MTV Video of the Year Awards, 1984-2024

MTV: Videos of the Year, 1984-2024

Three years after the birth of music television with MTV, the network introduced its annual video awards. While multiple categories were established, this page recognizes just those songs which won for Video of the Year. Originally winners were determined by a panel of music video directors, producers, and record company executives, but viewers have voted on the winners since 2006. Check out other “songs of the year” lists here. 2024: Taylor Swift & Post Malone “Fortnight” 2023: Taylor Swift “Anti-Hero” 2022: Taylor Swift “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” 2021: Lil Nas X “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” 2020: The Weeknd “Blinding Lights” 2019: Taylor Swift “You Need to Calm Down” 2018: Camila Cabello with Young Thug “Havana” 2017: Kendrick Lamar “Humble” 2016: Beyoncé “Formation” 2015: Taylor Swift with Kendrick Lamar “Bad Blood” 2014: Miley Cyrus “Wrecking Ball” 2013: Justin Timberlake “Mirrors” 2012: Rihanna with Calvin Harris “We Found Love” 2011: Katy Perry “Firework” 2010: Lady Gaga “Bad Romance” 2009: Beyoncé “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” 2008: Britney Spears “Piece of Me” 2007: Rihanna with Jay-Z “Umbrella” 2006: Panic! At the Disco “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” 2005: Green Day “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” 2004: OutKast “Hey Ya!” 2003: Missy Elliott “Work It” 2002: Eminem “Without Me” 2001: Christina Aguilera, Pink, Lil’ Kim & Mya “Lady Marmalade” 2000: Eminem “The Real Slim Shady” 1999: Lauryn Hill “Doo Wop (That Thing)” 1998: Madonna “Ray of Light” 1997: Jamiroquai “Virtual Insanity” 1996: Smashing Pumpkins “Tonight Tonight” 1995: TLC “Waterfalls” 1994: Aerosmith “Cryin’” 1993: Pearl Jam “Jeremy” 1992: Van Halen “Right Now” 1991: R.E.M. “Losing My Religion” 1990: Sinéad O’Connor “Nothing Compares 2 U” 1989: Neil Young “This Note’s for You” 1988: INXS “Need You Tonight” / “Mediate” 1987: Peter Gabriel “Sledgehammer” 1986: Dire Straits “Money for Nothing” 1985: Don Henley “The Boys of Summer” 1984: The Cars “You Might Think” Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “‘Songs of the Year’ lists” MTV: Video Music Awards Wikipedia: MTV Video Music Award for Video o the Year First posted 1/28/2021; last updated 1/4/2025.

Taylor Swift: Top 100 Songs

Taylor Swift Top 100 Songs

Taylor Alison Swift was born on 12/13/1989 in Reading, Pennyslvania. She released her first album in 2006 while still a teenager. She started out as a country artist, but had completely transformed to a pop star by 2014. And her 1989 album. She has sold more than 200 million records worldwide and won three Grammys for Album of the Year. Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists. Spotify Podcast: Check out the Dave’s Music Database podcast The Best of Taylor Swift, 2006-2022 based on this list. Debut: October 24, 2022, at 7pm CST. New episodes based on Dave’s Music Database lists are posted every Tuesday at 7pm CST.

Awards:

