Sam Smith's Grammy Performance Of 'Unholy' Inspires Yet Another Satanic Panic

Sam Smith and Kim Petras took the stage at Sunday's 65th Annual Grammy Awards to put a devilish spin on their 2022 hit "Unholy," and judging from the people it appears to have triggered online, the pair's performance may have had its intended effect.

Don’t fight the culture wars, they say. Meanwhile demons are teaching your kids to worship Satan. I could throw up.

pic.twitter.com/p1rqEwVeSW

— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) February 6, 2023

"Unholy" is a raunchy song about, well, sinning, specifically the sin of infidelity. Backed by a gothic choir and grabbing a verse from trans artist Kim Petras, Smith describes a man with a hidden proclivity for visiting strip clubs.

The song has lent itself to highly theatrical performances and on "music's biggest night," Smith and Petras gave the song an adult-Halloween flair, with Smith in a red suit and a top hat affixed with demon horns and Petras singing from a cage. Around them were backup dancers apparently doing their best take on Samara from The Ring.

As noted by many online, the concert subsequently had some conservative media figures denouncing the performance. Liz Wheeler was the first to go viral for saying of the performance, "Demons are teaching your kids to worship Satan." Ted Cruz then declared "This… is… evil."

This…is…evil. https://t.co/SBrOgHfFcX

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 6, 2023

Piers Morgan followed up with a dismissive eight-minute segment discussing the song in which one of his guests suggested a pop artist should do a song mocking Islam.

The scandalized segment of the Grammys audience was then treated to an ad for Pfizer, notable makers of one of the COVID-19 vaccines, and aghast viewers' minds began drawing connections between Smith and Petras' "Satanic" performance and general anti-vaccination conspiracies.

The Grammy’s featured Sam Smith’s demonic performance and was sponsored by Pfizer.

And the Satanic Church now has an abortion clinic in NM that requires its patients to perform a satanic ritual before services.

American Christians need to get to work.

pic.twitter.com/0dZ5g6ZM5S

— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) February 6, 2023

Satanic as you want to be. Sam Smith at the Grammies. Sponsored probably by the devil himself, Pfizer? This is why we can’t support these people anymore! pic.twitter.com/Tgbjg97adN

— Johnny Midnight ⚡️ (@its_the_Dr) February 6, 2023

They claim it’s “Art”. I say it’s satanic rituals on national television. Sponsored by who? No surprise there…

NEW – Sam Smith dresses as the devil in Satanic performance of "Unholy" during The Grammys.

"Sponsored by Pfizer" on CBS. pic.twitter.com/gnCckZwlbo

— 🇺🇸Chelle🇺🇸 (@hottamali02) February 6, 2023

This is hardly the first time conservatives, particularly those in media, and others online have seemingly taken the bait on spooky scary pop music.

In the '80s, government officials successfully lobbied to get parental advisory stickers posted on albums that were deemed too adult-themed for kids, and just last year, the Super Bowl Halftime Show (notably headlined by California hip-hop artists) led conservatives to declare the NFL was a hotbed of "sexual anarchy."

As much as some music fans like to claim rock and roll is dead and music hardly shocks society anymore, it seems it's still easy to tick off "the man" if all it takes is red lighting and some devil horns to become a controversial figure.