20 Acts That MTV Made Super Famous

Photo: jonlo168, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Our 20 Acts That MTV Made Super Famous article looks at both unknown acts MTV made famous and established artists MTV made even more famous than they already were. This distinction matters because readers will inevitably argue that some artists on this list were already huge before MTV. And, of course, that’s true. Yet, MTV took certain artists with huge followings and took their popularity to an entirely new level, reaching an audience that may never have found them. That was the beauty of MTV in the eighties. They were so extremely powerful that they could take a Michael Jackson or Peter Gabriel and turn them into bigger stars than they were before the channel began heavily promoting them.

This one is fun, and it’s a mix of artists who were unknown at the time, new groups and artists, and, of course, the great acts who were already stars but who MTV turned into mega superstars.

# 20 – Tommy Tutone

“867-5309/Jenny” is all we pretty much have to say about this one. And it turned out that’s all they pretty much had to say too. But man was this song and video popular.

# 19 – The Police

Yes, the Police were very popular before MTV, but the channel heavily promoted every one of their videos, turning them into the most popular band in the world in 1983.

# 18 – David Lee Roth – Solo

Do you remember Dave TV? Yes, Van Halen was one of the biggest bands in the world before MTV and they didn’t need MTV at all to make them any bigger than they were. Yet, the channel did raise the stardom of their lead singer David Lee Roth, who loved every minute of it. The channel was probably partly to blame for the man leaving Van Halen as they helped David Lee Roth promote his Crazy from the Heat videos, convincing the star that he could be even bigger on his own. Wrong!

# 17 – Dire Straits

Although the band had been around since the 1970s, their “Money for Nothing” video, featuring a guest vocal by Sting, elevated them to superstar status for a brief time.

# 16 – Prince

MTV helped another already-made superstar by promoting the videos for his film Purple Rain, which got heavy airplay on the channel. Along with Michael Jackson, Prince played a prominent role in getting the channel to air more videos from Black artists.

# 15 – Robert Palmer

Robert Palmer made memorable videos featuring similarly dressed female models posed as his backing band, all in the same exact makeup, that went what we would call viral in today’s world.

# 14 – Nirvana

MTV played the video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in extremely heavy rotation, and the music world completely changed after that.

# 13 – Peter Gabriel

Yes, everyone knew Peter Gabriel from the incredible body of work he had released with Genesis and his early solo albums. Yet MTV turned Peter Gabriel into one of the biggest stars in the world with their promotion of his very creative videos from the So album.

# 12 – ZZ Top

ZZ Top had been around since the early 1970s and had already had a successful rock career and a loyal fan base. Nonetheless, that car and those three girls that fueled a series of ZZ Top videos that were played heavily on the channel turned a pretty popular rock band into a household name around the world.

# 11 – The Bangles

The Bangles exploded on MTV with the release of the video for “Walk Like an Egyptian.” These musicians were so beautiful and super talented, they were made for a channel like MTV, and MTV turned them into superstars.

# 10 – Whitney Houston

By the time Whitney Houston arrived on the scene in 1985, MTV had changed in its embrace of Black artists and pop music. It was perfect timing to promote one of the most gifted singers to have come along in twenty years. Videos for “How Will I Know” and many more went viral as MTV heavily promoted Whitney Houston, helping her become one of the biggest stars of the 1980s and 1990s.

# 9 – Whitesnake

David Coverdale had been around for a while before MTV made him ten times more famous than he ever was before. Yes, he sang lead vocals for Deep Purple and his band Whitesnake had released a series of albums before the arrival of the channel. Yet, when Whitesnake released those videos starring Tawny Kitaen, the band exploded in popularity around the world.

# 8 – Cyndi Lauper

Most mainstream music fans had never heard of Cyndi Lauper before the release of the video for “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” When MTV placed her video in heavy rotation, the entire world fell in love with Cyndi Lauper.

# 7 – Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson released a few records that went nowhere despite her famous name. However, when MTV put her video “Nasty,” choreographed by and featuring then-little-known Paula Abdul, into heavy rotation, Janet Jackson became a huge star, with many more hits and videos that followed, equally promoted by the channel.

# 6 – Huey Lewis And The News

Huey Lewis and the News were and still are a great rock and roll band that could play their hearts out. However, Huey Lewis had a look that balanced the regular guy with movie-star looks you find in a sports bar watching a game on a big-screen TV while holding a Budweiser in a can. It worked perfectly for MTV and the channel played their videos constantly. There is no way they would have been as big as they were without MTV.

# 5 – Twisted Sister

Twisted Sister was a bar band for a long time. However, the channel heavily promoted their videos for the songs “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock.” Both videos’ introductions featured a character similar to the Douglas C. Niedermeyer character from the film Animal House, played by Mark Metcalf. That actor made those videos legendary.

# 4 – Duran Duran

While MTV’s early audience was heavily male-dominated, the band Duran Duran helped find the channel a female audience and, in turn, raised the band’s popularity to extreme heights.

# 3 – Asia

Asia’s debut album featured the hit single “Heat of the Moment.” It became one of the most-played videos in the early days of MTV. Many supergroups formed over the years, but none had the promotional machine MTV gave Asia’s first single, “Heat of the Moment.” Everyone knew who Asia was because of MTV.

# 2 – Michael Jackson

Of course, Michael Jackson had already been a huge star long before the arrival of MTV. However, MTV took this huge star and turned him into a God. Videos for “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” “Bad,” and, of course, “Thriller” would become some of the most-watched videos of all time on MTV. Michael Jackson, along with Prince, helped break the color barriers on MTV that plagued the channel’s early years.

# 1 – Madonna

There is no doubt that Madonna stands as the musical act who most benefited from the exposure MTV gave her. Of course, Madonna also proved to be advantageous to MTV’s benefit as millions of viewers were glued to the channel every time a Madonna video was played. Madonna’s beauty and made-for-TV personality, along with her first four albums of brilliant pop music, were promoted brilliantly through well-done videos that MTV could not get enough of. And neither could we.

Feature Photo: Petr Mechkov / Shutterstock.com

Updated August 26, 2026.

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