When someone asked if I saw Yungblud perform at the VMAs the other night, my first thought was “Why the hell was one of the sidekicks from Dog the Bounty Hunter performing on MTV?”, which not only ages me into oblivion, but states the obvious. I have no idea who anyone was at that award show, nor do I care to find out. It did get me thinking about the history behind the VMAs and some of the more memorable performances I recall back when I was young enough to tolerate all that nonsense. I wish I could say there was an abundance of metal performances over the years, but those were few and far between. Most of my memories stem from outrageous gags, or incredible stage shows from some of my favorite bands, these are a few of the heavy hitters that stood out.

Van Halen

It was the early 90s, and seeing Eddie Van Halen play his guitar with a fucking drill was more than enough to catch my attention. Van Halen 1984 was one of the first albums I can remember purchasing on my own, and I saw them three times in concert with Sammy, so moments like this were easily ingrained in my brain.

Nirvana

It was a true “oh shit” moment when we all heard Nirvana break into Rape Me after rumors that MTV did not want them to play it in fear of offending…who knows, but the moment was short-lived, as we soon found out it was just a small prank. Once the band broke into Lithium all was well with the world, that is until bassist Krist Novoselic launched his bass into the air only for his head to catch it on the way back down.

Smashing Pumpkins

This was the first time I saw the somber acoustic song Disarm performed as a heavily distorted mess of anger and frustration. It wasn’t the best effort looking back, and was quite sloppy, but at the time I can recall my own inner rage-induced teenage hormones feeding off this performance. Apparently they were forced into playing the song by MTV, so they intentionally pushed it into disturbing territory. Whatever the reason, it sure left an impact on me after it aired.

Rage Against the Machine

As if watching bassist Tim Commerford perched upon one of the set pieces while Limp Bizkit tried to accept their award wasn’t enough raging against the machine, the band lit up the stage with a powerful rendition of Testify. Rage was the perfect band for the younger generation at the time, as they reflected that same anger I referenced in the Pumpkins performance earlier. Only this time, they did it with more intensity than any other band in the spotlight at that time.

Metallica

Yeah they were there several times, but the performance of Enter Sandman always wins out for me solely because they just sounded so damn heavy. Lars had his massive white Tama drumkit, James’ voice was brutally brash, and Jason was at his peak with neck-breaking antics all over the stage.

Marilyn Manson

Oh to be an edgy teenager in the 90s with Marilyn Manson at his most culturally offensive stage in life, what a gloriously cringey time to be alive. I can remember both loving and hating this performance when it happened. Loved it for the in-your-face offensive nature of the whole thing. Hated it for the ass cheeks.

White Zombie

There was a massive wave of female bass players that just set my heart on fire back in the day, and Sean Yseult was probably the reason I couldn’t remember anything else from this White Zombie performance. Having just watched the clip again now while writing this, I am in awe of how out of breath Rob Zombie is, but kudos to the band for giving such an energetic performance for such a badass song.

Pearl Jam

This was a big one for me, with the legend himself, Neil Young, joining Pearl Jam on stage for an intense performance of Rockin’ In the Free World. It was a great chance to watch one of my favorite drummers at the time, Dave Abbruzzese, go absolutely nuts behind the kit, but it was Neil who took the award for most bat shit crazy performance. Just look at his face once he breaks into his guitar solo. It looks like his guitar is electrocuting him and he doesn’t even care, it’s just making his performance all the more intense.

Guns n’ Roses With Elton John

Another spectacle to behold on the VMA stage, with Elton John joining Guns for an epic rendition of November Rain. The track had been on repeat all year back in 1992, and this clip shows just how much Guns elevated their stage show. With orchestra members, backing vocals, dueling pianos, and Slash totally in the zone knocking it out of the park as always.

Faith No More

I can remember watching these guys when this came out, and my eyes were like two baseballs glued to the screen. I was fixated on just how bonkers everything was. From the song itself to the unforgettable performance by these uniquely strange characters. It left an indelible mark on my mind that I still reference to this day as one of my favorite live musical moments.