cleghorne who as a cast-member of SNL sang a cover of Bryan Adams "Have you ever really loved a woman" which was from the music trac for some movie, I thinc it was "Don Juan DeMarco". Anyhow she got up and sang it while dressed something lic a prostitute. She had this hot blac vinyl mini scirt on, and for a moment the premise was funny, but the audience isn't into it,the song drags on; she's out there dying, and finally the rest of the cast went out (the late Phil Hartman and others) and rescued her by going out on-stage and helping sing the rest of the song with her lihe it was a big sing-along, and help her finish and get off. I don't now if that ever made their videos or DVDs of that show, or if it got cut. I thought that she was awsome in thate vinyl mini though.
Why didn't they mention Laura Branigan singing Gloria (December 4, 1982). Sounds like she gave 150% in rehearsal so she had nothin' left when it came to the actual performance. I miss her music. RIP
When people say certain performers performances were "ok" or no worse than what is out right now I die a little on the inside. These performers and the audience that likes/loves their subpar work ( mindless songs and substandard vocal ability)are why the music industry is DYING right now ( actually the music industry is why the music industry is dying, we're just dumb enough to buy what they sell us).
We can all agree everyone likes different things but to say Nelly Furtado and Taylor Swift can sing is just wrong, period. I remember Nelly F. first performance on SNL and I wondered who the hell gave her a contract. Pretty much everyone on this list deserves to be there and there were others that should have been included but it would have taken too long.
The worst- well did anyone see the mess of a rock band called MGSG or whatever. How bad can a garage band get. They were just the worst of tonight's show. Five nerds with no talent - wait, not the cast- thats the other five nerds with no talent, at least they try to be funny.
What a silly mommy! Katie Holmes takes Suri into the water in her clothes as the two spend the afternoon at the beach in Miami. More of Today's Hottest Photos
A Slumping Mad Men Heads to Its Season Finale
Who Should Play Christian & Anastasia In 'Fifty Shades Of Grey'?
From the moment 'Saturday Night Live' first appeared back in 1975, it established itself as one of the most important musical venues in the nation. With just two short songs, up-and-coming singers and bands could create an entire career thanks to the buzz that would follow a memorable SNL debut -- performances that in many cases have since become legendary. And that still holds true today: if you're great on 'Saturday Night Live,' chances are you're going to make it big.
Add a comment
You forgot big and beautiful!
Oh, and im a lez.
Reply
FEAR is a great band 'nuff said!
Reply
Anybody notice just how prophetic Sinead's words sound today? She was right on target
Reply
right on!
Reply
Sinead O'Connor was way ahead of the power curve. She's been talking about abuse of children and women (the laundries) by ordained clergy in the Roman Church since the 1990s. It's long past time to acknowledge that she has a valid message and that we should take heed of it.
Reply
That dude Sinead O'conner was a 1 pump chump. All other songs bombed.
I thought Sinead's performance of 'War' was brilliant at the time, but I'm sorry to admit that I didn't realize it was genius.
We should have listened more closely.
Reply
Sinead was a guest on the Rachell Maddow show Friday night. You might be able to find it on MSNBC's website.
I thought Kesha was GREAT ... give the girl a freakin break. No worse than any other performer that has been on the show!!!
Reply
You only think so because you're too stupid to know how stupid you are.
But don't feel bad...there's a lot of that going around.
Well, you figured it out. Pop music sucks!!! These no talent, image conscious, wanna be famous kooks are truly exposed when they have to play live. Ha Ha! Oh yeah American Idol sucks too!!
Reply
Fear was the last time Saturday Night was LIVE! Every host and musical act for the last 20 years on the show have been pre-programmed robots, there to sell something as opposed to what SNL started out with.
I miss George Carlin and Buck Henry.
Reply
Worse SNL performances ever? How about the past 15 years.
Reply
The only performance that was really bad was Kanye West.
The rest were pretty much as advertised.
Ashlee Simpson got screwed. Someone did that to her on purpose.
Most pop stars lip sync now.
But Kanye really sucked. I have now idea why he is famous?
Reply
Kesha wasn't bad, at least her voice was good, and heck they all look strange these days, Lady Ga GA need I say more.
Reply
I used to watch SNL many years ago, when they were cutting edge, relevant, and funny.
I want to nominate Ellen Cleghorne who as a cast-member of SNL sang a cover of Bryan Adams "Have you ever really loved a woman" which was from the music trac for some movie, I thinc it was "Don Juan DeMarco". Anyhow she got up and sang it while dressed something lic a prostitute. She had this hot blac vinyl mini scirt on, and for a moment the premise was funny, but the audience isn't into it,the song drags on; she's out there dying, and finally the rest of the cast went out (the late Phil Hartman and others) and rescued her by going out on-stage and helping sing the rest of the song with her lihe it was a big sing-along, and help her finish and get off. I don't now if that ever made their videos or DVDs of that show, or if it got cut. I thought that she was awsome in thate vinyl mini though.
oldwhiteboy
Reply
Well I thought keisha sounded fine, I dont care for the song I found it annoying but she sounded just like she does on the radio.
Reply
Why didn't they mention Laura Branigan singing Gloria (December 4, 1982). Sounds like she gave 150% in rehearsal so she had nothin' left when it came to the actual performance. I miss her music. RIP
Reply
When people say certain performers performances were "ok" or no worse than what is out right now I die a little on the inside. These performers and the audience that likes/loves their subpar work ( mindless songs and substandard vocal ability)are why the music industry is DYING right now ( actually the music industry is why the music industry is dying, we're just dumb enough to buy what they sell us).
We can all agree everyone likes different things but to say Nelly Furtado and Taylor Swift can sing is just wrong, period. I remember Nelly F. first performance on SNL and I wondered who the hell gave her a contract. Pretty much everyone on this list deserves to be there and there were others that should have been included but it would have taken too long.
Reply
The worst- well did anyone see the mess of a rock band called MGSG or whatever. How bad can a garage band get. They were just the worst of tonight's show. Five nerds with no talent - wait, not the cast- thats the other five nerds with no talent, at least they try to be funny.
Reply