Top 100 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Songs which hit #1 on various charts are noted. (Click for codes to charts.) DMDB Top 1%: 1. Shake It Off (2014) US, BA, DG, ST, RR, AC, A40, CN, AU 2. Love Story (2008) RR, AC, CW, AU 3. Blank Space (2014) US, BA, DG, ST, RR, AC, A40, CN, AU 4. You Belong with Me (2008) BA, RR, AC, CW DMDB Top 2%: 5. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (2012) US, DG, CW, CN 6. Bad Blood (with Kendrick Lamar, 2014) US, BA, DG, RR, A40, CN, AU 7. Anti-Hero (2022) US, BA, DG, ST, UK, AU 8. I Knew You Were Trouble (2012) BA, DG, RR, A40 DMDB Top 5%: 9. Look What You Made Me Do (2017) US, DG, ST, RR, UK, CN, AU 10. Wildest Dreams (2014) BA, RR, A40 11. All Too Well (Taylor’s version) (2021) US, DG, ST, CW, CN, AU 12. Style (2014) RR, AC, A40 13. I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (with Zayn, 2016) DG 14. Cardigan (2020) US, DG, ST, AU 15. You Need to Calm Down (2019) DG 16. Delicate (2017) RR, AC, A40 17. Willow (2020) US, DG, A40, CN, AU 18. Mine (2010) DG, AC 19. Teardrops on My Guitar (2006) 20. Me! (with Brendan Urie, 2019) DG DMDB Top 10%: 21. 22 (2012) 22. Lover (2019) DG 23. Back to December (2010) DG 24. Ready for It? (2017) DG 25. Today Was a Fairytale (2010) DG, CN 26. Cruel Summer (2019) US, RR, A40, CN 27. Our Song (2006) CW 28. Mean (2010) 29. All Too Well (2012) 30. Everything Has Changed (with Ed Sheeran, 2012) DMDB Top 20%: 31. Fifteen (2008) 32. White Horse (2008) 33. Gorgeous (2017) DG 34. Love Story (Taylor’s version) (2021) DG, CW 35. The Man (2019) 36. Karma (2022) RR 37. Red (2012) 38. Eyes Open (2012) 39. Half of My Heart (with John Mayer, 2009) 40. Lavender Haze (2022) 41. Begin Again (2012) DG 42. Out of the Woods (2014) DG 43. Highway Don’t Care (with Tim McGraw, 2013) CW 44. Exile (with Bon Iver, 2020) 45. Renegade (with Big Red Machine, 2021) 46. Bejeweled (2022) 47. Snow on the Beach (with Lana Del Rey, 2022) 48. End Game (with Ed Sheeran, 2017) 49. Two Is Better Than One (with Boys Like Girls, 2009) 50. Safe & Sound (with Civil Wars, 2011) 51. Only the Young (2020) 52. Carolina (2022) 53. Both of Us (with B.o.B., 2012) 54. The Story of Us (2010) Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 55. Ours (2011) CW 56. Picture to Burn (2006) 57. Midnight Rain (2022) 58. No Body, No Crime (with Haim, 2020) 59. Welcome to New York (2014) 60. Sweet Nothing (2022) 61. Fearless (2009) 62. Should’ve Said No (2006) CW 63. Tim McGraw (2006) 64. Sparks Fly (2010) CW 65. Jump Then Fall (2009) 66. You’re on Your Own Kid (2022) 67. Speak Now (2010) 68. State of Grace (2012) 69. Coney Island (with the National, (2020) 70. Crazier (2009) 71. I Bet You Think About Me (with Chris Stapleton, 2021) 72. Vigilante Shit (2022) 73. Mastermind (2022) 74. Question…? (2022) DG 75. Paper Rings (2019) 76. Sweeter Than Fiction (2013) 77. Maroon (2022) 78. I Forgot That You Existed (2019) 79. The Joker and the Queen (with Ed Sheeran, 2021) 80. Hits Different (2022) DG 81. Forever & Always (2008) 82. Labyrinth (2022) 83. The Archer (2019) 84. Corneila Street (2019) 85. You’re Not Sorry (2008) 86. London Boy (2019) 87. New Romantics (2015) 88. Enchanted (2010) 89. Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince (2019) 90. Death by a Thousand Cuts (2019) 91. I Think He Knows (2019) 92. Afterglow (2019) 93. I Almost Do (2012) 94. Christmas Tree Farm (2019) 95. Stay Stay Stay (2012) 96. Daylight (2019) 97. The Moment I Knew (2013) 98. Message in a Bottle (Taylor’s Version) (2021) 99. Call It What You Want (2017) DG 100. The 1 (2020) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Taylor Swift Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” First posted 8/27/2017; last updated 10/25/2023.

Taylor Swift hit #1 with “Bad Blood”

Bad Blood Taylor Swift with Kendrick Lamar

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Max Martin, Shellback, Kendrick Lamar (see lyrics here) Released: May 17, 2015 First Charted: November 15, 2014 Peak: 11 US, 15 BA, 15 DG, 16 RR, 9 AC, 13 A40, 4 UK, 11 CN, 13 AU, 12 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, 0.6 UK, 7.05 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1589.23 video, 826.18 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Taylor Swift’s fifth album, 1989, marked her completed transition away from country to mainstream pop. She enlisted producers Max Martin and Shellback to give the album its 1980s snyth-pop sound. The result was five top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. “Bad Blood” charted briefly when the album was released in October 2014, but was officially released as the album’s fourth single – in a remixed version featuring Kendrick Lamar – in May 2015. It was the third song from the album to hit #1. It was speculated the song was about Katy Perry, with whom Swift had a widely reported feud. Swift claimed that a female singer had tried to sabotage her concert tour by hiring away people who had worked for her. Others simply thought the song was about lost romance, the central theme of the album. Swift told GQ, “It was not a song about heartbreak. It was about the loss of friendship.” SF She told Rolling Stone, “Sometimes the lines in a song are lines you wish you could text-message somebody in real life…like, ‘Burn. That would really get her…but…my intent was not to create some gossip-fest. I wanted people to apply it to a situation where they felt betrayed in their own lives.” SF Either way, it fit with an established tendency for Swift to play victim and call others out publicly. Critics gave the song mixed reviews, some saying the lyrics were repetitive and the production was generic. WK Mike Diver from Clash called it “a litany of diary-page break up clichés set to directionless thumps and fuzzes.” WK Mikael Wood from the Los Angeles Times said it was “a generic song where Swift fails to showcase herself as a distinctive artist.” WK On the flip side, Sasha Geffen of Consequence of Sound applaued it as a defiant tune with heavy, hip-hop beats. Andy Pettifier of The Quietus said the song was “crammed with merit…all sass and bile.” WK A high-budget video directed by Joseph Kahn featured a cast of singers and models whom the media called Swift’s “squad.” The group included Jessica Alba, Cindy Crawford, Selena Gomez, Ellie Goulding, Gigi Hadid, Hailee Steinfeld, and Zendaya. The video was premiered at the Billboard Music Awards. It set a then-record for most views (20.1 million) in its first day. SF It won MTV’s Video of the Year and Best Collaboration. It also won a Grammy for Best Music Video and was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Performance. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Taylor Swift DMDB encyclopedia entry for Kendrick Lamar SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: Last updated 8/9/2023.

