Matthew Reine
As I mentioned in the awkward celebrity interviews article I wrote several months back, live television always makes for some unforgettable moments. When you’re broadcasting to millions of people around the world without sufficient time to edit anything, you run the risk of classic train-wrecks happening before your very eyes. No network knows this better than MTV.
Even though they haven’t aired music videos regularly in quite a few years, MTV’s annual award presentation, the Video Music Awards, still takes place and never ceases to produce memorable exchanges. While today’s generation remembers Miley Cyrus twerking on Robin Thicke or Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech, there were several moments from when MTV was an actual music network that I actually recall and to me, are the defining moments in VMA history. Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?
Fiona Apple v.s. The Norm (1997)
The Criminal singer broke out in 1996 with her highly praised debut record Tidal and impressively beat out The Wallflowers, Meredith Brooks, Hanson, and Jamiroquai to capture the Best New Artist award in 1997. The always offbeat Apple hit the stage to accept the honor but decided to take the time to protest. She proudly proclaimed that she hadn’t prepared a speech before stating that people should just be who they are and not model themselves after celebrities before blurting out “this world is bullshit” which stunned everybody including MTV executives. She was highly criticized for her comments but Fiona has shown no remorse since.
Lil’ Kim v.s. Her wardrobe (1999)
I have to confess that 1999 might be my favorite VMA ceremony. Aside from occurring on the iconic date of 9.9.99, the show serves as big time nostalgia for me as it was the first awards show I watched in full since I started really getting into music. It had a lot of my favorite musicians (David Bowie AND Paul McCartney? C’mon!) presenting.
What was the most buzzworthy moment from the show? Would it be Nine Inch Nails’ comeback performance? Nope. It was Lil’ Kim’s provocative outfit. While Tommy Lee showed up wearing nothing but an overcoat, Kim rocked a purple ensemble complete with nothing but a seashell sequin covering her left breast. Everyone stared in awe. Even her co-presenter, Diana Ross, who proceeded to feel her up. Host Chris Rock was even left breathless as he commented on Kim’s revealing costume afterwards. It was a hard fashion statement to top at the tail end of the 90s.
Tim Commerford v.s. Authority (2000)
Rage Against The Machine reunited in 2007 to the delight of fans everyone including myself. Before they called it a day as a band in 2000, though, one of their members was involved in one of the most controversial moments in the group’s history (and that’s saying a lot). After performing earlier in the night, they were one of the nominees in the category for Best Rock Video. Admittedly, the year 2000 wasn’t the best for mainstream rock so in a field containing the likes of Creed and Limp Bizkit, it seemed like Rage or Metallica were the frontrunners. The award wound up going to Limp Bizkit for their song Break Stuff. As Fred Durst and company came onstage to accept, RATM’s bass player, Tim Commerford, apparently upset that his band didn’t come out on top, scaled to the top of the awards set and refused to come down. Durst encouraged him to dive even going as far as to chant “jump!” at him. While Timmy violently shook the set, security flooded the area while Limp Bizkit awkwardly gave out their speech. The nu-metalers may have walked away with the prize but all eyes were on Commerford’s stunt. He was subsequently brought down and kicked out of the venue. It was later reported that he was actually arrested for his actions. He wouldn’t go down quietly, though.
In a 2000 interview with Guitar World magazine, guitarist, Tom Morello, discussed how Commerford violently brawled with several police officers; some even twice his size on that night. Well, in the very words of Zack de la Rocha, “all hell can’t stop him now!”
Shawn Fanning v.s. Lars Ulrich (2000)
The 2000 VMAs didn’t stop with Tim C. raging against the machine, no sir. In 2000, Metallica were embittered in a court battle with popular MP3 sharing website, Napster. Drummer, Lars Ulrich, was especially vocal about not wanting his band’s music distributed on the internet for free. Napster was soon the talk of the world. So much in fact that its founder, Shawn Fanning, was invited to the VMAs as a guest to introduce performer, Britney Spears. As soon as he was brought out by Carson Daly, Fanning turned heads by wearing a Metallica t-shirt. After Daly commented on his choice of attire, Fanning quipped back with “my friend shared it with me but I’m thinking of getting my own” which was a response to Ulrich’s allegations and how the whole MP3 sharing model works as a whole.
Ulrich, who was sitting in the crowd, was not amused at the jab and responded by pretending to fall asleep. Over the years, Metallica would change their stance on file sharing programs for the better. In 2005, they helped popular pseudo Metallica and Beatles cover band, Beatallica, escape legal action when they were ordered to stop performing the Beatles’ music.
Moby v.s. Eminem (2002)
No musician was more familiar with the term controversy in the early 2000s than Eminem. Several organizations and musicians criticized the Detroit rapper for his homophobic and misogynist lyrics on his second album The Marshall Mathers LP and ultimately labeled him a hateful man. A performance with Elton John at the Grammys seemingly disproved these claims and everything was back to normal. As you can expect, things didn’t end there as DJ/singer/songwriter, Moby, commented on Eminem’s use of slurs on his records in 2001. In response, Eminem insulted Moby on the track Without Me, the lead single from his third album, The Eminem Show.
By the time the 2002 edition of the VMAs rolled around, Moby was joined in the audience by Late Night with Conan O’Brian’s Triumph The Insult Comic Dog who then tried to get a word with Eminem. Em and his entourage shot the puppet’s request down and joined the stage to accept the award for Video of the Year. During his speech, he was met with boos and singled Moby out in the crowd calling him a little girl and that he wasn’t afraid to hit a man with glasses. This all ended with Eminem walking up to him and flipping him off. The beef died off eventually but it wouldn’t be the last time Eminem had disagreement with another musician.
Nirvana v.s. Everyone and everything (1992)
The Seattle rockers were on top of the early 90s rock scene and were fully embraced by MTV and their viewers. On that fateful night in 1992, they nabbed both the Best New Artist and Best Alternative Video accolades. Before the night’s end, all three members made sure to each produce their own renowned moment. First, the trio reportedly wanted to perform the song Rape Me but MTV brass forced them to play their megahit Smells Like Teen Spirit but eventually came around to the idea of having them perform Lithium instead. Kurt Cobain thought he’d stick it to the man by playing the intro to Rape Me before going into Lithium in a moment that no doubt scared the hell out of the powers that be. During the same performance, Krist Novoselic threw his bass guitar up in the air and it came smashing onto his face. He was unscathed but to add drama to the performance, he feigned being knocked out. The performance concluded with the band wrecking their equipment and Dave Grohl running up to the microphone yelling “HI AXL!” over and over again. Why? Well apparently, earlier, Guns ‘N Roses singer, Axl Rose and his girlfriend, confronted Kurt and Cobain’s wife, Courtney Love, in the backstage area. Axl’s girlfriend made a remark at Courtney and Courtney shot back with a sarcastic retort of her own, which infuriated Axl. Not helped at all was Kurt taking Axl’s request of, “Tell your bitch to shut up,” with an overly sarcastic, “Shut up, bitch.” Furthering the drama later in the evening, Guns N’ Roses bass player, a drunk Duff McKagan, along with a couple friends started trying to push over the trailer that Nirvana was staying in (unsuccessfully, thankfully) unaware that Frances, Cobain and Courtney’s infant daughter at the time, was in the trailer with her nanny.
