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.
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. Bassists Krist Novoselic and Duff McKagan almost came to blows over the incident, just before Nirvana were to take the stage. 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.
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.
Winners and nominations
Winners are in bold text.Video of the Year
Van Halen – "Right Now"- Def Leppard – "Let's Get Rocked"
- Nirvana – "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Under the Bridge"
Best Male Video
- 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
- Tori Amos – "Silent All These Years"
- Madonna – "Holiday"
- Vanessa L. Williams – "Save the Best for Last"
Best Group Video
- En Vogue – "My Lovin' "
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Under the Bridge"
- Van Halen – "Right Now"
Best New Artist in a Video
- Tori Amos – "Silent All These Years"
- Arrested Development – "Tennessee"
- Cracker – "Teen Angst "
Best Metal/Hard Rock Video
- Def Leppard – "Let's Get Rocked"
- Ugly Kid Joe – "Everything About You"
- Van Halen – "Right Now"
Best Rap Video
- Black Sheep – "The Choice Is Yours "
- Kris Kross – "Jump"
- Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch – "Good Vibrations"
- Sir Mix-a-Lot – "Baby Got Back"
Best Dance Video
- En Vogue – "My Lovin' "
- Madonna – "Holiday "
- Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch – "Good Vibrations"
Best Alternative Video
- Pearl Jam – "Alive"
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Give It Away"
- The Soup Dragons – "Divine Thing"
Best Video from a Film
- Eric Clapton – "Tears in Heaven"
- The Commitments – "Try a Little Tenderness"
- Hammer – "Addams Groove"
Breakthrough Video
- Tori Amos – "Silent All These Years"
- David Byrne – "She's Mad"
- Van Halen – "Right Now"
Best Direction in a Video
- En Vogue – "My Lovin' "
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Give It Away"
- Sir Mix-a-Lot – "Baby Got Back"
Best Choreography in a Video
- Hammer – "2 Legit 2 Quit"
- Madonna – "Holiday "
- Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch – "Good Vibrations"
Best Special Effects in a Video
- David Byrne – "She's Mad"
- Def Leppard – "Let's Get Rocked"
- Michael Jackson – "Black or White "
Best Art Direction in a Video
- Guns N' Roses – "November Rain"
- Sir Mix-a-Lot – "Baby Got Back"
- Rod Stewart – "Broken Arrow"
Best Editing in a Video
- En Vogue – "My Lovin' "
- Metallica – "Enter Sandman"
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Give It Away"
- U2 – "Even Better Than the Real Thing"
Best Cinematography in a Video
- Tori Amos – "Silent All These Years"
- Eric Clapton – "Tears in Heaven "
- En Vogue – "My Lovin' "
- Genesis – "I Can't Dance"
- Michael Jackson – "In the Closet"
- Madonna – "Holiday "
- Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch – "Good Vibrations"
- Metallica – "Enter Sandman"
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Give It Away"
- Vanessa L. Williams – "Running Back to You"
Viewer's Choice
- Def Leppard – "Let's Get Rocked"
- Nirvana – "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
- Van Halen – "Right Now"
International Viewer's Choice Awards
Asia Pacific|MTV Asia]]
Christina – "Jing Mai Klua"- Artists R.A.P. – "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]
- 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]
- Genesis – "I Can't Dance"
- The KLF – "Justified & Ancient"
- Annie Lennox – "Why"
- Shakespears Sister – "Stay"
MTV Internacional
- 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"
- Def Leppard – "Let's Get Rocked"
- Nirvana – "Rape Me" / "Lithium"
- Elton John – "The One"
- Pearl Jam – "Jeremy"
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Under the Bridge" / "Give It Away"
- Michael Jackson – "Black or White"
- 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 and Phil Hartman – 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 and Ringo Starr – appeared in a series of vignettes at the 'talent check-in' table
- Ice-T and Metallica – 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 L. Williams – presented Breakthrough Video
- Roger Taylor and Brian May – presented the Video Vanguard Award
- Luke Perry and Howard Stern – presented Best Metal/Hard Rock Video
- VJs Angela Chow, Richard Wilkins, Cuca Lazarotto, Ray Cokes and Daisy Fuentes – 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