This Sunday, the MTV Video Music Awards will take place right down the way from the Music Times offices at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn. To commemorate the event, we've assembled a list of the best/most awkward moments in the award show's history. And no, neither Kanye West nor Taylor Swift are involved.
5. MICHAEL JACKSON DOESN'T REALIZE WHY HE'S ONSTAGE (2005)
In an event that was even more uncomfortable than Kanye's interruption of Taylor for those who knew what was going on, Michael Jackson came onstage to get a birthday cake from the good folks at MTV. Somehow, he though he was receiving an award commemorating him as "artist of the millennium." That award would have been plausible in 2000 perhaps. This is just sad now that we think about it.
4. TIM COMMERFORD RAGES AGAINST THE NU METAL MACHINE (2000)
You know it was a bad year for rock in general when Limp Bizkit takes home the Moonman for Best Rock Video. Tim Commerford, the bassist for Rage Against The Machine, was more irritable than most about it, and climbed the scaffolding onstage during Fred Durst's acceptance. Commerford spent the night in jail after creating quite the holdup.
3. BRITNEY SPEARS AND HER AWESOME SNAKE (2001)
Britney has more Omigod moments than any other artist in VMA history, but this one takes the cake. Most people probably saw her performance of "I'm A Slave 4 U" with a snake scarf as shock value, and it was, but major kudos to Spears for defying stereotypes and showing that snakes aren't gross. The most terrified organism in that room was probably the snake.
2. NIRVANA PULLS A THE-WHO WITH MODEST SUCCESS (1992)
Nirvana wasn't hot on being the hot new thing on MTV so they did their best to screw with the network. The band was slotted to play "Lithium" onstage, but Kurt Cobain opened with the first few lines of "Rape Me" to terrify the producers. After finishing "Lithium," the band trashed its equipment, including bassist Krist Novoselic tossing his guitar in the air and hitting himself in the head with it. Dave Grohl took the opportunity to make fun of Axl Rose.
1. EMINEM AND HIS ENTOURAGE OF A HUNDRED SLIM SHADYS (2000)
The turn of the century was the high point for Eminem and the fear he spread into the American middle class. Humored and/or irritated by the slew of white rappers that came out of the woodwork following his success, Eminem recruited 100 lookalikes to wear jeans and tank tops along with bleached hair for an excellent performance of "The Real Slim Shady."
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