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Jul 30, 2021 · 100 Greatest Music Videos — from Adele's 'Hello' to ZZ Top's 'Gimme All Your Lovin',' Rolling Stone's picks for the best music videos ever.
- Rolling Stone
In a candid, in-depth interview, Kendrick Lamar goes deep on...
- Maria Fontoura
100 Best Sitcoms of All Time From family stories to...
- Jerry Portwood
Jerry Portwood is a writer, editor and journalist. He was...
- Christian Hoard
Christian Hoard is Rolling Stone's Music Director. The 25...
- Elisabeth Garber-Paul
Elisabeth Garber-Paul is the Culture Editor for Rolling...
- Rolling Stone
May 31, 2024 · Discover the iconic music videos that have shaped pop culture and revolutionized the art form. Check out the greatest music videos of all time, now.
- Jacqueline Schneider
- Thriller‘ by Michael Jackson. From the moment it was released in December 1983, ‘Thriller’ was destined to become one of the most legendary music videos of all time.
- Like a Prayer’ by Madonna. Burning crosses, stigmata, saintly seduction—it’s not hard to see why this 1989 music video caused a bit of a stir. Directed by Mary Lambert, who directed both Pet Sematary films, it was condemned by the Vatican, banned from Italian television and prompted Pepsi to abandon its $5 million ad campaign featuring the song.
- Karma Police’ by Radiohead. Radiohead re-teamed with director Jonathan Glazer—who also helmed their clip for ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’—for this masterpiece of moody abstraction from 1997's ‘OK Computer’.
- Runaway’ by Kanye West. This short-film music video, which adds a grandiose visual narrative to Ye’s nearly universally-acclaimed masterpiece, ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’, is maybe the most ambitious demonstration of the artist’s cosmic vision.
- Beyoncé, Lemonade
- Michael Jackson, "Thriller"
- Rage Against The Machine, "Sleep Now in The Fire"
- Madonna, "Material Girl"
- A-Ha, "Take on Me"
- Peter Gabriel, "Sledgehammer"
- Prince, "When Doves Cry"
- George Michael, "Freedom '90"
- Pearl Jam, "Jeremy"
- Missy Elliott, "Work It"
Beyoncé didn't stop at one music video. She made an entire visual album and completely changed the game with Lemonade, which chronicled her marital struggles with husband Jay-Z as well as other traumas in her life, including her father's infidelity and her own miscarriages. While her self-titled record was incredibly influential, Lemonade shows Bey...
Michael Jackson made an entire short film set to his hit song, and it became a Halloweenstaple (and even a favorite at weddings). Related: Michael Jackson's Best Music Videos
Rage Against the Machine got the New York Stock Exchange to shut down early. Don't say these guys don't walk the walk.
Madge sends up Marilyn Monroe in this classic clip (and looks stunning in that pink gown). Related: Madonna's Best Videos of All Time
The classic animation-live action hybrid of this infectious tune, which costars a Princess Diana look-alike (perhaps inadvertently!) is forever etched (and sketched) in our minds.
Another animation breakthrough, "Sledgehammer" made Peter Gabriel an MTV staple. The stop-motion graphics (including trains, faces made of fruit and dancing headless chickens) are the stuff dreams, and sometimes nightmares, are made of.
Princeemerges from a bathtub. Other things also happen, but this is the most memorable image, which was relatively groundbreaking at the time of its release.
George Michael burns his iconic "Faith"-era leather jacket in iconic imagery from "Freedom '90," an epic eff-you to his label at the time...but chances are what most people remember are the supermodels: Cindy Crawford in a bathtub, Linda Evangelista in a turtleneck, Naomi Campbell strutting in lingerie and headphones, Christy Turlington in a giant ...
Pearl Jam classic "Jeremy" was iconic for its depiction of violence at the time, and the band released an uncensored version in 2020.
The Nokias! The bees! The Kangol hats!Alyson Stoner! Since "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" and its legendary trash bag ensemble, Missy Elliott has been ahead of her time musically and aesthetically, making serious visual statements (see her slavery vignette here) in party anthems.
- Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance” (dir. Francis Lawrence, 2009) By the time she crawled out of your mom’s Volvo roof box to deliver her first rah-rah-rahs, Lady Gaga had already hosted a poolside orgy, transformed the subway into her debaucherous lair, and sought poisonous revenge on Alexander Skarsgård for throwing her off the edge of a castle.
- Missy Elliott, “Work It” (dir. Dave Meyers, 2002) While most of her contemporaries settled for music videos that made them look tough or sexy, Missy Elliott got strange with hers, and “Work It” is a perfect distillation of her idiosyncratic vision of warped world.
- D’Angelo, “Untitled (How Does It Feel?)” (dir. Paul Hunter, 2000) Naked as the day he was born, save for a gold chain and bracelet, D’Angelo is the entirety of the simple, single-take video for “Untitled.”
- Beyoncé, “Formation” (dir. Melina Matsoukas, 2016) Beyoncé stopped the world for the umpteenth time when she dropped the explosive song and video for “Formation,” just a day before performing the anthem at Super Bowl 50.
Jan 17, 2024 · Compiling a list of 40 of the best music videos ever is no easy task, but somebody had to do it! This list includes timeless visuals from a variety of different genres. So whether you consider yourself a fan of today's pop music or classic rock or hip-hop or alternative music, this list is for you.
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May 30, 2023 · From psychedelic visuals to stellar celebrity cameos, the best music videos have it all.
