1987 MTV Video Music Awards

The 1987 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 11, 1987, from the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Hosted by MTV VJs Downtown Julie Brown, Carolyne Heldman, Kevin Seal, Michael Tomioka, and Dweezil Zappa, the show honored the best music videos released from May 2, 1986, to May 1, 1987.

Nominations from among 644 submissions were announced in August. The MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film, which recognizes the most outstanding video of a song taken from a movie soundtrack, was included for the first time. The Special Recognition award—given out every year since 1984—was presented for the last time, after which it was eliminated from the award lineup altogether. Peter Gabriel set a record for the most VMA nominations earned in a single year with twelve: he received ten nominations for "Sledgehammer" and two for "Big Time". This would go uncontested until the 2010 ceremony, when Lady Gaga received thirteen nominations. Other major nominees included Genesis, Paul Simon, Steve Winwood, U2, and Madonna. Genesis, Winwood, and U2 all received seven nominations each, for "Land of Confusion", "Higher Love", and "With or Without You" respectively. Simon and Madonna received six nominations apiece, split between "The Boy in the Bubble" and "You Can Call Me Al" for the former, and "Papa Don't Preach" and "Open Your Heart" for the latter.

Gabriel was the most-awarded artist at the show, winning a record ten awards, including Video of the Year and the Video Vanguard Award, with "Sledgehammer"—the most-nominated video of the night—which won nine of the ten awards it was in the running for; it is the most-awarded video in VMA history. He did not attend in person to collect any of his awards as he was on tour in Germany. The only other act to win multiple awards was the rock band Talking Heads, whose video for "Wild Wild Life" won Best Group Video and Best Video from a Film.