The first music video that aired on MTV in 1981 was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. Though television had previously offered fans music mixed with visuals, and artists often used imagery in addition to performance to sell their music, the music video format gave artists the chance to work with video artists to create an imagery specifically worked around a song.
The first MTV Music Video Awards aired on Sept. 14, 1984, in New York City. It was hosted by Bette Midler and Dan Akroyd and featured performances by Madonna, Rod Stewart, David Bowie and Tina Turner, among others. Major awards went to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video and Herbie Hancock's "Rock it." The awards were called "the Moonman" and featured an all-metal versiom of the iconic "man on the moon" figure prominently used in MTV promotions.
The very first award categories were Video of the Year, Best Male Video, Best Female Video, Best Group Video, Viewer's Choice, Best New Artist, Best Concept Video, Best Stage Performance, Best Overall Performance, Most Experimental Video, Best Direction, Best Choreography, Best Special Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Editing and Best Cinematography. Though some categories have remained the same, changes in the music industry have created new categories, such as Best Pop Video, Best Hip-Hop Video, Best Rock Video and Best Collaboration.
The very first music video award was famous for Madonna's performance of "Like a Virgin," in which she performed wearing a wedding dress and rolled around suggestively on stage. The 1989 VMA's were notorious for Andrew Dice Clay's performance, which MTV considered so inappropriate that they banned him for a lifetime from performing on MTV. In 1994, Michael Jackson and his then-wife Lisa Marie Presley kissed onstage while affirming their relationship, while in 2000 and 2001 Britney Spears shocked the audience with first a skin-tight, flesh-colored outfit and in the next year in her performance with a python.