A Proper Obituary for MTV

While perusing the list of celebrities we lost in 2025, I noticed a glaring omission. It wasn’t a person but an institution; one that created, or had a hand in creating, some of the names on that very list. Names such as Ozzy Osbourne and Kiss’ Ace Frehley who appeared on MTV.

So I have taken it upon myself to not only fill out its death certificate but also compose an accompanying sendoff. My tears have already begun to flow.

Decedent’s name: Music Television

Common name: MTV

Time of death: Dec. 31, 2025

Cause of death: Unclear at this point. MTV as a whole will continue, but music video channels such as MTV Music are dead in several countries; and it remains to be seen if U.S. viewers will see music videos and how hard they will have to look to find them. However, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” will live on.

Survivors: A legion of baby boomers and Gen Xers.

Born on Aug. 1, 1981, MTV grew to become more than just a channel in basic cable packages. For fans such as this columnist, MTV played in the background as we lay on the couch on Sunday mornings, wrestling with hangovers. When we ventured to Tower Records or some independent record store to purchase an artist’s new album or CD, it was often that artist’s music video that spurred our decision.

When MTV Was Music Television

MTV was a welcome supplement to reading liner notes when we did purchase those vinyl and CDs. Not only could we learn about our favorite artists by digesting and memorizing their lyrics, but we could see them delivering those lyrics, often in entertaining fashion.

Which was really what made MTV great; the ability to invite those bands and artists into our homes, apartments and dorm rooms with the press of the TV remote. Until then, they were heard but not seen. Suddenly they seemed like our friends — average people with senses of humor and creativity that went well beyond their music. We saw Peter Gabriel’s smiling face shake and dissolve thanks to, at the time, pioneering techniques like claymation and stop-motion animation, as he warbled his hit “Sledgehammer.” Up until then, Peter Gabriel could have stood behind me in the grocery store line and I would have been clueless.

We watched Michael Jackson dance with “gang members” in “Beat It” and then marvel that he could dance even better with monsters in “Thriller.” We saw Jon Bon Jovi sing “Wanted Dead or Alive” to a packed arena and, in the next frame, witnessed him sitting alone in a diner. It made us contemplate whether being a rock star was really all that glamorous.

We sympathized with Madonna and her decision to keep her unborn child in “Papa Don’t Preach.” We realized Cindy Lauper had fewer problems as she came home in the morning light singing, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” Girls dressed like Lauper while guys wondered how George Michael, frontman of some new group called Wham, could keep his hair in place as he shimmied through “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.” And who was the other guy in Wham, anyway?

When MTV Taught a Generation How to Pay Attention

We donated to Ethiopian famine relief while watching MTV broadcast Live Aid. We envied Martha Quinn and the other MTV “VJs” for having the world’s coolest jobs. We watched unknown bands like U2 and Duran Duran become global pop sensations simply because of their videos.

Perhaps we saw MTV’s death coming, as the channel began experimenting with reality shows like “The Real World,” even though taking 20-somethings and forcing them to live in a multi-million dollar home was hardly steeped in reality. The music we “watched” began playing on “oldies” stations, yet whenever we heard a track playing in the minivan as we chauffeured our kids to soccer practice, we immediately thought of the video that accompanied it. We remembered our whereabouts when we first saw Billy Idol sneer about a “White Wedding.”

So rest in peace, MTV. You are gone but certainly not forgotten. In your honor, I will insert my Airpods and spend an evening with my eyes closed and listening to some of my favorite tracks on my iPhone.

Tina Turner’s “Private Dancer” never sounded so good.