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The pretty young things they honor may come and go, but you can always count on MTV's Video Music Awards to throw a spotlight on stars at their most outrageous and entertaining. Like Madonna's shocking performance during the very first Video Music Awards on September 14, 1984. She performed her hit "Like a Virgin" in a lace wedding gown, writhing around suggestively on the floor. Here the self-proclaimed "Boy Toy" is pictured backstage. (David McGough/Time and Life Pictures/Getty Images/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures
The pretty young things they honor may come and go, but you can always count on MTV's Video Music Awards to throw a spotlight on stars at their most outrageous and entertaining. Like Madonna's shocking performance during the very first Video Music Awards on September 14, 1984. She performed her hit "Like a Virgin" in a lace wedding gown, writhing around suggestively on the floor. Here the self-proclaimed "Boy Toy" is pictured backstage. (David McGough/Time and Life Pictures/Getty Images/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures
Before they even take the stage, Nirvana mix it up with Axl Rose, who challenges Kurt Cobain to a fight after the band and Cobain's wife Courtney Love reportedly bait him. Next, Nirvana kick off their performance with a few lines of "Rape Me" — a song they had agreed not to perform. Finally, they finish "Lithium" with a violent flourish, Cobain trashing their equipment and bassist Krist Novoselic tossing his malfunctioning bass into the air (it crashes down on his forehead, leaving him bloody and dazed). (Frank Micelotta/Getty Images/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures
The crowd goes wild when unlikely newlyweds Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley walk out hand in hand. "And just think, nobody thought this would last," Jackson says, before pulling in his bride for one of history's most awkward kisses. (AFP/AFP/Getty Images/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures
What a way to open the show: Madonna references her "Like a Virgin" romp from the first VMAs, but this time she's the groom and Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera play the sexy brides. In arguably the steamiest moment in VMA history, Madonna shares open-mouth kisses with both young pop stars. (Dave Hogan/Getty Images/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures
One failed marriage, two babies, and one head-shaving breakdown later, Britney Spears returns to the VMAs — previously a site of triumph for the superstar — and is expected to make a miraculous comeback. Instead, she botches her performance of "Gimme More" big-time, wearing an unflattering outfit, lip-synching poorly, and dancing lethargically. Critics wonder if her career is over. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures
The eccentric artist's wild performance of "Paparazzi" begins with her lying on the ground next to a fallen chandelier... and ends with fake blood streaming down her top. (Kevin Mazur/WireImage/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures
The rapper, who has been photographed swigging from a bottle of Hennessy all night, crashes Taylor Swift's acceptance speech (she'd won Best Female Video) to suggest that Beyonce should have won for "Single Ladies." Both Swift and Beyonce appear stunned, and the audience boos West the rest of the night. (Eventually he's asked to leave.) The next day, near tears, West apologizes on Jay Leno's show, and takes a self-imposed leave from the spotlight. (Kevin Mazur/WireImage/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures
For her final costume change of the evening, Gaga accepts the Moonman for Video of the Year wearing an ensemble made of raw meat. She asks presenter Cher to hold her "purse" while she says her thank-yous. (Kevin Mazur/WireImage/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures
