Having teamed up earlier in the weekend to pay tribute to Queen at the SNL50 Homecoming Concert, Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard again joined forces during the SNL50 live special. This time, they performed a rendition of Sinéad O’Connor’s Prince-penned “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Check out the video below.
Get Alabama Shakes Tickets Here
In a surprise appearance, Aubrey Plaza introduced the duo’s performance. For Plaza, it wasn’t just a return to 30 Rock after being a former Saturday Night Live page, but her first public appearance since the passing of her husband, director Jeff Baena, earlier this year.
Cyrus and Howard’s tribute to O’Connor was, of course, tied to SNL lore. During her infamous 1992 performance on the show, O’Connor ripped up a photograph of Pope John Paul II. Despite common belief that this led to her being banned from SNL, Lorne Micheals himself said in Questlove’s Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music that they’d never banned anyone: “We’re way too crass and opportunistic,” he said. “If something’s hot, we’re going to go for it and have it on.”
What’s more, Michaels said of O’Connor in particular, “Part of me just admired the bravery of what she’d done, and also the absolute sincerity of it.”
The Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special opened with Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter duetting on Simon & Garfunkel’s “Homeward Bound.” Other highlights from Sunday’s show include Black Jeopardy (with Eddie Murphy playing Tracey Morgan next to Tracey Morgan), and the return of Domingo with his brothers Pedro Pascal and Bad Bunny.
For more of Howard, you can catch her on tour with the reunited Alabama Shakes this summer by getting tickets here. Word has it they’re working on new music, as well.