50 Fun Facts About VH1

Which rapper was a cast member of VH1's Love & Hip Hop: New York before becoming a chart-topping star?

Cardi B left the show after two seasons to chase a music career, and within a year her single Bodak Yellow had reached number one.

Which dim-witted male model, played by Ben Stiller, first appeared in a skit for the VH1 Fashion Awards?

Derek Zoolander debuted at the 1996 ceremony, and the later feature film shot its opening scenes at the real awards show during commercial breaks.

VH1's very first broadcast was a video of which Motown legend singing the national anthem at an NBA All-Star Game?

Marvin Gaye died nine months before VH1 signed on, and his memorable 1983 rendition was the first thing viewers of the new channel saw.

Which lifestyle mogul co-hosted a VH1 potluck dinner party series with rapper Snoop Dogg for three seasons?

Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg made 40 episodes together, and the final season turned the dinner party into a team cooking contest.

Which pro wrestler raised teenagers Brooke and Nick on a VH1 reality series whose title spoofed Father Knows Best?

Hulk Hogan played the protective dad on Hogan Knows Best, and daughter Brooke later landed a spin-off of her own that ran for two seasons.

Which girl group's story was dramatized in the VH1 film CrazySexyCool, with Keke Palmer playing Chilli?

TLC's biopic pulled in 4.5 million viewers, the biggest original-film premiere in VH1 history, and borrowed its title from the trio's 1994 album.

Flavor Flav, star of the VH1 dating show Flavor of Love, rose to fame as hype man of which rap group?

Public Enemy's hype man found a second career on VH1, and his dating show's success spawned a string of similar series for other stars.

Which TV doctor treated well-known patients on VH1's Celebrity Rehab?

Drew Pinsky, known from radio's Loveline, ended the series after six seasons, saying he was tired of taking the heat when stars he had treated relapsed.

The Concert for New York City, shown live on VH1 after the September 11 attacks, was staged at which Manhattan venue?

Madison Square Garden filled with first responders and their families for the show, organized by Paul McCartney, which raised over $35 million.

Basketball Wives, a VH1 hit, was fronted by executive producer Shaunie, who was married to which NBA center?

Shaquille O'Neal's then-wife Shaunie produced as well as starred, and the show's success led to spin-offs about football and baseball wives.

Behind the Music, VH1's hit documentary series, began in 1997 with an episode about which fallen pop act?

Milli Vanilli became the subject after a producer and a VH1 executive wondered over lunch what had ever happened to the disgraced pair.

Which future reality-TV host quizzed contestants on pop music as host of VH1's Rock & Roll Jeopardy!?

Jeff Probst fronted the music-only spin-off from 1998 to 2001, so his final episodes overlapped with his first seasons hosting Survivor.

Which country-pop star joined Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey and Celine Dion on the first VH1 Divas Live bill?

Shania Twain shared the Beacon Theatre stage in 1998 at a concert created to raise money for VH1's school music charity.

VH1 Divas 2000 was staged as a tribute to which Motown superstar, who insisted the concert be taped?

Diana Ross asked for the show to be recorded instead of aired live, because ad breaks left too little time for her costume changes.

On VH1's Pop-Up Video, the trivia bubbles that burst onto music videos were officially known by which name?

Info nuggets appeared every 10 to 15 seconds, mixing gossip about the shoot with random facts inspired by whatever was on screen.

Nick at Nite borrowed VH1's Pop-Up Video format to add trivia notes to episodes of which classic family sitcom?

The Brady Bunch got the treatment in 2001, with notes gathered from cast interviews by one of the VH1 show's own creators.

VH1 Storytellers took its name from a one-man show of songs and tales by which British rock veteran?

Ray Davies of the Kinks was touring a show that told the story behind each song, and his 1996 broadcast became the model for the whole series.

VH1's World Series of Pop Culture, a team trivia tournament, was based on a quiz from which magazine?

Entertainment Weekly's Pop Culture Quiz was the basis for the tournament, which ran for two seasons with Pat Kiernan as host.

VH1's nostalgia hit I Love the '80s was adapted from a series of the same name made by which broadcaster?

BBC viewers saw the format first, and VH1's version became the opening installment of a long run of decade-by-decade nostalgia shows.

Jon Bauman, one of VH1's first on-air hosts, was better known as Bowzer of which group that played Woodstock?

Sha Na Na had its own syndicated variety series, so Bowzer was already a TV face when VH1 hired him alongside radio veteran Don Imus.

Which comedian, later a daytime talk show host, was a VH1 veejay in the late 1980s?

Rosie O'Donnell joined the veejay lineup in 1988 and went on to host Stand-up Spotlight, VH1's showcase for up-and-coming comedians.

VH1 launched in the channel space of the short-lived Cable Music Channel, a rival to MTV created by which mogul?

Ted Turner's rival to MTV lasted just over a month before he sold it to MTV's owners, who launched VH1 in its place.

On VH1's Flavor of Love, what did contestants who survived an elimination receive to wear around their necks?

Gold clocks echoed the sizable timepiece Flavor Flav dangles from his own neck, and each showed the contestant's picture and nickname.

Which two-time Flavor of Love runner-up, nicknamed New York, landed her own VH1 dating show?

Tiffany Pollard got the nickname from Flavor Flav himself, and her spin-off, I Love New York, launched a long career in television.

