Sinéad O'Connor was a punk in reluctant pop star clothing when she ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live on Oct. 3, 1992.

As she tore the picture once, twice, thrice, and threw the tattered pieces at the camera, so went her career. Two years earlier she had scored one of the biggest hits of 1990 with her definitive cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U," jettisoning her to a level of success she had neither expected or wanted.