MTV Trivia
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
8correct to beat the crowd
70 free MTV trivia questions with answers — pop culture quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
MTV went on air at 12:01 a.m. on August 1, 1981, and for the next two decades it decided what teenagers watched, wore and listened to. This MTV trivia quiz covers the whole run: the launch and the five original VJs, the 'I Want My MTV' campaign, the fight over Black artists that Michael Jackson's videos finally broke, and the moon-man statue handed out at the Video Music Awards. It then moves through the shows that defined each era. You will find questions on Yo! MTV Raps, Headbangers Ball, 120 Minutes, Remote Control, Unplugged, Liquid Television and Beavis and Butt-Head, on The Real World and Road Rules, TRL and Carson Daly, Cribs, The Osbournes, Punk'd, Pimp My Ride, Laguna Beach, Jersey Shore, 16 and Pregnant, Catfish and Ridiculousness, plus the VMA moments everyone still talks about, from Madonna in 1984 to Kanye and Taylor in 2009. The 70 questions run from easy nostalgia to genuinely hard network history. Every answer was checked against the documented record, so the answer key is safe to use for a pub quiz, a party or a 90s-themed game night.
30 of 70 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In what year did MTV launch?
1981
MTV launched at 12:01 a.m. on August 1, 1981, run by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment Company.
Q 02Which song's clip was the first ever played on MTV?
"Video Killed the Radio Star"
On February 27, 2000, the same clip became the one millionth video the channel broadcast.
Q 03What did the initials MTV originally stand for?
Music Television
MTV stood for Music Television; the words were dropped from the logo in 2010 as the channel shifted toward reality shows.
Q 04What were the on-air hosts of MTV's early years called?
VJs
Short for video jockeys, a play on radio's disc jockeys.
Q 05Which of these was one of the five original MTV VJs?
Martha Quinn
Martha Quinn was one of the five original VJs alongside Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter and J. J. Jackson.
Q 06MTV's launch ident showed footage of what historic event?
The Apollo Moon landing
Apollo 11 Moon landing footage opened MTV, with the flag replaced by an MTV logo; the ident was retired in 1986 after the Challenger disaster.
Q 07The MTV Video Music Awards statuette depicts what?
An astronaut on the Moon
Long nicknamed the moonman, it has officially been a "moon person" since 2017.
Q 08In what year were the first MTV Video Music Awards held?
1984
The first VMAs were held on September 14, 1984 at Radio City Music Hall, hosted by Dan Aykroyd and Bette Midler.
Q 09Which song did Madonna perform at the very first VMAs, in a bustier wedding gown?
"Like a Virgin"
She wore her trademark "Boy Toy" belt with the outfit.
Q 10Who won the first ever Video of the Year VMA?
The Cars
The Cars won the first Video of the Year for 'You Might Think', beating Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' and Herbie Hancock's 'Rockit'.
Q 11Which rapper's 'Without Me' won Video of the Year at the 2002 VMAs?
Eminem
Eminem's 'Without Me' took Video of the Year at the 2002 VMAs, two years after 'The Real Slim Shady' won him the same award.
Q 12Which artist won ten awards in a single night at the 1987 VMAs?
Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel's 'Sledgehammer' won nine awards including Video of the Year at the 1987 VMAs, and he received the Video Vanguard Award the same night.
Q 13The VMA lifetime-achievement Video Vanguard Award was renamed in 1991 after which artist?
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson, who received the Vanguard in 1988, had the award renamed for him in 1991 for turning videos into short films with storylines.
Q 21Which punk band released "M.T.V. – Get Off the Air" in 1985?
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys put 'M.T.V. – Get Off the Air' on their 1985 album Frankenchrist, with Jello Biafra sneering at the channel's grip on the music business.
Q 22Ted Turner's short-lived rival music channel was bought by MTV in 1984 and turned into what?
VH1
VH1 launched on January 1, 1985 in the slot of Turner's Cable Music Channel, which had lasted just over a month before he sold it to MTV Networks.
Q 23Which was the first video shown on MTV Europe when it launched?
"Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits
Fitting, since the song's lyric name-checks the channel's own slogan.
Q 14Which comedian earned a "lifetime ban" from MTV after his 1989 VMA routine?
Andrew Dice Clay
Andrew Dice Clay recited vulgar nursery rhymes while introducing Cher at the 1989 VMAs; MTV's lifetime ban was lifted for the 2011 show.
Q 15Which animal did Britney Spears dance with at the 2001 VMAs?
An albino snake
The performance of "I'm a Slave 4 U" also involved a caged tiger.
Q 16At the 2003 VMAs, Madonna kissed Britney Spears and which other singer on stage?
Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, dressed as brides, each kissed Madonna, who played the groom, during the 2003 VMAs opening number.
Q 17Whose acceptance speech did Kanye West interrupt at the 2009 VMAs?
Taylor Swift's
Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift's Best Female Video speech for 'You Belong with Me' to argue Beyoncé's 'Single Ladies' was one of the best videos ever.
Q 18Which advertising slogan, launched in 1982, had rock stars telling viewers to call their cable company?
"I Want My MTV!"
'I Want My MTV!' was adman George Lois's 1982 campaign, adapted from a 1950s cereal slogan, 'I Want My Maypo!', with Mick Jagger among the stars who shouted it.
Q 19Which video by the King of Pop is credited with breaking MTV's early "color barrier"?
"Billie Jean"
'Billie Jean' entered MTV rotation in March 1983 after CBS Records chief Walter Yetnikoff threatened to pull the label's videos over the channel's refusal to play Black artists.
Q 20Which funk star publicly attacked MTV in 1983 for refusing to play his "Super Freak" video?
Rick James
Rick James accused MTV of racism in 1983 when it would not air 'Super Freak', and later dismissed the channel's playing of Black artists as tokenism.
Q 24Where did MTV set up its first live Spring Break broadcasts in 1986?
Daytona Beach, Florida
The city's mayor had gone on national TV to lure the students Fort Lauderdale was pushing away.
Q 25Who hosted the original American version of Yo! MTV Raps when it debuted in 1988?
Fab 5 Freddy
Doctor Dré and Ed Lover later took the weekday show, and Ed Lover invented his own dance on it.
Q 26Headbangers Ball, MTV's heavy metal show, is most associated with which host?
Riki Rachtman
Riki Rachtman hosted Headbangers Ball from 1990 to 1995, after Kevin Seal and Adam Curry had each fronted it.
Q 27Which MTV game show hosted by Ken Ober launched Adam Sandler and Colin Quinn?
Remote Control
Remote Control, set in host Ken Ober's mock basement, ran from 1987 to 1990 and gave Adam Sandler, Colin Quinn and Denis Leary early TV exposure.
Q 28120 Minutes, which ran on MTV from 1986 to 2000, was dedicated to which genre?
Alternative music
120 Minutes showcased alternative music from 1986 to 2000 on MTV, then moved to MTV2, where Matt Pinfield revived it as a monthly show in 2011.
Q 29Whose 1992 Unplugged album became the best-selling live album of all time?
Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton's Unplugged sold some 26 million copies and won six Grammys, including Song of the Year for 'Tears in Heaven'.
Q 30Nirvana's Unplugged set was recorded in November 1993, roughly how long before Kurt Cobain's death?
Five months
Nirvana taped MTV Unplugged on November 18, 1993, about five months before Cobain's death on April 5, 1994; the set leaned on covers of the Meat Puppets, Lead Belly and David Bowie.