Like most other award shows, the MTV Video Music Awards favor pop and hip-hop over rock, so it should be little surprise that when the cable channel announced its nominees this week, it was hard for rock fans to get too interested. Thankfully, they still give a Moonman for Best Rock Video, which is about the only category where you won't see Rihanna and Drake up for the prize.
The category features one former winner, Linkin Park, who are nominated for "Burn It Down." (If they do win, this will be their fourth Best Rock Video trophy.) The video is also up for Best Visual Effects. Three of Linkin Park's Best Rock Video competitors have been nominated before but walked away empty-handed: The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy," Coldplay's "Paradise," and Jack White's "Sixteen Saltines." (White was previously nominated with the White Stripes.) The one new nominee is Imagine Dragons for their breakthrough clip "It's Time."
If you scroll through the rest of the VMA nominees, there isn't a lot of rock to be found, although Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know," which is up for two awards (including Video of the Year), spent seven nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Rock Songs chart earlier this year. Of Monsters and Men snagged a Best Art Direction nod for "Little Talks," and fun. are up for Best Pop Video and Best New Artist for "We Are Young." And in case you're wondering, the last time a rock band won Video of the Year was, depending on how you define "rock," Panic! at the Disco's "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" in 2006 or Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" the year before.
Nominees for Best Rock Video:
- The Black Keys, "Lonely Boy" (watch the video)
- Coldplay, "Paradise" (watch the video)
- Imagine Dragons, "It's Time" (watch the video)
- Linkin Park, "Burn It Down" (watch the video)
- Jack White, "Sixteen Saltines" (watch the video)
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Photo: Danny Clinch/Sacks & Co.
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