The 1986 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 5, 1986, honoring the best music videos from May 2, 1985, to May 1, 1986. The show was hosted by MTV VJs Downtown Julie Brown, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, Martha Quinn, and Dweezil Zappa, and it emanated primarily from both The Palladium in New York City and the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Other parts of the show, however, took place in various locations such as London, Miami, and New Haven, Connecticut. The night's biggest winner and one of the year's two most nominated artists was Norwegian group a-ha, which won eight out of eleven awards it was in contention for. Their video for "Take On Me" earned six awards out of eight nominations, including Viewer's Choice, while "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." won two awards out of three nominations. The other most nominated artist was rock group Dire Straits, whose video for "Money for Nothing" also earned eleven nominations and won two awards, including Video of the Year. Thus, "Money for Nothing" was also the most nominated video at the 1986 VMAs.

Background

MTV announced in June that the 1986 Video Music Awards would be held at New York's Palladium and Los Angeles's Universal Amphitheatre on September 5. Nominees were announced on August 4. The decision to broadcast the ceremony from multiple venues came out of a desire to make the ceremony more casual, as did the decisions to forego a traditional host, present awards throughout the venues instead of at a podium, and loosen time limitations. Winners were selected by a group of over 1,700 individuals from the recording industry. The ceremony was preceded by a two-hour MTV VMA 1986 Pre-Game Show special. Hosted by Bob Costas and Huey Lewis, the pre-taped special highlighted the nominees.

Performances

Robert Palmer, The Monkees, INXS, Mr. Mister, Whitney Houston, and Pet Shop Boys performed from Los Angeles. The Hooters, 'Til Tuesday, Simply Red, and Tina Turner performed from New York.

Presenters

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

Other appearances