MTV Video Music Awards: 30 memorable moments through the years

As we count down the hours to the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards – airing at 9 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28 – here's a look back at 30 memorable moments from VMAs past.

"Like a Virgin" (1984)

The first time is clearly a charm for Madonna, who steals the inaugural show with a sexually charged "Like a Virgin." Having climbed down off a wedding cake, she whips off her veil, lets her hair down and proceeds to writhe across the floor in the trashiest wedding dress/bustier most future grooms will ever know, her belt buckle emblazoned with "Boy Toy." This is controversial stuff for 1984. Today, of course, it looks more like an actual wedding.

Roger Daltrey smashing a guitar (1984)

In the midst of presenting the award for best overall performance in a video while a guitarist tuned behind the curtain, the Who's Roger Daltrey excused himself, retrieved the guitar and smashed it to bits -- a concert-ending tradition of guitarist Pete Townsend -- then told the audience, "I've always wanted to do that." Diana Ross accepted the award for Michael Jackson.

Hall & Oates join the Temptations (1985)

Daryl Hall and John Oates shared the stage with two Temptations, David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks, for an old-school Motown revue, complete with the Temptations dance moves that suggests. The segment started backstage, with the singers harmonizing on the Hall & Oates song "Everytime You Go Away." Then, after taking the stage to the strains of "Get Ready," they did a medley of "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and "My Girl." Surprisingly, Oates stole the show with his soulful falsetto on "The Way You Do the Things You Do."

Whitney Houston on the rise (1986)

After shimmying her way through a spirited "How Will I Know" in a dazzling show of vocal pyrotechnics, Houston stuck around for a soulful, sappy mood shift with "The Greatest Love of All."

Addicted to hot chicks (1986)

Robert Palmer slyly underscored the genius of his video for "Addicted to Love" -- the one that featured Palmer with an all-girl, all-hot backing band -- by performing the same song with a bunch of guys onstage. Not nearly as addictive, as it turns out.

Run-D.M.C. rock the mike with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry (1987)

Run-D.M.C. were well into rocking the mike on "Walk This Away" when Steven Tyler and Joe Perry joined in on the chorus, with Tyler doing all his classic stage moves with a mike stand draped in scarves and Perry squeezing out the solo before Tyler got in on the rapping.

It was Axl Rose's jungle; we just lived there (1988)

Born too late to understand the hype surrounding Axl Rose and Guns N' Roses? This performance is as good a place to start as any. Rose is a portrait in abandon in his ensemble of backward baseball cap, bandana and porn-star shades, dancing in circles, whipping his hair back and unleashing his patented Axl shimmy. Also? Slash and Steven Adler.

The Cure really were just like heaven (1989)

Robert Smith and the Cure rocked their way through a version of "Just Like a Heaven" that had to leave some rockists wondering whether they'd underestimated one of England's most enduring post-punk institutions. But Smith wasn't meeting the Guns N' Roses faction halfway, not with that fright wig and makeup.

Madonna back in "Vogue" (1990)

This may have been Madonna's most elaborately staged production ever at the VMA Awards, with male dancers in hot pants and ruffled blouses meant to look like something from the 18th century. Meanwhile, Madonna herself rocked some serious corseted cleavage in a look most people figured was a tribute to Marie Antoinette.

LL Cool J does what Mama would've wanted (1991)

After encouraging the audience to wave their arms from side to side and the audience gladly obliging, the first words out of LL Cool J's mouth were "Don't call it a comeback," the opening line on his chart-topping rap single "Mama Said Knock You Out." And it wasn't a comeback so much as another example of the rap icon owning the moment. By the time he lost his vest to rock the last three-quartets of this anthem ripped and shirtless, the culture was his for the taking.

Krist Novoselic auditions for "Jackass" (1992)

With Nirvana in the midst of bringing "Lithium" to an explosive punk-rock climax, Novoselic gets whacked in the head with the bass guitar he had just flung in the air.

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"Rockin' in the Free World" (1993)

Pearl Jam won four awards for "Jeremy" that night, but when their special guest, Neil Young, strolled out and strapped on a guitar, the young Seattle rockers wisely chose to set their own songs to the side and let the legend lead them on a savage stomp through Young's "Rockin' in the Free World."

Jacko and the least convincing kiss of all time (1994)

The recently married Michael Jackson planted an unconvincing kiss on his pop-culture trophy wife, Lisa Marie Presley, who later claimed the kiss was dreamed up by her former husband's PR team.

