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The 30 Best Music Videos Ever: Poll Results

by Jillian Mapes  |   August 01, 2011 4:00 EDT

Artists in this Article

Buggles
Peter Gabriel
Madonna
Britney Spears
Michael Jackson
Lady Gaga

Three weeks ago, in anticipation of MTV's 30th birthday today (Aug. 1), we asked our readers to celebrate three decades of music television by voting on the best videos of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, each week in a separate poll. Now, we are proud to present the top ten of each decade, as voted by you, the Billboard.com readers.

 

Click A Button To See The Results For Each Decade:


 

With the launch of MTV thirty years ago, video took on a new role in the music world -- and as the first song played on the cable network (The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star") declared, video did, indeed, kill the radio star.

 

At the time of its launch, the cable channel's reach was minimal, initially airing a small collection of music videos in selected New Jersey markets. Within a few years, however, music videos became standard practice for artists both big and small. Technology and aesthetics have progressed through the years, but classic music videos -- like "Thriller" or Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" -- were in no short supply even during the medium's infancy. But the continuing craft of artists like Beyoncé ("Single Ladies"), Britney Spears ("Toxic") and Lady Gaga ("Bad Romance") proves the music video is still alive.

 

"Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll" may have been the first words famously uttered during MTV's launch, but as the results of our readers' poll reflects, the medium has done truly incredible things for the pop music world, with Madonna, MJ and Britney Spears among the polls' overall victors.

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