Pick a Day

Music History Events: Music Videos

September 26, 1998 MTV Russia debuts at midnight with Prodigy Live in Moscow, a concert taped in spring 1997. The first Russian video on the network is Mummy Troll's "Vladivostock 2000."

September 2, 1993 Stone Temple Pilots win Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards for "Plush." Also at the ceremony, Snoop Doggy Dogg is arrested for his role in a shooting a week earlier. He posts bail and is found innocent in 1996.

May 6, 1991 The DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince video for "Summertime" debuts on NBC following the season 1 finale of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. This is part of a new trend; six months earlier, The Simpsons debuted "Do The Bartman" following an episode of their show.

September 16, 1989 Three days before the Rhythm Nation 1814 album is released, Janet Jackson debuts a 30-minute film of the same name featuring videos for three of the songs, ending with a stunning dance sequence for the title track. The film, which follows two young aspiring musicians who get caught up with drug dealers, wins the Grammy for Best Long Form Music Video (Janet Jackson's first Grammy) and sells over 200,000 copies on home video.

August 1, 1987 MTV Europe makes its debut. The first video shown is Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing," a song where Sting proclaims, "I want my MTV."

July 13, 1985 David Bowie and Mick Jagger debut their video for "Dancing in the Street" at Live Aid. Bowie also performs "Heroes" at Wembley Stadium.

August 1, 1981 "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield goes to #1 in America the same day MTV goes on the air. Springfield, a former soap opera star, is a great fit for the music video medium and gets a big boost from the network.

August 1, 1981 Hans Zimmer plays keyboards in the video for the Buggles' "Video Killed The Radio Star," the first music video to air on MTV. Zimmer goes on to become a renowned Hollywood film composer, winning the Oscar for Best Original Score for The Lion King (1994) and Dune (2021).

August 1, 1970 Music video director Harold "Hype" Williams is born in Queens, New York. He breaks into directing rap videos in the early '90s with clips from Puff Daddy, The Notorious B.I.G., and Nas before adding work with Kanye West and Jay-Z to his resume in the ensuing decades.More

March 1, 1970 The Beatles make their last appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show when music videos for their songs "Let It Be" and "Two Of Us" are aired.

September 4, 1968 The Beatles play to a live audience for the first time in two years when they record promotional films for "Hey Jude" and "Revolution" at Twickenham Studios in front of an audience of about 100. It goes so well, they decide to make a documentary, which becomes Let It Be.

March 14, 1968 The BBC-TV program Top Of The Pops broadcasts The Beatles new promotional video for "Lady Madonna," which, oddly enough, is made up entirely of clips from the band's recording of "Hey Bulldog."

November 26, 1967 The Beatles can't appear in person on the Ed Sullivan Show, but are there in celluloid when their promotional film (an early music video) for "Hello Goodbye" runs on the program.

November 10, 1967 The Beatles film three separate videos for their new single, "Hello Goodbye," at London's Saville Theatre. The three are eventually edited together to form one video, but the BBC, which has just given in to a Musician's Union ban on lip-syncing, refuses to air the clip.

December 16, 2020 After nearly 178 days, Twenty One Pilots pull the plug on the livestream for their "Level Of Concern" video, which refreshed every 3:40 with new footage uploaded by fans. Guinness declares it the longest music video ever made.

June 22, 2020 Twenty One Pilots release a never-ending video for their song "Level of Concern" that continuously updates using footage uploaded by fans. It does end, but not until December 16 - 178 days later.

February 10, 2020 While performing at the Get Out The Vote rally in New Hampshire in support of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, The Strokes debut the animated video for their new single "At The Door." They also perform the forthcoming followup single "Bad Decisions" for the first time.More

June 16, 2018 The Carters (Jay-Z and Beyoncé) release their first single, "Apes--t," with an opulent video shot at the Louvre in Paris.More

April 26, 2017 Father John Misty releases his video for "Total Entertainment Forever," which stars Macaulay Culkin as a crucified Kurt Cobain.More

April 29, 2016 Jimmy Fallon and Paul Rudd do a shot-for-shot remake of the Styx video for "Too Much Time On My Hands."More

April 5, 2015 Two days after Furious 7 is released in theaters, the "See You Again" video, featuring footage from the film, debuts on Facebook and Twitter. The next day, it is posted on YouTube, where it eventually breaks the record for most views, previously held by "Gangnam Style."More

September 5, 2014 Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton open a bed and breakfast called The Ladysmith in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. It can be seen in Blake's video for "Sangria."

March 10, 2014 TV show host Bill O'Reilly gets fired up over Beyoncé's "Partition" video, which contains graphic scenes implying sex in a limousine. O'Reilly engages his guest Russell Simmons on the topic, saying it "harms impressionable children."

October 31, 2013 Fifth Harmony post a video of the group performing "Wannabe" dressed as the Spice Girls. The video was recorded two days earlier at a show in Patchogue, New York.More

June 6, 2012 One Direction's video release of Up All Night: The Live Tour debuts at #1 on the Billboard Music Video Sales chart, while their first single, "What Makes You Beautiful," goes to #4 on the Hot 100.

September 12, 2010 Lady Gaga wears a dress made of raw meat to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, where she wins Video Of The Year for "Bad Romance."More

October 2, 2009 Esquire announces Kate Beckinsale as their Sexiest Woman Alive with a video of the actress set to the song "Goodbye Hollywood" by Jet.More

May 25, 2008 Jet releases a YouTube video featuring their song "Shine On" that honors the life and work of Australian ophthalmologist Fred Hallows. It is estimated that Hallows' work in Australia and other developing nations has helped bring eyesight to over one million people. In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, lead singer Nic Chester said, "hopefully [the video] encourages people to make a donation to keep Fred's work going."

May 3, 2008 Thanks to a Vegas-themed video featuring dice-shaped lollipops, Lil Wayne's single "Lollipop" hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stays for five consecutive weeks.

August 29, 2004 Jet take home the award for Best Rock Video for "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" at the MTV Video Music Awards and perform the song live during the strangely un-hosted ceremony at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.