Michael Jackson medley (1995)

OK, yes, the kiss was weird, but this is why we loved him in the first place -- Michael Jackson as the consummate performer burning through a medley of his greatest hits. "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Beat It," "Billie Jean," "Dangerous." Toss in an over-indulgent guitar lead from Slash and some Kiss-worthy pyro, and this was high-grade spectacle with killer dance moves, including an extended moonwalk and plenty of crotch grabs.

Courtney Love: Living through this (1995)

Still reeling from the recent deaths of husband Kurt Cobain and bassist Kristen Pfaff, a clearly troubled Courtney Love led the members of Hole through a rambling, explosive performance of "Violet" that ended with her knocking a microphone stand into the crowd and throwing equipment around at the back of the stage as the cameras cut away.

KISS and make up (1996)

Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley put on their makeup and set aside their differences with original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley to tear it up on "Rock and Roll All Nite" beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, complete with fireworks.

Diana Ross gets frisky with Lil' Kim (1999)

Presented an award by Lil' Kim, who was dressed for the occasion with her left breast hanging free, Ross playfully tapped the bottom of Kim's breast to make it jiggle while the DJ plays "I'm Coming Out."

Britney and the python (2001)

Britney Spears' most memorable VMA performance started with Britney and a tiger in the same cage and peaked with her bumping and grinding her through "I'm a Slave 4 U" with a Burmese python draped across her shoulder, all while dressed as though she'd just been cast in a Cinemax version of "I Dream of Jeannie."

"Like a Virgin": Heterosexual Male Fantasy Mix (2003)

Nineteen years after the first time she sang "Like a Virgin" at the VMAS, Madonna sent out for two former Mouseketeers (Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears) to spice things up. This time, Madonna dressed as the groom and planted a kiss on both her co-stars (although, somehow, the post-show hysteria came to focus on the Britney kiss).

Kanye West: "I'm-a let you finish, but ..." (2009)

No stranger to awards show spectacles, Kanye West is called a "jackass" by the first black president after grabbing a microphone from Taylor Swift to let her know, in no uncertain terms, who should have won the VMA she'd just been handed. "Yo Tay, I'm really happy for you," he famously said, "and I'm-a let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!"

Lady Gaga in drag (2011)

Lady Gaga opened the show in character as a chain-smoking, pompadoured greaser named Jo Calderone, who claimed to be the singer's jilted lover. An angry rant as stand-up comedy/performance art, it went on for more than three minutes, after which she sat at the piano, singing "You and I" with Queen guitarist Brian May emerging for the solo.

Frank Ocean in "Thinkin Bout You" (2012)

Ocean was able to introduce an unexpected level of intimacy -- and soul -- to the proceedings, bringing his sweet soul falsetto to bear on a gorgeous, emotional reading of "Thinkin Bout You," backed by understated cocktail-jazz guitar. And coming out of Pink's trapeze act, it was nice to see an artist let the music do the dazzling.

Justin Timberlake medley (2013)

This career-spanning medley started in the lobby with "Take Back the Night," the comeback king's then-current single, Timberlake singing and dancing his way to the stage after taking a ride on the up escalator, all the while flanked by his dancers. As medleys go, it was brilliantly paced, allowing each song just enough time to remind us why we liked (or did not like) it in the first place. The choreography was top-notch, as expected. And then, after making his way through "Sexyback," "Like I Love You," "My Love," "Cry Me a River," "Senorita" and "Rock Your Body," he brought N'Sync out (to the strains of "Pusher Love Girl") for a two-song trip down memory lane with "Girlfriend" and "Bye Bye". It was bye-bye for his former bandmates after that, but Timberlake remained to end the medley with two recent smashes, "Suit & Tie" and "Mirrors."

Miley Cyrus twerks her way into the spotlight (2013)

It's kind of wild that Lady Gaga's opening performance was immediately upstaged by a feisty former teen star gone wild in a furry bustier emblazoned with the image of a cartoon mouse that looked like it had been designed by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, flanked by dancers with giant teddy bears strapped to their backs. She couldn't seem to keep her Gene Simmons-esque tongue in her mouth. She squeezed a dancer's bum and twerked hard for the money. It was a ridiculously entertaining spectacle that flipped the script on your typical former-teen-star-acting-out by putting Miley at the wheel, sexing it up like the weird outsider she was born to be while living out the lyrics, "It's our party; We can do what we want." And then, she hung around to upstage Robin Thicke, losing the mouse bustier to rock a tiny gold two-piece while using a giant foam finger to turn the tables on the "Blurred Lines" singer (who rocked a mod umpire look and a pencil-thin mustache). That's when 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar came out to join them on a rousing performance of the "Give It 2 U" remix.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (2013)

