Music · 1
Which Madonna music video from 1984, featuring her rolling around in a wedding dress, caused immediate controversy when she performed it live at the first MTV Video Music Awards?
Answer
Like a Virgin
Madonna performed 'Like a Virgin' at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards in September 1984, descending from a giant wedding cake in a wedding dress and writhing on stage — a performance that shocked audiences and instantly made her the defining provocateur of the MTV era.
💡 Did you know?
Madonna's infamous 1984 VMA performance of 'Like a Virgin' was entirely unscripted — she stumbled in her heels and improvised the floor routine on the spot.
Other options people guess
- Material Girl
- Papa Don't Preach
- Lucky Star
Topics
- mtv
- 1980s
- madonna
- vma
Know your music trivia?
Play a free Music quiz and see how many you get right — no signup needed to start.
More Music facts
Music
Which 1982 Toto song, featuring a famously lush production style, won Record of the Year at the 1983 Grammy Awards and received heavy MTV airplay?
The drum pattern in Toto's 'Rosanna' — now called the 'Rosanna shuffle' — is taught in music schools worldwide as a masterclass in half-time groove, invented by drummer Jeff Porcaro.
Music
Which female artist was among the first to break through MTV's early resistance to solo women by fronting a band rather than performing alone, scoring heavy rotation in 1982 with 'Edge of Seventeen'?
MTV launched with zero music videos from female solo artists in heavy rotation, forcing women musicians to either front bands or fight for airtime throughout the early 1980s.
Music
Which MTV VJ, the only person of color among the channel's original five, left MTV in 1986 and later became a minister?
MTV's first four VJs were all white despite launching during hip-hop's golden age; network executives believed music videos wouldn't appeal to the MTV demographic.
Music
Which early New Orleans cornet player, regarded as jazz's first major innovator, left behind no known recordings of his music?
Buddy Bolden, considered jazz's first major innovator, spent his final 24 years institutionalized and left behind no recordings—only testimonies from those who heard him.
Music
Which 2015 Kendrick Lamar single became an unofficial rallying cry for Black Lives Matter protesters, despite not being written as a protest anthem?
Kendrick Lamar's "Alright" wasn't originally conceived as an anthem; it became a Black Lives Matter protest rallying cry organically through social sharing.
Music
Which American singer and actress recorded the original version of 'Over the Rainbow' for the 1939 film 'The Wizard of Oz'?
Studio executives nearly cut 'Over the Rainbow' from 'The Wizard of Oz,' thinking it slowed the film down — it went on to be voted the greatest song in film history by the Recording Industry Association of America.