1987 MTV Video Music Awards

1987 MTV Video Music Awards
1987 MTV Video Music Awards
Date	Friday, September 11, 1987
Location	Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles
Country	United States
Hosted by	Downtown Julie Brown; Carolyne Heldman; Kevin Seal; Michael Tomioka; Dweezil Zappa
Most awards	Peter Gabriel (10)
Most nominations	Peter Gabriel (12)
Television/radio coverage
Network	MTV
Produced by	Don Ohlmeyer ; Tom Freston
Directed by	Don Ohlmeyer ; Sandi Fullerton

The 1987 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 11, 1987, from the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Hosted by MTV VJs Downtown Julie Brown, Carolyne Heldman, Kevin Seal, Michael Tomioka, and Dweezil Zappa, the show honored the best music videos released from May 2, 1986, to May 1, 1987.

Nominations from among 644 submissions were announced in August. The MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film, which recognizes the most outstanding video of a song taken from a movie soundtrack, was included for the first time.^[1] The Special Recognition award—given out every year since 1984—was presented for the last time, after which it was eliminated from the award lineup altogether. Peter Gabriel set a record for the most VMA nominations earned in a single year with twelve: he received ten nominations for "Sledgehammer" and two for "Big Time".^[2] This would go uncontested until the 2010 ceremony, when Lady Gaga received thirteen nominations. Other major nominees included Genesis, Paul Simon, Steve Winwood, U2, and Madonna. Genesis, Winwood, and U2 all received seven nominations each, for "Land of Confusion", "Higher Love", and "With or Without You" respectively. Simon and Madonna received six nominations apiece, split between "The Boy in the Bubble" and "You Can Call Me Al" for the former, and "Papa Don't Preach" and "Open Your Heart" for the latter.

Gabriel was the most-awarded artist at the show, winning a record ten awards, including Video of the Year and the Video Vanguard Award, with "Sledgehammer"—the most-nominated video of the night—which won nine of the ten awards it was in the running for; it is the most-awarded video in VMA history.^[3] He did not attend in person to collect any of his awards as he was on tour in Germany. The only other act to win multiple awards was the rock band Talking Heads, whose video for "Wild Wild Life" won Best Group Video and Best Video from a Film.^[4]

^ Hay, Carla (July 10, 1999). "MTV Video Music Awards Drops And Adds Categories". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 28. United States: Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 89. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022 – via Google Books. In 1987, MTV added the award for best video from a film.
^ Swenson, John (August 6, 1987). "Peter Gabriel dominates MTV 1987 music video awards". UPI. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
^ Brucculieri, Julia (August 25, 2017). "The 1987 MTV VMAs Were All About Big Hair And Glitter". HuffPost. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
^ De Atley, Richard (September 12, 1987). "Peter Gabriel Effort Chosen As Video Of The Year". AP. Archived from the original on July 11, 2021. Retrieved June 16, 2022.

[1] Hay, Carla (July 10, 1999). "MTV Video Music Awards Drops And Adds Categories". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 28. United States: Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 89. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022 – via Google Books. In 1987, MTV added the award for best video from a film.

[UPI_noms-2] Swenson, John (August 6, 1987). "Peter Gabriel dominates MTV 1987 music video awards". UPI. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2022.

[3] Brucculieri, Julia (August 25, 2017). "The 1987 MTV VMAs Were All About Big Hair And Glitter". HuffPost. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.

[AP_News-4] De Atley, Richard (September 12, 1987). "Peter Gabriel Effort Chosen As Video Of The Year". AP. Archived from the original on July 11, 2021. Retrieved June 16, 2022.

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