Country United States Other ceremonies 1993, 1995 | Date 8 September 1994 Host Roseanne Barr | |
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Location Radio City Music Hall, New York, New York |
The 1994 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 8, 1994, honoring the best music videos from June 16, 1993, to June 15, 1994. The show was hosted by Roseanne Barr at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and this would be the last time there was a female host for the VMAs until Chelsea Handler hosted in 2010. Kurt Cobain, frontman of grunge band Nirvana, was honored this night after his death on April 5.
Contents
- Nominations
- Video of the Year
- Best Male Video
- Best Female Video
- Best Group Video
- Best New Artist in a Video
- Best MetalHard Rock Video
- Best RB Video
- Best Rap Video
- Best Dance Video
- Best Alternative Video
- Best Video from a Film
- Breakthrough 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
- MTV Brasil
- MTV Europe
- MTV Japan
- MTV Latin America
- Video Vanguard Award
- Lifetime Achievement Award
- Performances
- Appearances
- References

Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley opened the show by Michael giving a speech. They ended it by taking a long kiss in front of everyone. In another notable moment, David Letterman escorted Madonna onto the stage and told the singer to watch her language, poking fun at Madonna's controversial appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman five months earlier.
R.E.M. was, for the second time in their careers, the biggest winner of the night, taking home four technical awards for their video "Everybody Hurts." Closely following were hip-hop group Salt-n-Pepa and rock band Aerosmith, both of which earned three moonmen that night. Aerosmith's video for Cryin', in fact, won the two main awards of the night, Video of the Year and Viewer's Choice, making it the second video in VMA history to achieve this feat. This would also be the last time that the nominees for Viewer's Choice were the same as those for Video of the Year, as MTV discontinued this rule the next year.

In terms of nominations, meanwhile, Aerosmith was the night's biggest nominee, earning a total of nine nominations for two of their videos: "Cryin'" received four general nominations, while "Amazing" earned five professional ones. Right behind them were R.E.M., whose video for "Everybody Hurts" was the night's most nominated video with seven nominations, and newcomer Björk, who received six nominations for "Human Behaviour."

Nominations
Winners are in bold text.
Video of the Year
Aerosmith – "Cryin'"
Best Male Video
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – "Mary Jane's Last Dance"
Best Female Video
Janet Jackson – "If"

Best Group Video
Aerosmith – "Cryin'"
Best New Artist in a Video
Counting Crows – "Mr. Jones"

Best Metal/Hard Rock Video
Soundgarden – "Black Hole Sun"
Best R&B Video
Salt-n-Pepa (featuring En Vogue) – "Whatta Man"
Best Rap Video
Snoop Doggy Dogg – "Doggy Dogg World"
Best Dance Video
Salt-n-Pepa (featuring En Vogue) – "Whatta Man"
Best Alternative Video
Nirvana – "Heart-Shaped Box"
Best Video from a Film
Bruce Springsteen – "Streets of Philadelphia" (from Philadelphia)
Breakthrough Video
R.E.M. – "Everybody Hurts"
Best Direction in a Video
R.E.M. – "Everybody Hurts" (Director: Jake Scott)
Best Choreography in a Video
Salt-n-Pepa (featuring En Vogue) – "Whatta Man" (Choreographers: Frank Gatson and Randy Connor)
Best Special Effects in a Video
Peter Gabriel – "Kiss That Frog" (Special Effects: Brett Leonard and Angel Studios)
Best Art Direction in a Video
Nirvana – "Heart-Shaped Box" (Art Director: Bernadette Disanto)
Best Editing in a Video
R.E.M. – "Everybody Hurts" (Editor: Pat Sheffield)
Best Cinematography in a Video
R.E.M. – "Everybody Hurts" (Director of Photography: Harris Savides)
Viewer's Choice
Aerosmith – "Cryin'"
MTV Brasil
Sepultura – "Territory"
MTV Europe
Take That – "Babe"
MTV Japan
Hide – "Eyes Love You"
MTV Latin America
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs – "El Matador"
Video Vanguard Award
Tom Petty
Lifetime Achievement Award
The Rolling Stones