Trust it was hard to narrow this down to our top 5 favorite MTV VMA performances but we managed to pull through. Without further ado, here they are in no particular order!
In 1984 the MTV VMA made its debut. Michael Jackson won 4 Moonmen that year for Thriller and there were performances by Tina Turner and Huey Lewis.
The show was great all around but Madonna stole the show when she hit the stage to perform “Like A Virgin.” She created one of the most shocking moments on an award show ever appearing in a white lace wedding dress writhing and moaning on the stage suggesting she was getting it on with an imaginary partner on stage.
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Our next favorite performance from the VMAs was in 1987. Whitney Houston was on hand to perform her single, I Wanna Dance With Somebody but the performance paled in comparison to Run DMC and Aerosmith teamed up to rock the house with their genre blending “Walk This Way.” The song was a remake of Aerosmith’s 1975 version and helped to accommodate mixing Rock & Rap, a trend that remains popular to this day.
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For our next favorite moment, we fast forward to 1992. Howard Stern showed up as Fartman, Bobby Brown performed Humpin Around and thendropped the F-bom, but when Nirvana showed up to play Lithium, MTV censors got a surprise. Kurt Kobain starting playing Nirvana’s song Rape Me that was expressly forbidden by MTV execs. Kobain only played a few bars but fans were thrilled hearing the banned song and a rocking rendition of Lithium after.
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