Country United States Other ceremonies 1984, 1986 | Date 13 September 1985 | |
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Location Radio City Music Hall, New York City, New York, United States |
The 1985 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 13, 1985, honoring the best music videos from May 2, 1984, to May 1, 1985. The show was hosted by Eddie Murphy at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
Contents
- Nominations
- Video of the Year
- Best Male Video
- Best Female Video
- Best Group Video
- Best New Artist in a Video
- Best Concept Video
- Most Experimental Video
- Best Stage Performance in a Video
- Best Overall Performance in a Video
- Best Direction in a Video
- Best Choreography in a Video
- Best Special Effects in a Video
- Best Art Direction in a Video
- Best Editing in a Video
- Best Cinematography in a Video
- Viewers Choice
- Video Vanguard Award
- Special Recognition Award
- Performances
- Appearances
- References

Don Henley was the night's biggest winner, taking home four Moonmen, including Video of the Year. In fact, his video for "The Boys of Summer" was also the year's most nominated video, receiving seven nominations in total. Meanwhile, David Lee Roth turned out to be the most nominated artist that night, receiving eight nominations for two of his videos: five for "Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody" and three for "California Girls." Nevertheless, Roth came out of the ceremony empty-handed that night.

Other major nominees included Lindsey Buckingham, Bryan Adams, Eurythmics, Madonna, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Buckingham tied with Don Henley with seven nominations: three for "Slow Dancing" and four for "Go Insane." Right after him came six-time nominee Adams, who received five nominations for "Run to You" and one for "Heaven." Lastly, Madonna, Eurythmics, and Petty received five nominations apiece: Madonna split her nominations between "Like a Virgin" (three) and "Material Girl" (two), while Tom Petty and Eurythmics received all five nominations for "Don't Come Around Here No More" and "Would I Lie to You?," respectively.

Nominations
Winners are in bold text.
Video of the Year
Don Henley – "The Boys of Summer"

Best Male Video
Bruce Springsteen – "I'm on Fire"

Best Female Video
Tina Turner – "What's Love Got to Do with It"
Best Group Video
USA for Africa – "We Are the World"

Best New Artist in a Video
'Til Tuesday – "Voices Carry"

Best Concept Video
Glenn Frey – "Smuggler's Blues"
Most Experimental Video
Art of Noise – "Close (To the Edit)"
Best Stage Performance in a Video
Bruce Springsteen – "Dancing in the Dark"
Best Overall Performance in a Video
Philip Bailey and Phil Collins – "Easy Lover"
Best Direction in a Video
Don Henley – "The Boys of Summer" (Director: Jean-Baptiste Mondino)
Best Choreography in a Video
Elton John – "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" (Choreographer: David Atkins)
Best Special Effects in a Video
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – "Don't Come Around Here No More" (Special Effects: Tony Mitchell, Kathy Dougherty and Peter Cohen)
Best Art Direction in a Video
Don Henley – "The Boys of Summer" (Art Director: Bryan Jones)
Best Editing in a Video
Art of Noise – "Close (to the Edit)" (Editor: Zbigniew Rybczyński)
Best Cinematography in a Video
Don Henley – "The Boys of Summer" (Director of Photography: Pascal Lebègue)
Viewer's Choice
USA for Africa – "We Are the World"
Video Vanguard Award
David Byrne
Russell Mulcahy
Godley & Creme
Special Recognition Award
Bob Geldof