1990 MTV Video Music Awards

The 1990 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 6, 1990, honoring the best music videos from June 2, 1989, to June 1, 1990. The show was hosted by Arsenio Hall at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.

This year saw the elimination of yet another one of the show's original categories, Best Stage Performance in a Video. This would turn out to be the last time an award from 1984 would be permanently eliminated (although Breakthrough Video was eliminated in 2006 and then brought back in 2009).

Janet Jackson was presented the Video Vanguard Award for her contributions and influence within music and popular culture. She also performed a controversial rendition of "Black Cat", considered "her first shocking public statement." For the second year in a row, Madonna was one of the night's biggest winners, taking home three technical awards, while Sinéad O'Connor was the other most rewarded artist of 1990, also winning three Moonmen including Video of the Year. Meanwhile, most other winners that night took home two awards, including Aerosmith, Don Henley, The B-52s, Tears for Fears, and MC Hammer.

Regarding nominations, Madonna also had the distinction of being the most nominated artist of the night, as her video for "Vogue" received nine nominations, making it also the most nominated video of 1990. Closely following in nominations came Aerosmith, whose video for "Janie's Got a Gun" earned eight nominations that night and took home two awards, including Viewer's Choice.

Background
MTV announced in late June that the 1990 Video Music Awards would be held on September 6 at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, with Arsenio Hall returning as host. Nominees were announced on July 10. The ceremony marked the first time that MTV self-produced the awards show. The ceremony was preceded by a 90-minute preshow. Hosted by Downtown Julie Brown, Ed Lover, Doctor Dré, Ray Cokes, and Kurt Loder, the broadcast featured red carpet interviews, pre-taped features on the nominees, and interviews with Axl Rose and Jon Bon Jovi excerpted from Famous Last Words with Kurt Loder.

Main show

 * Don Henley – presented Best Female Video
 * Robert Downey Jr. – presented Best Video from a Film
 * Pauly Shore – appeared in a pre-commercial vignette about Viewer's Choice voting procedures
 * Living Colour – presented Best New Artist in a Video
 * Martha Quinn – appeared in a pre-commercial vignette telling viewers what was 'coming up' on the show
 * Rachel Ward and Isiah Thomas – presented Best Choreography in a Video
 * Downtown Julie Brown – appeared in a pre-commercial vignette about Viewer's Choice voting procedures
 * Oliver Stone – presented Best Direction in a Video
 * Daisy Fuentes and Jordan Brady – appeared in a pre-commercial vignette telling viewers what was 'coming up' on the show
 * Kim Basinger – presented Best Dance Video
 * Nia Peeples – appeared in a pre-commercial vignette telling viewers what was 'coming up' on the show
 * Billy Idol – presented Best Group Video
 * Ken Ober – appeared in a pre-commercial vignette about Viewer's Choice voting procedures
 * Sherilyn Fenn and Michael Ontkean – presented Breakthrough Video and Best Post-Modern Video
 * Fab Five Freddy – briefly interviewed MC Hammer in a pre-commercial vignette and told viewers what was 'coming up' on the show
 * Eric Bogosian – briefly spoke about censorship in the U.S. and introduced 2 Live Crew
 * Christina Applegate and David Faustino – presented Best Metal/Hard Rock Video
 * Riki Rachtman – appeared in a pre-commercial vignette telling viewers what was 'coming up' on the show
 * Curt Smith (from Tears for Fears) and Wilson Phillips – introduced the International Viewer's Choice Award winners
 * VJs Richard Wilkins (Australia), Astrid Fontenelle (Brasil), Maiken Wexø (Europe), Daisy Fuentes (Internacional) and Dionne Mitsuoka (Japan) – announced their respective region's Viewer's Choice winner
 * Susan Dey and David Cassidy – presented Viewer's Choice
 * Ray Cokes – briefly introduced Brazilian Viewer's Choice winners Titãs before a commercial break and told viewers what was 'coming up' on the show
 * Flavor Flav and Queen Latifah – presented Best Rap Video
 * Magic Johnson – presented the Video Vanguard Award
 * Ed Lover and Doctor Dré – appeared in a pre-commercial vignette telling viewers what was 'coming up' on the show
 * Paula Abdul – presented Best Male Video
 * Mike Patton – was interviewed briefly by Downtown Julie Brown before a commercial break
 * Cher – presented Video of the Year

Post-show

 * Kurt Loder – introduced the winners of the professional categories

Winners and nominees
Winners are in bold text.