1992 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1992 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 9, 1992, honoring the best music videos from June 16, 1991, to June 15, 1992. The show was hosted by Dana Carvey at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
| 1992 MTV Video Music Awards | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date | Wednesday, September 9, 1992 |
| Location | Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles |
| Country | United States |
| Hosted by | Dana Carvey |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | MTV |
The night's biggest winners were Van Halen and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as each group earned three moonmen that night. Particularly, Van Halen's video for "Right Now" took home the main award of the night, Video of the Year, and received seven nominations, making it the most nominated video of the night. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, meanwhile, won the award for Viewer's Choice and received a total of nine nominations for two of their videos, becoming the most nominated act of the night. Six of the Peppers' nominations were for "Give It Away", and the remaining three went to "Under the Bridge".
The show was notable for a feud between Axl Rose and members of Nirvana as well as Courtney Love. It began backstage before the awards show, when Love jokingly offered to make Rose the godfather of Frances Bean Cobain. Rose threatened Cobain, telling him to quiet his wife, and barbs were exchanged between Love and Rose's then-girlfriend Stephanie Seymour.[1][2] Bassists Krist Novoselic and Duff McKagan almost came to blows over the incident, just before Nirvana were to take the stage.[3][4] The spat went public onstage immediately after Nirvana's performance of "Lithium", as drummer Dave Grohl taunted Rose. Cobain then raised the dispute in post-show interviews at the VMA.[1][2]
Along with Nirvana and Guns N' Roses, the night's performers included the likes of Bryan Adams, Def Leppard, En Vogue, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and Eric Clapton, among others. Also, there was a special performance by U2 via satellite, with host Dana Carvey playing the drums for them from the Pauley Pavilion. English band The Cure was slated to perform, too, but they had to cancel their appearance, citing illness and exhaustion from the band.[5]
Winners and nominations
Winners are in bold text.[6]
Video of the Year
Best Male Video
Eric Clapton – "Tears in Heaven" (Performance)
- John Mellencamp – "Get a Leg Up"
- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – "Into the Great Wide Open"
- Bruce Springsteen – "Human Touch"
- "Weird Al" Yankovic – "Smells Like Nirvana"
Best Female Video
Annie Lennox – "Why"
- Tori Amos – "Silent All These Years"
- Madonna – "Holiday" (Truth or Dare version)
- Vanessa Williams – "Save the Best for Last"
Best Group Video
Best New Artist in a Video
Best Metal/Hard Rock Video
Best Rap Video
Best Dance Video
Prince and the New Power Generation – "Cream"
Best Alternative Video
Nirvana – "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
- Pearl Jam – "Alive"
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Give It Away"
- The Soup Dragons – "Divine Thing"
Best Video from a Film
Queen – "Bohemian Rhapsody" (from Wayne's World)
- Eric Clapton – "Tears in Heaven" (from Rush)
- The Commitments – "Try a Little Tenderness" (from The Commitments)
- Hammer – "Addams Groove" (from The Addams Family)
Breakthrough Video
Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Give It Away"
- Tori Amos – "Silent All These Years"
- David Byrne – "She's Mad"
- Van Halen – "Right Now"
Best Direction in a Video
Van Halen – "Right Now" (Director: Mark Fenske)
- En Vogue – "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" (Director: Matthew Rolston)
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Give It Away" (Director: Stéphane Sednaoui)
- Sir Mix-a-Lot – "Baby Got Back" (Director: Adam Bernstein)
Best Choreography in a Video
En Vogue – "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" (Choreographers: Frank Gatson, Travis Payne and LaVelle Smith Jr.)
- Hammer – "2 Legit 2 Quit" (Choreographer: Hammer)
- Madonna – "Holiday (Truth or Dare version)" (Choreographer: Vincent Paterson)
- Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch – "Good Vibrations" (Choreographers: Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch)
Best Special Effects in a Video
U2 – "Even Better Than the Real Thing" (Special Effects: Simon Taylor)
- David Byrne – "She's Mad" (Special Effects: Carlos Arguello and Michele Ferrone)
- Def Leppard – "Let's Get Rocked" (Special Effects: Ian Pearson)
- Michael Jackson – "Black or White (Short Version)" (Special Effects: Jamie Dixon)
Best Art Direction in a Video
Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Give It Away" (Art Directors: Nick Goodman and Robertino Mazati)
- Guns N' Roses – "November Rain" (Art Director: Nigel Phelps)
- Sir Mix-a-Lot – "Baby Got Back" (Art Director: Dan Hubp)
- Rod Stewart – "Broken Arrow" (Art Director: José Montaño)
Best Editing in a Video
Van Halen – "Right Now" (Editor: Mitchell Sinoway)
- En Vogue – "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" (Editor: Robert Duffy)
- Metallica – "Enter Sandman" (Editor: Jay Torres)
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Give It Away" (Editors: Veronique Labels and Olivier Gajan)
- U2 – "Even Better Than the Real Thing" (Editor: Jerry Chater)
Best Cinematography in a Video
Guns N' Roses – "November Rain" (Directors of Photography: Mike Southon and Daniel Pearl)
- Tori Amos – "Silent All These Years" (Director of Photography: George Tiffin)
- Eric Clapton – "Tears in Heaven (Performance)" (Director of Photography: David Johnson)
- En Vogue – "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" (Director of Photography: Paul Lauter)
- Genesis – "I Can't Dance" (Director of Photography: Daniel Pearl)
- Michael Jackson – "In the Closet" (Director of Photography: Rolf Kestermann)
- Madonna – "Holiday (Truth or Dare version)" (Director of Photography: Toby Phillips)
- Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch – "Good Vibrations" (Director of Photography: Dave Phillips)
- Metallica – "Enter Sandman" (Director of Photography: Martin Coppen)
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Give It Away" (Director of Photography: Marco Mazzei)
- Vanessa Williams – "Running Back to You" (Director of Photography: Ralph Ziman)
Viewer's Choice
MTV Asia
Christina – "Jing Mai Klua"
- Artists R.A.P. (Roslan Aziz Productions) – "Ikhlas Tapi Jauh"
- Chang Yu-sheng – "Take Me to the Moon"
- The Dawn – "Iisang Bangka Tayo"
- Lo Ta-yu – "Story of the Train"
- Marsha – "Taak-Hak"
MTV Australia
- Boom Crash Opera – "Holy Water"
- The Clouds – "Hieronymous"
- Frente! – "Ordinary Angels"
MTV Brasil
Nenhum de Nós – "Ao Meu Redor"
- Guilherme Arantes – "Taça de Veneno"
- Biquini Cavadão – "Zé Ninguém"
- Capital Inicial – "O Passageiro"
- Djavan – "Se..."
