View source for MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video

{{Short description|Annual music video award}}
{{Infobox award
| name = MTV Video Music Award <br>for Best Alternative
| awarded_for = [[Alternative rock]] [[music videos]]
| image =
| imagesize = 100px
| caption = The "moonman" trophy presented to the award winners
| presenter = [[MTV]]
| country = United States
| year = 1991
| year2 =
| holder = [[Benson Boone]] – "[[Beautiful Things (Benson Boone song)|Beautiful Things]]" ([[2024 MTV Video Music Awards|2024]])
| most_awards = [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] (3)
| most_nominations = Various (3)
| website = [https://www.mtv.com/vma VMA website]
}}
The '''[[MTV Video Music Award]] for Best Alternative''' (also known as '''Best Alternative Music Video''') was first given out at the [[1991 MTV Video Music Awards]]. Prior to being called Best Alternative Video, it was known as [[MTV Video Music Award for Best Post-Modern Video|Best Post-Modern Video]] in 1989 and 1990.
After the [[1998 MTV Video Music Awards|1998 ceremony]], this award was eliminated, and it was not presented until over two decades later, when it was brought back for the [[2020 MTV Video Music Awards]], under the name '''Best Alternative'''.  During its discontinuation, artists and videos who would have normally been eligible for this award became eligible for other genre categories, including [[MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video|Best Rock Video]].
[[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] is the biggest winner of this award, winning all three of their consecutive bids for the Moonman from 1992 to 1994. In terms of nominations, though, there are a multitude of artists all with three nominations. These include [[Green Day]], [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]], [[Willow Smith|Willow]], [[Machine Gun Kelly (musician)|Machine Gun Kelly]], [[Imagine Dragons]] and [[Twenty One Pilots]].
==Recipients==
===1990s===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ {{sronly|Recipients}}
! scope="col"| Year{{efn|Each year is linked to the article about the MTV Video Music Awards held that year.}}
! scope="col" style="width:230px;"| Winner(s)
! scope="col" style="width:220px;"| Video
! scope="col" style="width:370px;"| Nominees
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}}
|-
! scope="row"| {{mtvvma|1991}}
| [[Jane's Addiction]]
| "[[Been Caught Stealing]]"
| {{smalldiv|
* [[Jesus Jones]] – "[[Right Here, Right Now (Jesus Jones song)|Right Here, Right Now]]"
* [[R.E.M.]] – "[[Losing My Religion]]"
* [[The Replacements (band)|The Replacements]] – "When It Began"
}}
| align="center"| <ref name="VMA1991">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/1991/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830021804/http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/1991/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 30, 2008|title=MTV Video Music Awards 1991|publisher=MTV|accessdate=July 23, 2012}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row"| {{mtvvma|1992}}
| [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]]
| "[[Smells Like Teen Spirit]]"
| {{smalldiv|
* [[Pearl Jam]] – "[[Alive (Pearl Jam song)|Alive]]"
* [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]] – "[[Give It Away (Red Hot Chili Peppers song)|Give It Away]]"
* [[The Soup Dragons]] – "Divine Thing"
}}
| align="center"| <ref name="VMA1992">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/1992/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830021809/http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/1992/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 30, 2008|title=MTV Video Music Awards 1992|publisher=MTV|accessdate=July 23, 2012}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row"| {{mtvvma|1993}}
| [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]]
| "[[In Bloom]]"
| {{smalldiv|
* [[4 Non Blondes]] – "[[What's Up? (4 Non Blondes song)|What's Up?]]"
