MTV Video Music Awards Rock Video Winners by Year

The MTV Video Music Awards have crowned another winner in the Rock Video category and this year moves up Coldplay on the victory list. They now sit tied for second overall in Rock Video wins with their third trophy over the years. (Linkin Park also has three, while Aerosmith has four wins for most in the category).

In some years, rock thrived and the competition was fierce to take home the trophy, while other years you could see how the network was putting less emphasis on the rock categories and videos by their nominees, opting for something a little more poppy.

MTV debuted on Aug. 1, 1981, opening the door for a burgeoning new promotional platform for musicians — the music video. Flash forward to 1984 and the network decided to reward their top videos by starting the MTV Video Music Awards. By 1989, the award show expanded to include genre videos, ensuring that rock would be recognized in the years to follow.

That first year, the rock category was actually dubbed the Best Heavy Metal Video, rewarding the biggest band on the planet at that point as Guns N' Roses took home the inaugural honor for "Sweet Child O' Mine." From there, the name of the category segued away from metal and more toward rock, with a closer representation of the rock scene over the years.

READ MORE: 11 Best MTV Shows That Were Actually About Music

Join us as we revisit the "rock" category at the MTV Video Music Awards through the years, sharing the winners and who they were up against.