- Engenheiros do Hawaii – "O Exército de um Homem Só"
- Gilberto Gil – "Madalena"
- Marina – "Criança"
- Marisa Monte – "Diariamente"
- Os Paralamas do Sucesso – "Trac Trac"
- RPM – "Gita"
- Sepultura – "Desperate Cry"
- Supla – "Só Pensa na Fama"
- Titãs – "Saia de Mim"
- Caetano Veloso – "Fora da Ordem"
MTV Europe
The Cure – "Friday I'm in Love"
- Genesis – "I Can't Dance"
- The KLF – "Justified & Ancient"
- Annie Lennox – "Why"
- Shakespears Sister – "Stay"
MTV Internacional
El General – "Muévelo"
- Caifanes – "Nubes"
- Gipsy Kings – "Baila Me"
- Mecano – "El 7 de Septiembre"
- El Último de la Fila – "Cuando el Mar Te Tenga"
Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award
Performances
- The Black Crowes – "Remedy"
- Bobby Brown – "Humpin' Around"
- U2 and Dana Carvey – "Even Better Than the Real Thing" (live via satellite from Pontiac, Michigan)
- Def Leppard – "Let's Get Rocked"
- Nirvana – "Rape Me" (intro) / "Lithium"
- Elton John – "The One"
- Pearl Jam – "Jeremy"
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Under the Bridge" (intro) / "Give It Away"
- Michael Jackson – "Black or White" (from his Dangerous Tour in London)
- Bryan Adams – "Do I Have to Say the Words?"
- En Vogue – "Free Your Mind"
- Eric Clapton – "Tears in Heaven"
- Guns N' Roses and Elton John – "November Rain"
Appearances
Pre-show
- Cindy Crawford – introduced the winners of the professional categories
- John Norris – presented Best Dance Video
Main show
- Eddie Murphy – presented Best Male Video
- Dana Carvey (as Johnny Carson) and Phil Hartman (as Ed McMahon) – appeared in Viewer's Choice Award vignettes
- John Corbett and Shannen Doherty – presented Best Direction in a Video
- David Spade, Andrew Dice Clay, Doug Bradley (as "Pinhead") and Ringo Starr – appeared in a series of vignettes at the 'talent check-in' table
- Ice-T and Metallica (Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett) – presented Best Rap Video
- Denis Leary – appeared in pre-recorded segments about what was 'coming up' on the show
- Halle Berry and Jean-Claude Van Damme – presented Best Video from a Film
- Marky Mark and Vanessa Williams – presented Breakthrough Video
- Roger Taylor and Brian May – presented the Video Vanguard Award
- Luke Perry and Howard Stern (as "Fartman") – presented Best Metal/Hard Rock Video
- VJs Angela Chow (Asia), Richard Wilkins (Australia), Cuca Lazarotto (Brasil), Ray Cokes (Europe) and Daisy Fuentes (Internacional) – announced their respective region's Viewer's Choice winner
- Denis Leary and Cindy Crawford – presented Viewer's Choice
- Kris Kross and Magic Johnson – presented Best Female Video
- Dana Carvey – presented Best Alternative Video
- Boyz II Men and Wilson Phillips – presented Best New Artist in a Video
- Peter Gabriel and Annie Lennox – presented Best Group Video
- Mick Jagger – presented Video of the Year
References
- Hartmann, Graham 'Gruhamed'. "AXL ROSE VS. NIRVANA – NASTIEST ROCK FEUDS". Loudwire. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- Hyden, Steven (19 October 2010). "Part 2: 1991: "What's so civil about war anyway?"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- McKagan, Duff (11 February 2010). "All Apologies". Seattle Weekly. Archived from the original on 2011-12-28. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- Novoselic, Krist (18 November 2008). "What Really Happened at the 1992 MTV Music Video Awards". Seattle Weekly. Archived from the original on 3 March 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- TCDB (12 November 2015). "THE CURE cancel MTV Video Music Awards performance - 1992" – via YouTube.
- Considine, J.D. (September 9, 1992). "Other award shows can be totally stodgy, but this is MTV". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on October 11, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2020.