* [[Belly (band)|Belly]] – "[[Feed the Tree]]"
* [[Stone Temple Pilots]] – "[[Plush (song)|Plush]]"
}}
! scope="row"| {{mtvvma|1994}}
| [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]]
| "[[Heart-Shaped Box]]"
| {{smalldiv|
* [[Beck]] – "[[Loser (Beck song)|Loser]]"
* [[Green Day]] – "[[Longview (song)|Longview]]"
* [[The Smashing Pumpkins]] – "[[Disarm]]"
}}
! scope="row"| {{mtvvma|1995}}
| [[Weezer]]
| "[[Buddy Holly (song)|Buddy Holly]]"
| {{smalldiv|
* [[The Cranberries]] – "[[Zombie (The Cranberries song)|Zombie]]"
* [[Green Day]] – "[[Basket Case (song)|Basket Case]]"
* [[Hole (band)|Hole]] – "[[Doll Parts]]"
* [[Stone Temple Pilots]] – "[[Interstate Love Song]]"
}}
! scope="row"| {{mtvvma|1996}}
| [[The Smashing Pumpkins]]
| "[[1979 (song)|1979]]"
| {{smalldiv|
* [[Bush (British band)|Bush]] – "[[Glycerine (song)|Glycerine]]"
* [[Everclear (band)|Everclear]] – "[[Santa Monica (Everclear song)|Santa Monica]]"
* [[Foo Fighters]] – "[[Big Me]]"
}}
! scope="row"| {{mtvvma|1997}}
| [[Sublime (band)|Sublime]]
| "[[What I Got]]"
| {{smalldiv|
* [[Beck]] – "[[The New Pollution]]"
* [[Blur (band)|Blur]] – "[[Song 2]]"
* [[Foo Fighters]] – "[[Monkey Wrench (song)|Monkey Wrench]]"
* [[Nine Inch Nails]] – "[[The Perfect Drug]]"
}}
! scope="row"| {{mtvvma|1998}}
| [[Green Day]]
| "[[Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)]]"
| {{smalldiv|
* [[Ben Folds Five]] – "[[Brick (song)|Brick]]"
* [[Garbage (band)|Garbage]] – "[[Push It (Garbage song)|Push It]]"
* [[Radiohead]] – "[[Karma Police]]"
* [[The Verve]] – "[[Bitter Sweet Symphony]]"
}}
! scope="row"| {{Mtvvma|1999}}
| colspan="4" {{n/a}}
|-
|}
===2020s===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ {{sronly|Recipients}}
! scope="col"| Year{{efn|Each year is linked to the article about the MTV Video Music Awards held that year.}}
! scope="col" style="width:230px;"| Winner(s)
! scope="col" style="width:220px;"| Video
! scope="col" style="width:370px;"| Nominees
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}}
|-
! scope="row"| {{mtvvma|2020}}
| [[Machine Gun Kelly (musician)|Machine Gun Kelly]]
| "[[Bloody Valentine (Machine Gun Kelly song)|Bloody Valentine]]"
| {{smalldiv|
* [[The 1975]] – "[[If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know)]]"
* [[All Time Low]] – "[[Some Kind of Disaster]]"
* [[Lana Del Rey]] – "[[Doin' Time#Lana Del Rey version|Doin' Time]]"
* [[Finneas O'Connell|FINNEAS]] – "[[Let's Fall in Love for the Night]]"
* [[Twenty One Pilots]] – "[[Level of Concern]]"
}}
| align="center"| <ref name="VMA2020">{{cite web|url=https://www.mtv.com/vma/vote/|title=MTV Video Music Awards 2020|publisher=MTV|access-date=July 30, 2020}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row"| {{mtvvma|2021}}
| [[Machine Gun Kelly (musician)|Machine Gun Kelly]] {{small|(featuring [[Blackbear (musician)|Blackbear]])}}
| "[[My Ex's Best Friend]]"
| {{smalldiv|
* [[Bleachers (band)|Bleachers]] – "[[Stop Making This Hurt]]"
* [[Glass Animals]] – "[[Heat Waves (song)|Heat Waves]]"
* [[Imagine Dragons]] – "[[Follow You (Imagine Dragons song)|Follow You]]"
* [[Twenty One Pilots]] – "[[Shy Away]]"
* [[Willow Smith|Willow]] (featuring [[Travis Barker]]) – "[[Transparent Soul]]"
