MTV History: A Comprehensive Look at the Evolution of the Network

They don't call it the good ole days of MTV for nothing. If you got to witness MTV in the 1980s, 1990s, or 2000s in any capacity, then you are somebody that got to watch the glory days of the network. While me might sound old here, there's nothing that compares to the feeling of rushing home from school so that way you could catch TRL and the latest music videos from your favorite artists. Sure technology has brought about many positive changes including things that make life easier and convenient (it's much simpler to watch a music video now than what it was 20 years ago), but that doesn't always mean that those changes have been for the better. There was beauty in the simplicity of life before the advancement of the internet, technology, and social media in a major way, and in our opinion, time will continue to prove that.

With the recent cancellation of MTV News (which to be honest many of us thought the show had been cancelled a long time ago), it had us thinking about just how much things have changed in the last decade or so. The one thing that can never be taken away from MTV is the success the network had in its heyday, and that's what we're here to talk about—that massive era that had an impact we'll likely never see again.

So here it is—MTV History: A Comprehensive Look at the Network. Told our way.

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Here's a clip of that exact moment.

And once Michael kicked that door down, the floodgates opened for other artist to start experimenting with their own creativity for their music videos. The mid-1980s would bring about a number of legendary videos from iconic artists like Prince, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Boy George, Bon Jovi, Guns 'n' Roses, U2 and plenty of other 80s elites.

In addition to the music videos, MTV also had multiple shows and VJs (video jockeys) as hosts. Some of these included Saturday Night Concert (1981-1987), Heavy Metal Mania (1985-1987), Club MTV (1987-1992), and Yo! MTV Raps (1988-1995).

Here's a fun clip from Club MTV so you can get an idea of the vibe.

What are some of the defining moments of early 90s MTV? Is it Prince and the assless chaps?

The rise of Nirvana and its iconic lead singer Kurt Cobain?

This chaotic interview?

There were tons of artists that came up during the 1990s, and loads of moments so its hard to do a full breakdown of every major event that happened (really 1990s MTV can be its own separate article), but MTV News was on the scene for most if not all of them.

Speaking of shows, these were some of the most popular during the 1990s and 2000s: The Challenge (which is still running), Beach MTV (1990-1997), MTV Jams (1992–2000), TRL (1998-2008), This Week in Rock (1987-1997), Diary (2000-2014), MTV Cribs (2000-present), and Pimp My Ride (2004-2007).

The 2000s, which is when I came up, was a really great time in MTV because you got to see the rise of superstars like Destiny's Child, NSYNC, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and rock bands such as Linkin Park, 2000s Green Day, etc. It was a fun time that I'm glad I got to experience live.

When people ask what it was like to grow up in that era of MTV, I always refer them back to this video of the Romeo Must Die special they did with Aaliyah:

Sometimes the glory days are just that—the glory days. Who knows what the future holds for MTV and its programming? Perhaps one day we will get music videos or music-related shows again. Perhaps not, but like we said earlier, whether you like this new era of MTV or not, the impact during its heyday can never be taken away.