100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time

Michael Jackson

John Landis's 14-minute horror epic featuring 40 zombie dancers and a Vincent Price monologue — it invented the concept of the music video as a short film and remains the most iconic visual in pop history.

Beyoncé

Melina Matsoukas directed a Black Southern identity statement that remains the most politically charged pop video ever made — released on the eve of Super Bowl 50, it changed what a music video could say.

Childish Gambino

Hiro Murai's visual commentary on gun violence in America — the background chaos while Donald Glover dances is the most discussed directorial choice of the decade.

a-ha

Steve Barron's pencil-sketch rotoscope animation — the first video in which the form genuinely enhanced the song, making something impossible to imagine without the other.

Madonna

The video that caused Pepsi to pull a sponsorship deal and the Vatican to condemn Madonna simultaneously — burning crosses and interracial romance in a church as pop provocation at its most considered.

Sinead O'Connor

John Maybury's close-up on O'Connor's face as she sings — the tear that falls at 3:31 is the most watched unrehearsed moment in music video history.

Nirvana

Samuel Bayer's low-budget gymnasium nightmare — janitors, cheerleaders, and Kurt Cobain's barely contained chaos becoming the most important pop visual of the decade.

Spike Jonze

A low-budget cop show parody shot in a weekend that became one of the most beloved videos in history — Jonze's comedy sensibility changing what directors could do.

Radiohead

Jonathan Glazer's existential thriller — a man lying on a pavement and refusing to explain why, ending without an answer.

Fatboy Slim

Spike Jonze's fake amateur video of a dance troupe performing in a cinema car park — the most convincingly lo-fi hi-concept video ever shot.

Bjork

Michel Gondry's forest fairy tale — the beginning of one of the great director-artist partnerships in video history.

Bjork

Michel Gondry constructing a surreal world for Bjork's hardest, most confrontational song.

Michel Gondry

Five groups of performers representing each sound element of the track — pure visual musicology.

Michael Jackson

The first Black artist played in heavy rotation on MTV — a simple performance video that changed television forever.

Madonna

A Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend homage that defined pop performance video for a decade.

George Michael

Michael's self-reinvention documented in leather jacket and jukebox aesthetic — pop star as auteur.

Peter Gabriel

Aardman Animation and Brothers Quay stop-motion creating the most technically accomplished video of the 1980s.

A-ha

The Take on Me video continued — pencil sketch world invading the real.

Duran Duran

Russell Mulcahy directing an adventure film for the MTV generation — the video that launched new wave globally.

Tom Petty

Alice in Wonderland as psychedelic nightmare — one of the most visually inventive narrative videos of its era.

R.E.M.

Tarsem Singh's Gabriel García Márquez-influenced imagery — magical realism as music video.

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Silver bodies in the desert — the most gleefully anarchic rock performance video of the early 1990s.

Metallica

Interspersed with scenes from Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun — the most serious statement heavy metal made on film.

Guns N' Roses

A nine-minute short film with a church wedding, a helicopter, and the most ambitious production in rock video history.

Nine Inch Nails

Mark Romanek's censored film for the most provocative industrial song — banned and therefore unavoidable.

Madonna

Fritz Lang's Metropolis reimagined as a feminist pop statement — David Fincher directing.

David Fincher

Black-and-white ballroom glamour — Fincher capturing vogueing culture at the moment of its mainstream arrival.

Spike Jonze

Christopher Walken dancing alone in a hotel — the most joyful and technically demanding performance video ever shot.

Michel Gondry

A looping technique adding more Kylies to every corner — visual playfulness as emotional repetition.

Chris Cunningham

Two robot Bjorkes assembling and kissing — the most beautiful and unsettling video of the decade.

Radiohead

Jonathan Glazer's reverse car chase — the most atmospheric video in Radiohead's catalogue.

Prodigy

Walter Stern's dark industrial imagery — the video that launched the Chemical Generation into mainstream horror.

Chemical Brothers

Michel Gondry's kaleidoscopic multiplication — the most technically inventive video of its year.

Eminem

The most narrative and most disturbing video in hip-hop history — fan obsession as tragedy.

Jay-Z

Mark Romanek's black-and-white grit — hip-hop as visual essay on race and policing in America.

Kanye West

Akira anime and Daft Punk's harder-better-faster sample — the most cinematic hip-hop video of the decade.

Outkast

Andre 3000 playing all the Beatles simultaneously on The Ed Sullivan Show — pure joyful chaos.

Missy Elliott

Hype Williams's fisheye lens and inflatable suit — the most avant-garde debut in hip-hop video history.

Missy Elliott

David Meyers's visual invention matching Missy's sonic invention — the most creative female hip-hop video.

Hype Williams

Puff Daddy and Mase in matching outfits — hip-hop excess and satire indistinguishable.

TLC

CGI water imagery and public service announcements — R&B as socially conscious visual storytelling.

Janet Jackson

The military choreography and black-and-white aesthetic — the most disciplined dance video in pop history.

Britney Spears

Nigel Dick's schoolgirl concept — the most commercially decisive image in late 1990s pop.

Beyoncé

Three women, a white background, and the most imitated dance in the history of the medium.

Lady Gaga

The debut visual statement of one of pop's great image-makers — conceptual fashion as pop video.

Lady Gaga

Nine minutes with Beyoncé — pop video as high-fashion Thelma & Louise.

Rihanna

A violent, cinematic love story — the most critically discussed pop video of its year.

Drake

Karim Huu Do's neon-lit performance — and the dance that generated more memes than any other.

