MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video

The MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock was first given out in Template:Mtvvma, one of the four original genre categories added to the VMAs that year. In its first year, the award was called Best Heavy Metal Video, and from 1990 to 1995, it was renamed Best Metal/Hard Rock Video. The category underwent a third, brief name change in 1996, when it was renamed Best Hard Rock Video. In 1997, the award acquired its most enduring name, Best Rock Video, which it retained until 2016. The following year, the word "Video" was removed from all genre categories at the VMAs (despite nominations still going to specific videos), giving this award its current name: Best Rock.

Like all other genre categories at the VMAs, this category was retired briefly in Template:Mtvvma, when the VMAs were revamped and most original categories were eliminated. In 2008, though, MTV brought back this award, along with several of the others that had been retired in 2007.

Aerosmith is the most frequent winner of this award, with a total of four wins between 1990 and 1998. The Foo Fighters and Linkin Park are the most nominated acts in this category, having received ten nominations each. Closely following them is Fall Out Boy, with nine nominations. In 1995, White Zombie's bassist Sean Yseult became the first woman to win this award, while in 2014, New Zealand singer Lorde became the first female solo act to win this male-dominated category.

Recipients

Guns N' Roses performing.

Inaugural winner Guns N' Roses

Aerosmith performing.

Aerosmith won the award four times

File:Metallica London 2008-09-15 Kirk and James.jpg

Metallica won the award twice

File:PJ-Albany.jpg

1993 winner Pearl Jam

File:Soundgarden Chicago.jpg

1994 winner Soundgarden

File:Kornmaa2006.jpg

1999 winner Korn

File:Limp Bizkit.jpg

Limp Bizkit won the award twice

Linkin Park performing.

Three-time winner Linkin Park is one of three acts to have won the award for two consecutive years.

Green Day performing.

Green Day has won the award twice for their music videos "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "21 Guns"

Thirty Seconds to Mars during a performance.

Thirty Seconds to Mars won the award twice

Coldplay performing.

Three-time winner Coldplay

Lorde performing holding a mic.

Lorde is the first female singer to win this award

Fall Out Boy standing still while posing for a camera.

2015 winner Fall Out Boy

Twenty One Pilots performing.

Two-time winner Twenty One Pilots

1980s

Template:Sronly

YearTemplate:Efn	Winner(s)	Video	Nominees	Template:Abbr
Template:Mtvvma	Guns N' Roses	"Sweet Child o' Mine"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA1989">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

1990s

Template:Sronly

YearTemplate:Efn	Winner(s)	Video	Nominees	Template:Abbr
Template:Mtvvma	Aerosmith	"Janie's Got a Gun"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA1990">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Aerosmith	"The Other Side"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA1991">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Metallica	"Enter Sandman"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA1992">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Pearl Jam	"Jeremy"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA1993">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Soundgarden	"Black Hole Sun"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA1994">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	White Zombie	"More Human than Human"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA1995">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Metallica	"Until It Sleeps"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA1996">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Aerosmith	"Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA1997">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Aerosmith	"Pink"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA1998">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Korn	"Freak on a Leash"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA1999">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

2000s

Template:Sronly

YearTemplate:Efn	Winner(s)	Video	Nominees	Template:Abbr
Template:Mtvvma	Limp Bizkit	"Break Stuff"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA2000">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Limp Bizkit	"Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA2001">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Linkin Park	"In the End"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA2002">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Linkin Park	"Somewhere I Belong"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA2003">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Jet	"Are You Gonna Be My Girl"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA2004">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Green Day	"Boulevard of Broken Dreams"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA2005">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	AFI	"Miss Murder"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA2006">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	colspan="4" Template:N/a
Template:Mtvvma	Linkin Park	"Shadow of the Day"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA2008">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Green Day	"21 Guns"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA2009">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:Untold 2024 - Lenny Kravitz 35.jpg

2024 winner Lenny Kravitz

2010s

Template:Sronly

YearTemplate:Efn	Winner(s)	Video	Nominees	Template:Abbr
Template:Mtvvma	Thirty Seconds to Mars	"Kings and Queens"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA2010">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Foo Fighters	"Walk"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA2011">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Coldplay	"Paradise"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA2012">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Thirty Seconds to Mars	"Up in the Air"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA2013">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Lorde	"Royals"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA2014">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Fall Out Boy	"Uma Thurman"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA2015">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Twenty One Pilots	"Heathens"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA2016">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Twenty One Pilots	"Heavydirtysoul"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref name="VMA2017">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Imagine Dragons	"Whatever It Takes"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Panic! at the Disco	"High Hopes"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

2020s

Template:Sronly

YearTemplate:Efn	Winner(s)	Video	Nominees	Template:Abbr
Template:Mtvvma	Coldplay	"Orphans"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	John Mayer	"Last Train Home"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Red Hot Chili Peppers	"Black Summer"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Mtvvma	Måneskin	"The Loneliest"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2024	Lenny Kravitz	"Human"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
2025	Coldplay	"All My Love"	Template:Smalldiv	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Statistics

Multiple wins

4 wins

• Aerosmith

3 wins

• Coldplay
• Linkin Park

2 wins

• Metallica
• Green Day
• Limp Bizkit
• Thirty Seconds to Mars
• Twenty One Pilots

Multiple nominations

10 nominations

• Foo Fighters
• Linkin Park

9 nominations

• Fall Out Boy

8 nominations

• Aerosmith
• Green Day

7 nominations

• Coldplay
• Metallica

5 nominations

• Evanescence
• Lenny Kravitz

4 nominations

• The Killers
• Panic! at the Disco
• Thirty Seconds to Mars
• Twenty One Pilots

3 nominations

• Rage Against the Machine
• Limp Bizkit
• Korn
• Paramore
• Muse
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Kings of Leon
• The Black Keys

2 nominations

• Guns N' Roses
• Def Leppard
• Faith No More
• Alice in Chains
• Marilyn Manson
• Creed
• Kid Rock
• Weezer
• Mumford & Sons
• Arctic Monkeys
• Florence + the Machine
• Jack White
• John Mayer

See also

• MTV Europe Music Award for Best Rock