1990 MTV Video Music Awards

The 1990 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 6, 1990, honoring the best music videos from June 2, 1989, to June 1, 1990. The show was hosted by Arsenio Hall at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.

This year saw the elimination of yet another one of the show's original categories, Best Stage Performance in a Video. This would turn out to be the last time an award from 1984 would be permanently eliminated (although Breakthrough Video was eliminated in 2006 and then brought back in 2009).

For the second year in a row, Madonna was one of the night's biggest winners, taking home three technical awards, while Sinéad O'Connor was the other most rewarded artist of 1990, also winning three Moonmen including Video of the Year. Meanwhile, most other winners that night took home two awards, including Aerosmith, Don Henley, The B-52s, Tears for Fears, and MC Hammer.

Regarding nominations, Madonna also had the distinction of being the most nominated artist of the night, as her video for "Vogue" received nine nominations, making it also the most nominated video of 1990. In fact, this marks the very first time in VMA history that the most nominated artist achieves this distinction with nominations for only one video. Closely following in nominations came Aerosmith, whose video for "Janie's Got a Gun" earned eight nominations that night and took home two awards, including Viewer's Choice.

Nominations

Winners are in bold text.

Video of the Year

• Aerosmith — "Janie's Got a Gun"
• Don Henley — "The End of the Innocence"
• Madonna — "Vogue"
• Sinéad O'Connor — "Nothing Compares 2 U"

Best Male Video

• Don Henley — "The End of the Innocence"
• Billy Idol — "Cradle of Love"
• MC Hammer — "U Can't Touch This"
• Michael Penn — "No Myth"

Best Female Video

• Paula Abdul — "Opposites Attract"
• Madonna — "Vogue"
• Alannah Myles — "Black Velvet"
• Sinéad O'Connor — "Nothing Compares 2 U"
• Michelle Shocked — "On the Greener Side"

Best Group Video

• Aerosmith — "Janie's Got a Gun"
• The B-52s — "Love Shack"
• Midnight Oil — "Blue Sky Mine"
• Red Hot Chili Peppers — "Higher Ground"
• Tears for Fears — "Sowing the Seeds of Love"

Best New Artist in a Video

• Bell Biv DeVoe — "Poison"
• The Black Crowes — "Jealous Again"
• Jane Child — "Don't Wanna Fall in Love"
• Lenny Kravitz — "Let Love Rule"
• Alannah Myles — "Black Velvet"
• Michael Penn — "No Myth"
• Lisa Stansfield — "All Around the World"

Best Metal/Hard Rock Video

• Aerosmith — "Janie's Got a Gun"
• Faith No More — "Epic"
• Mötley Crüe — "Kickstart My Heart"
• Slaughter — "Up All Night"

Best Rap Video

• Digital Underground — "The Humpty Dance"
• Biz Markie — "Just a Friend"
• MC Hammer — "U Can't Touch This"
• Young MC — "Principal's Office"

Best Dance Video

• Paula Abdul — "Opposites Attract"
• Janet Jackson — "Rhythm Nation"
• Madonna — "Vogue"
• MC Hammer — "U Can't Touch This"

Best Post-Modern Video

• Depeche Mode — "Personal Jesus"
• Sinéad O'Connor — "Nothing Compares 2 U"
• Red Hot Chili Peppers — "Higher Ground"
• Tears for Fears — "Sowing the Seeds of Love"

Best Video from a Film

• Edie Brickell & New Bohemians — "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" (from Born on the Fourth of July)
• Billy Idol — "Cradle of Love" (from The Adventures of Ford Fairlane)
• Prince — "Batdance" (from Batman)
• ZZ Top — "Doubleback" (from Back to the Future Part III)

Breakthrough Video

• Paula Abdul — "Opposites Attract"
• Sinéad O'Connor — "Nothing Compares 2 U"
• Red Hot Chili Peppers — "Higher Ground"
• Tears for Fears — "Sowing the Seeds of Love"

Best Direction in a Video

• Paula Abdul — "Opposites Attract" (Directors: Michael Patterson and Candace Reckinger)
• Aerosmith — "Janie's Got a Gun" (Director: David Fincher)
• Don Henley — "The End of the Innocence" (Director: David Fincher)
• Madonna — "Vogue" (Director: David Fincher)

Best Choreography in a Video

• Paula Abdul — "Opposites Attract" (Choreographer: Paula Abdul)
• Janet Jackson — "Rhythm Nation" (Choreographers: Janet Jackson and Anthony Thomas)
• Madonna — "Vogue" (Choreographers: Luis Camacho and Jose Gutierrez)
• MC Hammer — "U Can't Touch This" (Choreographers: MC Hammer and Ho Frat Hooo!)