Taylor Swift released 1989

1989 Taylor Swift

Released: October 27, 2014 Peak: 111 US, 11 UK, 19 CN, 19 AU Sales (in millions): 9.0 US, 1.25 UK, 12.71 world (includes US and UK) Genre: pop

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Welcome to New York (Taylor Swift/Ryan Tedder) [3:32] (11/8/14, 48 US) Blank Space (Swift/Max Martin/Shellback) [3:51] (11/10/14, 17 US, 14 AC, 16 A40, 4 UK, 16 CA, 13 AU, sales: 11.68 million worldwide) Style (Swift/Martin/Shellback/Ali Payami) [3:51] (11/15/14, 6 US, 12 AC, 12 A40, 21 UK, 6 CA, 8 AU, sales: 2.98 million worldwide) Out of the Woods (Swift/Jack Antonoff) [Antonoff/Swift/Martin] (11/1/14, 18 US, 8 CN, 19 AU, sales: 0.5 million) All You Had to Do Was Stay (Swift/Martin) [3:13] (11/15/14, 92 CN) Shake It Off (Swift/Martin/Shellback) [3:39] (8/18/14, 14 US, 15 AC, 18 A40, 58a CW, 3 UK, 14 CA, 13 AU, sales: 10.36 million worldwide) I Wish You Would (Swift/Antonoff) [3:27] Bad Blood (Swift/Martin/Shellback) [3:31] (11/15/14, 11 US, 11 AC, 13 A40, 4 UK, 11 CN, 13 AU, sales: 2.55 million worldwide) Wildest Dreams (Swift/Martin/Shellback) [3:40] (11/15/14, 5 US, 2 AC, 14 A40, 40 UK, 4 CN, 3 AU, sales: 3.62 million worldwide) How You Get the Girl (Swift/Martin/Shellback) [4:10] (11/15/14, 81 CN) This Love (Swift) [4:10] (11/15/14, 84 CN) I Know Places (Swift/Tedder) [3:15] Clean (Swift/Imogen Heap) [4:30] Total Running Time: 48:41

