MTV Music Awards’ Shockers
The most shocking, controversial and downright fabulous on-stage happenings in MTV history
PA Photos25: Miley Cyrus twerks on Robin Thicke
Despite the big news of the night supposedly meant to be N*Sync's big reunion performance, Miley Cyrus stole all the headlines when she performed with Robin Thicke on his track Blurred Lines in nothing but some nude rubber underwear.
PA Photos24: Lady Gaga goes in drag
Jo Calderone accepted an award on Lady Gaga’s behalf (ahem) when she won Best Female Video for Born This Way. Apparently, as Jo told the audience, the [imaginary] pair split up recently and she was unable to attend in person.
PA Photos23: Beyoncé’s baby bump revelation
Were you as gobsmacked as we were when Beyoncé flung open her sequinned blazer during her performance of Love On Top at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards to reveal a neat, but definitely round, baby bump? "I want you to feel the love that's growing inside me," she told the crowd. Of course, then there were all those rumours that she wore a prosthetic baby bump to exaggerate the effect of her pregnancy – something she stringently denies.
PA Photos22. Eva Longoria dresses as a ham
Eva Longoria changed her outfit a staggering 10 times while she was hosting in 2010 but, the most memorable, was this giant ham suit, a tribute to Lady Gaga's notorious meat dress.
Wenn21. Beyoncé and her Single Ladies
In what was considered the best performance of the night in 2009, Beyoncé Knowles belted out her award-winning anthem, Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) in a roof-raising performance featuring no less than 40 bootilicious Beyoncé look-a-likes. Girl Power!
Getty20. Britney Spears’ striptease
Taking to the stage in 2000, in a black suit and matching fedora, Britney Spears ripped off her clothes to reveal a sheer, flesh-coloured bodysuit with a few strategically-placed sequins, and proceeded to ‘bump and grind’ her way through her number one single, Oops!...I Did It Again, marking the moment when she shed her good girl image once and for all, and prompting host Marlon Wayans to proclaim: "Girl done went from The Mickey Mouse Club to the strip club!" And to think, just 12 months before she was a schoolgirl in pigtails.
PA Photos19. Tommy Lee and Kid Rock fight over Pammy
It was colostomy bags at dawn in ’07 when aging rockers Tommy Lee and Kid Rock had a slapping session over Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson. Pamela’s ex hubby Tommy Lee and her then-hubby, Kid, were both thrown out of the show, and the latter later charged with misdemeanour battery. Play nice, boys.
PA Photos18. J-Lo tackled by audience member
Jennifer Lopez was left speechless in 2006 when, upon presenting an award to eye-linered emo outfit Panic! At The Disco, a discontented member of the audience jumped on stage and grabbed the gong, ranting about MTV rejecting his TV show. In the words of host Jack Black: "Not cool, dude – not cool."
PA Photos17. Beyoncé lets Taylor finish
Ever the hip-hop nation’s sweetheart, Beyoncé invited Taylor Swift to join her on stage in 2009, when she scooped the Best Music Video gong for anthem Single Ladies, so the teen could finish her acceptance speech for the Best Female Video. Taylor’s big moment had been interrupted earlier in the show when Kanye West crashed on stage and told her Beyoncé should have won... but more about that later!
PA Photos16. Eminem’s bare ass
At the ’04 Movie Awards, spectators nearly choked on their popcorn when rap superstar Eminem bared all by mooning the audience. It’s been 10 years now, but we’re still not sure the peeps in the front row have fully recovered.
PA Photos15. Rose McGowan's stringy outfit
Kooky actress Rose McGowan confidently strode with shock rocker, Marilyn Manson (her fiancé at the time) down the 1998 red carpet in this stringy excuse for a dress, guaranteeing her plenty of style column inches for all the wrong reasons.
PA Photos14. Lady Gaga’s bloody climax
Shocking spectators into silence at the 2009 VMAs, Lady Gaga took to the stage dressed in what can only be described as a sluttish snowy owl before stripping, propping her leg up on a piano (and still managing to outplay Liberace) and inexplicably faking her own death. The performance ended with Lady G hanging, bloody, whilst ‘paps’ snapped her dead body. Bizarre, yes, but fabulous all the same!
Getty13. Diana Ross cops a feel of Lil’ Kim
Rapper Lil’ Kim may have seared our retinas with this boob of an outfit, but Motown legend Diana Ross couldn’t resist a squeeze. While presenting an award at the ‘99 VMA’s, the diva gave the diminutive rapper’s left ‘seashell’ a playful jiggle, provoking a meltdown from conservative Americans who didn’t share their saucy sense of humour.
Getty12. Guns ‘N’ Roses V Nirvana
Rock ‘n’ roooolllllll! Things got plenty wild at the ‘92 VMAs when Guns ‘N’ Roses star Axl Rose slapped Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain for refusing to play at their party. The drama didn’t end there. During their performance, a peeved Krist Novoselic (Nirvana’s bassist) threw his guitar into the air, catching the solid wood instrument with his face. Bruised, bloody and embarrassed, he groggily exited the stage before singer Kurt Cobain spat on a piano he thought belonged to Axl Rose. It happened to be Elton John’s. Oops.