Best Special Effects in a Video

• Paula Abdul — "Opposites Attract" (Special Effects: Michael Patterson)
• Billy Idol — "Cradle of Love" (Special Effects: Peter Moyer)
• Billy Joel — "We Didn't Start the Fire" (Special Effects: Chris Blum)
• Tears for Fears — "Sowing the Seeds of Love" (Special Effects: Jim Blashfield)

Best Art Direction in a Video

• Aerosmith — "Janie's Got a Gun" (Art Director: Alex McDowell)
• The B-52s — "Love Shack" (Art Director: Martin Lasowitz)
• Billy Joel — "We Didn't Start the Fire" (Art Director: Sterling Storm)
• Madonna — "Vogue" (Art Director: Lauryn LeClere)

Best Editing in a Video

• Aerosmith — "Janie's Got a Gun" (Editor: Jim Haygood)
• Don Henley — "The End of the Innocence" (Editor: Jim Haygood)
• Madonna — "Vogue" (Editor: Jim Haygood)
• MC Hammer — "U Can't Touch This" (Editor: Jonathan Siegel)

Best Cinematography in a Video

• Aerosmith — "Janie's Got a Gun" (Director of Photography: Dariusz Wolski)
• Don Henley — "The End of the Innocence" (Director of Photography: David Bridges)
• Billy Joel — "We Didn't Start the Fire" (Director of Photography: Sven Kirsten)
• Madonna — "Vogue" (Director of Photography: Pascal Lebegue)

Viewer's Choice

• Aerosmith — "Janie's Got a Gun"
• Don Henley — "The End of the Innocence"
• Madonna — "Vogue"
• Sinéad O'Connor — "Nothing Compares 2 U"

International Viewer's Choice Awards

MTV Australia

• Boom Crash Opera — "Onion Skin"
• Max Q — "Sometimes"
• Midnight Oil — "Blue Sky Mine"
• Kylie Minogue — "Better the Devil You Know"

MTV Brasil

• Djavan — "Oceano"
• Engenheiros do Hawaii — "Alívio Imediato"
• Os Paralamas do Sucesso — "Perplexo"
• Titãs — "Flores"
• Caetano Veloso — "Estrangeiro"

MTV Europe

• The Creeps — "Ooh I Like It"
• Laid Back — "Bakerman"
• Gary Moore — "Still Got the Blues (for You)"
• Sinéad O'Connor — "Nothing Compares 2 U"

MTV Internacional

• Franco De Vita — "Louis"
• Gloria Estefan — "Oye Mi Canto (Hear My Voice)"
• Los Prisioneros — "Tren al Sur"
• Soda Stereo — "En la Ciudad de la Furia"

MTV Japan

• Kome Kome Club — "Funk Fujiyama"
• Yasuyuki Okamura — "Vegetable"
• Jun Togawa — "Virgin Blues"
• Mami Yamase — "Go!"

Video Vanguard Award

• Janet Jackson

Performances

• Janet Jackson — "Black Cat"
• Mötley Crüe — "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)"
• MC Hammer — "U Can't Touch This"
• INXS — "Suicide Blonde"
• Sinéad O'Connor — "Nothing Compares 2 U"
• New Edition (featuring Bobby Brown) — "Poison"/"Tap Into My Heart"/"Rub You the Right Way"/"Sensitivity"/"If It Isn't Love"/"Mr. Telephone Man"/"Can You Stand the Rain"
• Faith No More — "Epic"
• Phil Collins — "Sussudio"
• 2 Live Crew — "Banned in the U.S.A."
• World Party — "Put the Message in the Box"
• Aerosmith — "Love in an Elevator"
• Madonna — "Vogue"

External links

• Official MTV site