Rating: 3.648 out of 5.00 (average of 13 ratings) Quotable: “1989 is the Thriller of the 2010s.” – Consequence of Sound Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “1989 is the Thriller of the 2010s.” CS’19 The New York Times’ Jon Caramanica said Swift was aiming for “a mode of timelessness that few true pop stars even bother aspiring to.” WK “It’s the true-blue pop album that doesn’t die, storming through one month after another, until you sit back and go, ‘Jesus Christ, that came out two years ago?’” CS’19 “Every song feels and sounds like a smash hit, and half of them actually were.” AV “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” and “Bad Blood” “became part of our American life the same way ‘Beat It,’ ‘Billie Jean,’ and ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Something’ became American FM traditions.” CS’19 “Out of all of Swift’s post-country albums, 1989 remains her most fully realized,” UD the moment that “saw her shake off any remaining country trappings to become a gleaming synthpop behemoth.” GU This was “a love letter to the Pet Shop Boys and Eurythmics, all glossy synths, icy snares.” RS’20 Swift had experimented with “blatant pop music on the still country-tinged Red” RS’19 but with 1989 she took “the biggest risk of her career.” RS’11 The album, named after Swift’s birth year, saw Swift “replacing acoustic guitars and pedal steel with multi-layered synthscapes, drum machines, and densely packed vocal tracking.” SL She maintained the “savvy, self-aware lyrics” NME she’d honed in “writing astutely observed country ballads” SL such that 1989’s “standout tracks retain the narrative detail and clever metaphor-building that distinguished Swift’s early songs.” SL “Shedding her younger skin and going for broke with a new identity” BB proved fruitful. “Everything on this blockbuster collection sounded timeless.” NME Swift called it her most “sonically cohesive” studio album. WK It generally satisfied her critics as well. The Guardian’s Alexis Petridis said the album is full of “undeniable melodies and huge, perfectly turned choruses and nagging hooks.” WK Billboard said “it was big, bright and fun, even in her more lovelorn moments” BB and the AV Club said “it’s smart and cheeky by turns, expertly produced but also resolutely human.” AV “Every note and marketing stunt seems carefully planned, sure, but…[it] was far from pre-fab. It’s one of those incredibly rare records that unites everyone from jaded music critics to tweens, a phenomenon that might seem perfectly manufactured but is in fact a kind of rare cosmic event.” AV 1989 became Swift’s third album to sell more than a million copies in its first week, making her the first artist to do so. WK The 1.287 million tally was the highest sales week since 2002 WK and 1989 was the only album in 2014 to exceed a million in sales. WK Swift also won her second Grammy for Album of the Year. “Shake It Off” She also repeated herself in leading off with a Max Martin and Shellback produced single (Shake It Off) which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, just as she’d done with “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” in 2012. With its “undeniable energy” AV her reply to detractors was “the ‘Hey Ya’ of 2014.” AV It was certified double platinum by the RIAA before the album was even released and became her biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit to date, amassing 50 weeks on the chart. IS The song, a reply to Swift’s detractors, was supported by a video which would surpass 2 billion views. “Blank Space” Lyrically, Swift is at her most experimental and self-referential, like on the cheeky Blank Space.” RS’19 The “minimalist electropop” WK of the official second single and gave Swift the distinction of being the first artist to knock herself from the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. WK The song was an “imperious meta-pop takedown of her image of a serial Dater who uses her exes as score-settling songwriting fodder…using a humour and lightness of touch she’s never equalled.” NME She constructed “a delightfully psychotic version of herself in one of her best songs ever.” BB Like its predecessor, it amassed more than 2 billion YouTube views. “Bad Blood” The “vitriolic” RS’11 Bad Blood was about an unnamed female singer – speculation has suggested Katy Perry – who hired away Swift’s tour personnel to sabotage the tour. WK A remixed version of the song featuring rapper Kendrick Lamar was the third #1 single from the album and racked up over 1 billion views on YouTube. It won MTV’s Video of the Year. “Style” Style was also a top-10 hit. Insider’s Ahlgrim described it as a “transcendent experience,” IS and said that “Lyrically, Swift has rarely been more in control. Each winking detail has been carefully chosen; each image is precisely painted. The song's narrative builds and smolders, gradually, until the climactic lament…blows it all wide open…The moment feels like an explosion, or a rebirth.” IS Other Songs Wildest Dreams, with its “atmospheric romance,” RS’19 was the fifth single from the album to reach the top 10 in the U.S. The sixth, and final, official single was the top 20 hit Out of the Woods, with what Insider described as “the perfect bridge.” IS “Songs like I Know Places ride a reggae swagger and trap-influenced snare beats before launching into a soaring, Pat Benatar-esque chorus. It’s an effortless fusion that, like much of 1989, displays Swift’s willingness to venture outside her comfort zone without much of a safety net, and test out an array of sonic experiments that feel both retro and of the moment.” SL The album also included the “atmospheric” IS “electro-chill of Clean,” RS’20 “easily the holy grail among Swift’s closing tracks.” IS This is “one of her starkest, grandest romantic exorcisms, comparing love’s memory to ‘a wine-stained dress I can’t wear anymore’ and unspooling images of drowning and surviving that can bring to mind another Eighties hero, Kate Bush.” RS’20 Notes: A deluxe edition added tracks “Wonderland,” “You Are in Love,” and “New Romantics.” A Target deluxe edition also added alternate versions of “I Know Places,” “I Wish You Would,” and “Blank Spaces.” In 2015, Ryan Adams released a track-by-track covers album of 1989.

Resources and Related Links: AZ Amazon AV The A.V. Club (11/20/2019). “The 50 Best Albums of the 2010s” BB Billboard (11/19/2019). “The 100 Greatest Albums of the 2010s” CS’19 Consequence of Sound (12/29/2019). “The Top 100 Albums of the 2010s” GU Guardian (9/13/2019). “The 100 Best Albums of the 21st Century” IS Insider (12/30/2019). “The 15 Best Albums of the Decade, Ranked” NME New Musical Express (NME) (11/29/2019). “The Best Albums of the Decade: The 2010s” RS’19 Rolling Stone (12/3/2019). “The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s” RS’20 Rolling Stone (9/22/2020). “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” SL Slant (12/20/2019). “The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s” UD U Discover Music (12/13/2019). “Best Albums of the 2010s: 30 Classics That Defined the Decade” WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 12/23/2020; last updated 4/22/2022.