Music History Events: MTV
September 13, 2009 When Taylor Swift wins for Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye West comes on stage and commandeers the microphone, explaining that Beyoncé deserved the award for her "Single Ladies" video. When Beyoncé does win for Video of the Year later that night, she brings Taylor on stage to finish her speech.More
November 16, 2008 MTV's Total Request Live ends after 10 seasons with a special three-hour finale. Guests include several of the countdown's mainstays, including Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Eminem, and Britney Spears. Britney's "...Baby One More Time" takes the top spot on the final tally, which presents the Top 10 most iconic music videos.More
November 6, 2008 Thanks to internet voting, Rick Astley wins Best Act Ever at the MTV Europe Music Awards. "We've been well and truly Rickrolled," the show's producer says.
September 9, 2007 Britney Spears opens the MTV Video Music Awards with a listless lip-synch where she appears dazed and confused. Over the next few months, she loses custody of her kids and is involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility.More
September 9, 2007 During a performance by Alicia Keys at the MTV Video Music Awards, Tommy Lee and Kid Rock get in a fight, prompting presenter Jamie Foxx to decry the "white on white violence."
March 30, 2005 Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica ends its three-season run on MTV as its subjects, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, are on the brink of divorce. The marriage is officially over the following June.
August 29, 2004 "Hey Ya!" wins Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards, one of four wins for Outkast on the night. The show also marks the first red carpet appearance for Jay-Z and Beyoncé as a couple.
August 28, 2003 Britney Spears and Madonna share a big, juicy kiss during the opening performance of the MTV Video Music Awards. Madonna then plants one on Christina Aguilera, but we only get a glimpse of it because the director cuts to a shot of a thunderstruck Justin Timberlake in the audience.More
August 19, 2003 MTV debuts the reality series Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, following the recent marriage of Jessica Simpson and 98 Degrees' Nick Lachey. The show is a hit thanks to Jessica's "dumb blonde" antics and lasts three seasons, after which the couple promptly divorce.
March 17, 2003 On the very first episode of MTV's practical joke show Punk'd, host Ashton Kutcher stages a prank involving the IRS that makes Justin Timberlake cry.More
March 5, 2002 MTV launches its new reality television show, The Osbournes, which chronicles the domestic life of heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne and his family. In its first season, it becomes the most-viewed series on MTV.More
September 6, 2001 Britney Spears dons a snake to debut her new single, "I'm A Slave 4 U," at the MTV Video Music Awards.More
September 7, 2000 Rage Against The Machine bass player Tim Commerford interrupts the MTV Video Music Awards when he climbs up the backdrop on stage, baffling the crew as well as Limp Bizkit, who are accepting the Best Rock Video award for "Break Stuff." Rage was nominated in the category for "Sleep Now in the Fire."More
September 15, 1998 Brandy and Monica, who have been lighting up the chatrooms on AOL, perform their duet "The Boy Is Mine" at the MTV Video Music Awards amid rumors that the young divas have serious beef. Clearing things up, their managers issue a statement saying: "The fact is that Brandy and Monica did interviews together, had their picture taken together, had adjoining dressing rooms, sat together at the show, and held hands and prayed together prior to going on stage to perform."
September 14, 1998 MTV debuts Total Request Live, a countdown of the Top 10 fan-requested music videos, hosted by Carson Daly. By the end of its 10-year run, the show is a cultural phenomenon.More
August 28, 1998 Pearl Jam's video for "Do The Evolution," their first since "Jeremy" in 1992, debuts on MTV. The band does not appear in the video, which is animated by Todd McFarlane.More
June 20, 1995 Michael Jackson's ninth album, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, is released. MTV becomes "MJTV" for a week to celebrate.
March 30, 1995 Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard takes an MTV news crew along for a ride in a stretch limo, where he stops to pick up food stamps, proving that the ID card on the cover of his solo album is real.More
September 8, 1994 Nearly four months after tying the knot in a secret ceremony in the Dominican Republic, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley make their first public appearance as a married couple at the MTV Video Music Awards, where Jackson infamously plants a sloppy smooch on his bride.More
December 16, 1993 Nirvana's Unplugged concert airs on MTV. A rare look at the band in an acoustic setting, it is one of Kurt Cobain's last performances, as he is found dead less than four months later.
November 18, 1993 Nirvana records an MTV Unplugged concert in New York. The show is shot in one take - imperfections and all - and is aired one month later.More
September 2, 1993 Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" video wins four awards, including Video of the Year, at the MTV Video Music Awards. Pearl Jam responds by not making any more videos until 1998.More
June 1, 1993 10,000 Maniacs become the first act to appear twice on MTV Unplugged. The network has a policy against return engagements, but when they learn that Natalie Merchant will be leaving the band, they book them.More
November 10, 1992 Ween's major-label debut, Pure Guava, is released on Elektra records. The album features the single "Push th' Little Daisies," which gets them attention on MTV after being featured on the channel's animated series Beavis and Butt-head. During the clip, Butt-head quips, "These guys have no future."More
September 9, 1992 During a performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, Nirvana plays "Lithium," ending in a grand finale where bassist Krist Novoselic tosses his instrument high into the air. When he tries to catch it, he misses, and the bass whacks him in the head. Still, it's a pretty awesome performance.
August 1, 1992 Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" video, depicting the teen suicide described in the song, makes its debut on MTV. It goes on to win Video of the Year at the VMAs.More
May 21, 1992 MTV airs the first episode of The Real World, which gets huge ratings and begins a shift in programming away from music videos. It also encourages other networks to try this "Reality TV" thing.
January 16, 1992 Eric Clapton goes acoustic, recording Eric Clapton Unplugged for MTV. The album wins six Grammy Awards, including Record Of The Year.
November 14, 1991 Michael Jackson's "Black Or White" music video, directed by John Landis, debuts simultaneously on MTV, BET and Fox - a strategic move that marks his ascension to the pop throne. The 11-minute clip, however, lands Jackson in hot water with viewers who complain about his excessive crotch-grabbing and gratuitous displays of violence.More
November 11, 1991 Per Michael Jackson's wishes, one week before his controversial "Black Or White" music video airs, a memo circulates at MTV instructing the network's on-air personnel to refer to Jackson as the King of Pop at least twice a week during the next two weeks.More
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