Taylor Swift

Every A-list friend as a female action hero — the cameo video as cultural event.

Kendrick Lamar

Dave Meyers's imagery — the stretch limo pope scene and the unretouched female body as political statements.

Pharrell Williams

A 24-hour video — the first of its kind, with hundreds of strangers dancing through a day.

OK Go

Treadmill choreography in one take — the viral video that proved YouTube could launch careers.

OK Go

The most elaborate single-take video ever produced — a Rube Goldberg machine in a warehouse.

Arcade Fire

Chris Milk's interactive video using Google Maps — the first truly interactive music film.

Bob Dylan

Cue card lyrics filmed in an alley — the first modern music video, effectively.

The Beatles

Peter Goldman's psychedelic film — one of the first conceptual music videos.

David Bowie

Mick Rock's close-up — Bowie and blue eyeshadow as the defining rock visual of the glam era.

Queen

Bruce Gowers's prism-effect performance video that showed why you'd need a video — the song that launched the format.

Talking Heads

Toni Basil choreographing David Byrne's convulsive movements — the most artistically serious early MTV video.

Bruce Springsteen

Courteney Cox pulled onstage — cinema verité performance video as unintentional casting.

Johnny Cash

Mark Romanek directing Cash in his final year — the most emotionally devastating video ever made.

Arcade Fire

The Wilderness Downtown — interactive video using viewer's childhood home address.

Burial

No official video — the unofficial ones created by fans speak to the music's visual power.

Massive Attack

Baillie Walsh's single-take Steadicam walk through Los Angeles — the most influential British music video.

Portishead

Film noir aesthetics and Beth Gibbons as the singer in the shadows — trip-hop visualised perfectly.

Radiohead

Grant Gee's drowning helmet — Thom Yorke's face submerged as the most quietly horrifying image in rock video.

Sigur Rós

A same-sex football romance ending in tragedy — Icelandic post-rock's most powerful visual statement.

Arctic Monkeys

Bare-bones performance video capturing the band's early garage energy.

Amy Winehouse

Winehouse's personality overwhelming every frame — the star-making visual document.

Florence + the Machine

Tribal movement and joy — the debut that showed Florence's theatrical visual identity.

Lana Del Rey

The self-made YouTube debut of "Video Games" — a collage aesthetic that launched a career.

Grimes

Claire Boucher performing at monster truck rallies and football games — innocence in hostile spaces.

St. Vincent

Clark's domestic horror — pink carpeting and power tools as a statement about domesticity.

Hozier

A gay couple attacked by a mob — the most politically powerful debut video of its year.

Lil Nas X

Descending on Satan for a lap dance — the most deliberately provocative video since Madonna's Like a Prayer.

Billie Eilish

Dave Meyers and Eilish's own direction — playful, self-aware, and entirely original.

Dua Lipa

Aerobics-era nostalgia as the most energetically choreographed pop video of its year.

The Weeknd

A car crash nightmare — Abel Tesfaye's visuals as cinematic as his music.

Harry Styles

Sun-drenched sensuality — the visual embodiment of the song's summer mood.

Olivia Rodrigo

Teen angst in CGI chaos — Rodrigo's pop-punk arrival visualised.

Halsey

Domestic violence imagery made unavoidable — the most discussed pop video of its release week.

Taylor Swift

Pride imagery and celebrity cameos as LGBTQ+ advocacy.

Cardi B

Kyle Nguyen's mansion fever dream — the most discussed visual of 2020.

Sam Smith

Fleur and Manu directing the most visually extravagant music video of its year.

Rosalía

Directed by Rosalía herself — Spanish pop as high fashion visual art.

FKA Twigs

The most technically demanding pole performance ever filmed for a music video.

Janelle Monáe

Purple Rain-influenced bisexual anthem — the most joyfully queer pop visual of its year.

Lizzo

Collective self-love as salon party — Lizzo's visual personality as infectious as her music.

Doja Cat

Disco visual excess — Doja's retro aesthetic establishing her as a fully realised visual artist.

Megan Thee Stallion

The most imitated twerking video of the TikTok era.

SZA

Psychedelic pastoral beauty — SZA's visual world as inviting as her music.

Kendrick Lamar

Don Cheadle guest starring in the most kinetically edited video of DAMN.'s campaign.

Drake

Spending the entire video budget on charity — the music video as public gesture.

Travis Scott

Three videos in one — the visual ambition matching the sonic ambition.

Bad Bunny

Bad Bunny in drag as a statement about female autonomy — reggaeton's most feminist visual.

BTS

K-pop maximalism — seven performers executing the most precisely choreographed pop video of its year.

Harry Styles

Ukrainian dancer Sergei Polunin in a stadium — the most beautiful pop video of 2022.

Taylor Swift

Swift's directorial debut — a 15-minute narrative film that changed what an album cycle could include.

Beyoncé

The 65-minute visual album directed by multiple filmmakers — the most complete fusion of music and film since Purple Rain.

Kendrick Lamar

Deepfake technology and moral philosophy — Lamar using every available tool for self-examination.

What is the greatest music video of all time?

Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (1983) is universally considered the greatest music video ever made — a 14-minute short film that invented the modern concept of the video as artistic statement.

What was the first music video?

The Beatles' promotional films for "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" (1966) are considered among the first true music videos, though Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975) is credited with launching the format commercially.

What was the first music video on MTV?

The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" was the first video played on MTV when the channel launched on August 1, 1981.

Who has directed the most iconic music videos?

Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Mark Romanek, and David Fincher are widely considered the greatest music video directors in history, each responsible for multiple landmark videos across multiple decades.