The 1985 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 13, 1985, honoring the best music videos from May 2, 1984, to May 1, 1985. The show was hosted by Eddie Murphy at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
Don Henley was the night's biggest winner, taking home four Moonmen, including Video of the Year. In fact, his video for "The Boys of Summer" was also the year's most nominated video, receiving seven nominations in total. Meanwhile, David Lee Roth turned out to be the most nominated artist that night, receiving eight nominations for two of his videos: five for "Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody" and three for "California Girls." Nevertheless, Roth came out of the ceremony empty-handed that night.
Other major nominees included Lindsey Buckingham, Bryan Adams, Eurythmics, Madonna, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Buckingham tied with Don Henley with seven nominations: three for "Slow Dancing" and four for "Go Insane." Right after him came six-time nominee Adams, who received five nominations for "Run to You" and one for "Heaven." Lastly, Madonna, Eurythmics, and Petty received five nominations apiece: Madonna split her nominations between "Like a Virgin" (three) and "Material Girl" (two), while Tom Petty and Eurythmics received all five nominations for "Don't Come Around Here No More" and "Would I Lie to You?," respectively.
Background
In June 1985, MTV announced that the 1985 Video Music Awards would be held on September 13 at Radio City Music Hall. Preliminary nominees with 10 videos per category were announced in mid-July before the final set of nominees were announced at a press conference at New York's Hard Rock Cafe on August 13. Eddie Murphy was announced as the ceremony's host in mid-July.
Performances
Presenters
Sheila E. and Paul Young – presented Best Overall Performance in a Video
Run-DMC – rapped the eligibility and voting rules for the VMAs
Foreigner (Mick Jones and Lou Gramm) – presented Best Stage Performance in a Video Bryan Adams and Jim Kerr – presented Best New Artist in a Video The Cars (Benjamin Orr and Elliot Easton) – presented Most Experimental Video Martha Quinn – introduced the presentations of the professional categories Mark Goodman – announced the winner of Best Art Direction in a Video Alan Hunter – announced the winner of Best Cinematography in a Video Nina Blackwood – announced the winners of Best Special Effects in a Video J. J. Jackson – announced the winner of Best Editing in a Video Julian Lennon and Corey Hart – presented Best Choreography in a Video Morris Day – presented Best Concept Video John Taylor and Andy Taylor – presented Video Vanguard to Russell Mulcahy Chrissie Hynde – presented Video Vanguard to David Byrne Herbie Hancock – presented Video Vanguard to Godley & Creme Glenn Frey – presented Best Direction in a Video Joan Baez – presented the Special Recognition Award Don Henley – presented Best Group Video Aimee Mann and Stephen Pearcy – presented Viewer's Choice Grace Jones – presented Best Male Video David Lee Roth – presented Best Female Video Tina Turner – presented Video of the Year
Winners and nominees
Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.
Other appearances
Little Steven – accepted the Best Stage Performance award on behalf of Bruce Springsteen Lou Reed – appeared in a video package about the year's new artists Kris P. – accepted the Best Editing award on behalf of Zbigniew Rybczyński Dave Stewart – accepted the Best Choreography award on behalf of Elton John John Sayles – accepted the Best Male Video award on behalf of Bruce Springsteen