Getty11. Eminem fights a puppet
Marshall lost his cool in ‘02 when puppet Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog, mocked the rap superstar for his feud with placid DJ Moby. Eminem shoved the hand-puppet aside and began a further rant against Moby, threatening to beat him up next time he sees him. Triumph had the last word, telling the stunned audience: “Honestly, the guy should lighten up a little... I mean, my mom was a bitch, too, but I don’t go writing songs about it...”
PA Photos10. Lady Gaga's meat dress
Mouths literally dropped when Lady Gaga turned up to the 2010 MTV VMAs in a dress made entirely of meat. The outfit has now been preserved by the artist "for posterity".
PA Photos9. Britney Spears’ snake charming
Queen of the MTV show-stealing performance, Britney Spears surprised fans the world over when she took to the stage wearing an albino python and little else in ‘01. Caged tigers, a rainforest motif, dancers with strategically-placed leaves – Spears’ saucy performance of I’m A Slave 4 U managed to usher millions of teenage boys into puberty and outrage PETA all at the same time.
Getty8. Jacko and Lisa Marie Presley’s awkward PDA
Michael Jackson left audiences squirming in their seats in ‘94 when he opened the VMAs and awkwardly bumped mouths with then-wife and daughter of Elvis, Lisa Marie Presley, who, frankly, looked scared rigid throughout her hubby’s short speech. Jacko proceeded to up the cringe factor by stating “and to think, they said it wouldn’t last.” They split shortly afterwards.
Wenn7. The Eminem/Bruno debacle
Eminem was quietly sitting in the audience in 2009, minding his own business, when Sacha Baron Cohen’s gay alter ego Bruno flew overhead dressed as a raunchy dove and crashed into the controversial rapper’s lap, squishing his bare ass into his face in the process. “Yo, get this mother f**ker off me, man!” Eminem screamed. “Is the real Slim Shady about to stand up?” Bruno asked, before Eminem and his entourage stormed out of the arena. Shocked fans were relieved to learn that Marshall hadn’t lost his sense of humour when it was revealed as a staged prank the following day.
PA Photos6. Britney’s shambolic comeback
After a lifetime of legendary performances, everyone was waiting with baited breath for Britney Spears’ big comeback in ’07. Instead, viewers were treated to a squirm-in-your-seat rendition of new number, Gimme More, while a bloated, unfocused, unprepared Britters stumbled around the stage lip-syncing badly. Shambolic, yes. Sad? Very.
PA Photos5. Kanye West’s protests against losing
Ever the bad loser, when then-little-known dance act Justice Vs Simian pipped him to the Best Music Video Award in 2006, Kanye West jumped on stage and shouted: "Fk this! [My video] cost a million dollars, Pamela Anderson was in it, I was jumping across canyons and st! If I don't win, the Awards show loses credibility!" Not cool.
PA Photos4. Jacko’s ‘Artist of the Millenium’ cake
MTV organisers were no doubt squirming in their seats in 2002 when a dominatrix-dressed Britney Spears called Michael Jackson to the stage to receive his 44th birthday cake, dubbing him HER ‘Artist of the Millennium’. "When I was a little boy growing up in Indiana, if someone told me I'd be getting the Artist of the Millennium award, I'd have never believed it," Michael squeaked, while an uncomfortable Britney Spears smiled awkwardly and looked around for help. Forget the birthday cake; we reckon Jacko needed a slice of humble pie.
PA Photos3. Kanye interrupts Taylor’s speech
Poor Taylor Swift. One minute you’re basking in the glory and adulation of bagging your first MTV gong, the next Kanye West is wrestling it out of your manicured mitts and declaring that Beyoncé Knowles should have won it. The teen country star was, quite literally, left speechless in 2009 – as were the millions of peeps watching.
2. Madonna un-Like A Virgin
One of the most iconic performances in MTV history, at the first ever Video Music Awards back in ’84, Queen of Pop Madonna appeared atop a giant wedding cake dressed as a harlot bride, complete with a veil and that infamous ‘Boy Toy’ belt buckle. The, ahem, ‘climax’ of the song involved Madge rolling around and dry-humping the stage.
PA Photos1. Britney and Madonna’s kiss
It started as a tribute to Madonna’s ‘84 Like A Virgin performance and ended as one of the most talked-about music moments in history. Pop icons and cultural zeitgeists of the 80s, 90s and 00s respectively; Madonna and Britney Spears had jaws dropping when locked lips on stage in 2003. The crowd went wild, cameras; crazy, Justin Timberlake looked less than impressed, and it was official: the pop torch had been passed. Oh, and Madonna also kissed Christina Aguilera...but no one cared.