Macklemore and Lewis brought out Mary Lambert to join them on this gospel-flavored sermon in support of same-sex marriage. She sings on the record, so that was no surprise, but the guest appearance by Jennifer Hudson was pretty surprising. Was it preachy? Yes, of course, it was. They even hung giant American flags from the ceiling. But it was also cool to see a star as big as Macklemore using the platform of the VMAs to a stand on an important and potentially divisive issue with the passion he poured into that performance. Of course, by that point, he'd already picked up a well-deserved best-video-with-a-social-message award for that song.

Beyonce (2014)

Remember when MTV was a big enough cultural force that there was talk of something called an MTV attention span, the idea being that prolonged exposure to the network during one's formative years could cause a diminished capacity for staying focused. Hold on, I forgot what I was typing. Oh yeah. If you had an MTV attention span, there's no way you'd have made it through this "Sandinista!" of TV-awards-show performances, a sprawling trip through Beyonce's emotional headspace by way of a medley of songs from her most recent, self-titled album. It was kinky, dramatic, politically righteous, emotionally vulnerable and very, very long. It was kind of a mess, to be honest. And yet, it worked because Beyonce -- who, it should be noted, looked amazing in that shimmering metallic leotard. And it ended with Jay Z and the baby presenting the head of their household – or the greatest living entertainer, as Jay Z proclaimed her -- with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award. They even kissed, which had to suck for those of you lying in wait for their relationship to crumble.

Taylor Swift, "Shake It Off" (2014)

OK, so it couldn't compete with the "Alice in Wonderland"-inspired performance of "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" that kicked off the 55th Annual Grammy Awards in 2013. But there was still plenty to look at, including a chorus line of male dancers in tuxedos getting acrobatic while Swift worked the stage in a glittering silver crop top and high-waisted shorts. There was a definite "Great Gatsby" vibe (DiCaprio, not Fitzgerald) to the look of Swift's performance. And the giant "1989" sign, promoting the name of her upcoming album, was not only colorful, it provided the set-up for a loopy sight gag, Swift standing on top of the numbers and pretending the idea was for her to jump into the outstretched arms of her male dancers. "I don't care if it's the VMAs, I'm not jumping off of there," she said. Then, referring to Nicki Minaj's dancer getting bitten by a snake at the previous day's rehearsal, she said, "People getting bitten by snakes? It's dangerous." There were also fireworks, so that was fun.

Common weighing in on Ferguson (2014)

Common seized the opportunity to weigh in on the matters of the day while handing out the hip-hop VMA (which went to Drake for a song that was closer to disco than hip-hop). "For the past two weeks, the eyes of the nation have been on Ferguson (Mo.)," he said. "People have used their voices to call for justice and change to let everyone know that each of our lives matter." Hip-hop, Common said, "has always been about truth and has been a powerful instrument of social change." The genre has "always presented a voice for the revolution," he added, before requesting "I want us all to take a moment of silence for Mike Brown and for peace in this country and in the world." Even Snoop Dogg bowed his head and flashed a peace sign.

The Weeknd, "Cant Feel My My Face" (2015)

If Michael Jackson taught us anything, it's that sometimes a guy who can dance when he turns his attention to a song that makes the other people in the room wish they could dance can be a greater source of entertainment than all the props and pyrotechnics in the world. Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez got up and danced together. Kanye West got up and danced alone. John Legend danced with Chrissy Teigen. And the Weeknd brought his best moves to the summer's most contagious funk jam. There was was pyro, too, but unlike in the video, the Weeknd did not catch on fire. Only metaphorically.

Miley Cyrus, "Dooo It!" (2015)

Did Cyrus end the broadcast with a psychedelic dance track backed by Flaming Lips? Of course she did. She's Miley Cyrus. It was probably the weirdest thing I've ever seen on any VMA performance, Cyrus singing, "Yeah, I smoke pot / yeah, I love peace / But I don't give a f--k. / I ain't no hippie" and the Lips' fearless leader, Wayne Coyne, at one point kneeling behind her to fire a very phallic confetti gun between her legs. It was bizarre, but in a way that definitely stood out from everything we'd witnessed leading up to it.

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