Bret Michaels searched for a girlfriend on VH1's Rock of Love while still fronting which glam metal band?

Poison's frontman picked a new winner in each of three seasons, and the first finale drew 5.4 million viewers, the show's biggest audience.

The Surreal Life, which put faded celebrities in one house, aired two seasons on which network before VH1?

The WB aired the first two seasons; on VH1, a romance between two housemates led to more than a dozen spin-offs and sequels.

Which 1980s screen star dated Flavor Flav on the VH1 series Strange Love?

Brigitte Nielsen, the Danish ex-wife of Sylvester Stallone, fell for the rapper while they were housemates on The Surreal Life, and VH1 gave the couple a series of their own.

Which former sitcom heartthrob faced his fear of commitment on a VH1 series about being 45 and single?

Scott Baio, of Happy Days and Charles in Charge, proposed to his girlfriend in the finale, and the retitled second season followed him at 46 as the couple expected a baby.

VH1's Mob Wives followed women whose husbands and fathers were jailed mobsters, living in which part of New York?

Staten Island's borough president was not a fan: he called the show disgraceful and said it painted Italian-Americans in a bad light.

VH1's Black Ink Crew follows the staff drama at a tattoo shop in which New York City neighborhood?

Harlem's Black Ink shop proved such a draw that VH1 launched similar spin-off series set in Chicago and Los Angeles.

VH1 named which Michael Jackson video, directed by John Landis, the greatest ever made in a 2001 countdown?

Thriller was called a no-brainer of a pick by one ABC News writer; MTV had given the video the same title two years earlier.

VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders gave the top spot to which dance craze that spent 14 weeks at number one?

Macarena was a Spanish duo's 1993 album track until a Miami remix with added English lines sent it around the world.

Online voters put which Bon Jovi anthem at number one on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s?

Livin' on a Prayer nearly went unreleased: Jon Bon Jovi disliked the first recording until guitarist Richie Sambora talked him into reworking it.

Which British band was ranked number one on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock?

Led Zeppelin took first place two decades after John Bonham's death, when the surviving members decided they could not continue without him.

Which grunge band topped VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s with a track named after a teen deodorant?

Nirvana's Kurt Cobain mistook a friend's joke about the deodorant for a revolutionary slogan and turned it into a song title.

Which 1980s number-one hit was ranked worst of all in VH1's special The 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever?

We Built This City topped the list, compiled with Blender magazine, and Starship's singer said he was surprised but also thrilled.

The first spin-off of VH1's Love & Hip Hop, starring Stevie J and Joseline Hernandez, was set in which city?

Atlanta got its own edition in 2012, and the spin-off's third season set ratings records for the whole franchise.

Which rapper starred with wife Tiny and their six children in the VH1 reality series The Family Hustle?

T.I. began the family series fresh from a 12-month prison sentence, with the first season following the household as he came home.

RuPaul's Drag Race moved to VH1 for its ninth season after eight seasons on which LGBTQ-focused sister channel?

Logo had seen the contest become its highest-rated program, and it kept airing encore showings after new episodes moved to VH1.

Which former music manager, a co-founder of Violator, created VH1's Love & Hip Hop reality franchise?

Mona Scott-Young was approached by a former employee, rapper Jim Jones's manager, to retool what began as a show about him.

The VH1 film Two of Us imagines Paul McCartney paying a surprise 1976 visit to which former bandmate in New York?

John Lennon was played by Jared Harris in the drama, which was directed by the man who made the Beatles' own film Let It Be.

Which comedian and former America's Got Talent host created Wild 'N Out, the improv battle show that expanded to VH1?

Nick Cannon launched the show on MTV in 2005, and its early casts included future household names such as Kevin Hart and Katt Williams.

Which pop singer and reality TV veteran toured the world for VH1's The Price of Beauty?

Jessica Simpson took two best friends along to study beauty rituals in other cultures, her first reality series since MTV's Newlyweds.

Before Drag Race, RuPaul hosted a 1990s VH1 talk show with which co-host, a radio personality and former singer?

Michelle Visage rejoined RuPaul years later as a permanent judge on Drag Race, and the pair also launched a podcast together.

Which rapper-turned-actress, whose company Flavor Unit produced VH1's drama Single Ladies, also appeared in it?

Queen Latifah played a news presenter in the first season and said she was particularly proud of the series.

When America's Next Top Model was revived on VH1, which British singer replaced Tyra Banks as host for one cycle?

Rita Ora fronted cycle 23 with an entirely new judging panel, but Banks returned to present the next cycle herself.

Which Brooklyn-based queen won RuPaul's Drag Race season nine, the first season to air on VH1?

Sasha Velour won the $100,000 prize in 2017, with Peppermint finishing as runner-up and Valentina voted Miss Congeniality.

VH1's drama Hit the Floor follows the cheerleaders of which fictional professional basketball team?

The Los Angeles Devils and their Devil Girls dance squad nearly appeared under another name: the series was originally titled Bounce.

Which narrator voiced all but the first two episodes of VH1's Behind the Music, plus a South Park spoof of it?

Jim Forbes became the voice of the series in America, though British airings of some episodes swapped in a UK narrator.

VH1's Best Week Ever, a comedy panel show about the week in pop culture, was renamed in 2008 for which host?

Paul F. Tompkins took over when the show switched to a single host, introducing each topic from behind a podium.