}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web|last=Serrano|first=Athena|date=August 11, 2021|title=The 2021 VMA Nominations Are Here: Justin Bieber, Megan Thee Stallion, and More|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/3179856/vma-nominees-2021-justin-bieber-megan-thee-stallion/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811160224/http://www.mtv.com/news/3179856/vma-nominees-2021-justin-bieber-megan-thee-stallion/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 11, 2021|access-date=August 11, 2021|publisher=[[MTV News]]. [[MTV]]}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row"| {{mtvvma|2022}}
| [[Måneskin]]
| "[[I Wanna Be Your Slave]]"
| {{smalldiv|
* [[Imagine Dragons]] and [[JID]] – "[[Enemy (Imagine Dragons and JID song)|Enemy]]"
* [[Avril Lavigne]] (featuring [[Blackbear (musician)|Blackbear]]) – "[[Love It When You Hate Me]]"
* [[Machine Gun Kelly (musician)|Machine Gun Kelly]] (featuring [[Willow Smith|Willow]]) – "[[Emo Girl]]"
* [[Panic! at the Disco]] – "[[Viva Las Vengeance (song)|Viva Las Vengeance]]"
* [[Twenty One Pilots]] – "[[Saturday (Twenty One Pilots song)|Saturday]]"
* [[Willow Smith|Willow]] and [[Avril Lavigne]] (featuring [[Travis Barker]]) – "Grow"
}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite magazine|last=Grein|first=Paul|title=Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow & Kendrick Lamar Lead 2022 MTV VMA Nominations: Full List|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/2022-mtv-vma-nominations-list-1235117890/|access-date=July 26, 2022|magazine=Billboard |date=July 26, 2022}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row"| {{mtvvma|2023}}
| [[Lana Del Rey]] {{small|(featuring [[Jon Batiste]])}}
| "[[Candy Necklace]]"
| {{smalldiv|
* [[Blink-182]] – "[[Edging (song)|Edging]]"
* [[Boygenius]] – "The Film"
* [[Fall Out Boy]] – "[[Hold Me Like a Grudge]]"
* [[Paramore]] – "[[This Is Why (song)|This Is Why]]"
* [[Thirty Seconds to Mars]] – "[[Stuck (Thirty Seconds to Mars song)|Stuck]]"
}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite news|last=Tinoco|first=Armando|title=MTV VMA Nominations: Taylor Swift Leads Pack With Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo, Sam Smith & More Close By|url=https://deadline.com/2023/08/2023-mtv-vma-nominations-taylor-swift-miley-cyrus-nicki-minaj-olivia-rodrigo-sam-smith-1235456981/|access-date=8 August 2023|work=Deadline|date=8 August 2023}}</ref>
|-
![[2024 MTV Video Music Awards|2024]]
| [[Benson Boone]]
| "[[Beautiful Things (Benson Boone song)|Beautiful Things]]"
|{{smalldiv|
* [[Bleachers (band)|Bleachers]] – "Tiny Moves"
* [[Hozier]] – "[[Too Sweet]]"
* [[Imagine Dragons]] – "[[Eyes Closed (Imagine Dragons song)|Eyes Closed]]"
* [[Linkin Park]] – "[[Friendly Fire (song)|Friendly Fire]]"
* [[Teddy Swims]] – "[[Lose Control (Teddy Swims song)|Lose Control (Live)]]"
}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Atkinson |first=Kaite |date=September 11, 2024 |title=Here's a Full List of 2024 MTV VMAs Winners (Updating Live) |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/2024-vmas-winners-list-1235772883/ |access-date=September 12, 2024 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |language=en-US  }}</ref>
|}
==See also==
* [[MTV Europe Music Award for Best Alternative]]
* [[MTV Video Music Award for Best Post-Modern Video]]
==Notes==
{{NoteFoot}}
{{notelist}}
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
{{MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video}}
{{MTV Video Music Awards}}
[[Category:MTV Video Music Awards]]
[[Category:Awards established in 1991]]
[[Category:Awards disestablished in 1998]]
[[Category:Alternative and independent music awards]]