The early days of MTV were such a free-for-all, it was brilliant. I spent many, many hours watching countless numbers of music videos in those days. I recently watched a few old clips of the original VJs doing their thing and it brought back a lot that I had forgotten about the style of the network back then. It really was more like WKRP than the slick production style that would come to define the cable network in the '90s and beyond.
There were so many great hosts them, and really all the way through the '90s and beyond, so here is our list of all those fondly remembered VJs and other MTV personalities.
Martha Quinn
It was easy to have a crush on Martha Quinn. Not only was she cute and funny, but most importantly she had an encyclopedic knowledge of music. She would dazzle audiences with her seemingly off-the-cuff facts about bands, both current and past. The youngest of the original VJs, Quinn is also one of the most remembered, working at the network for a total of eight years over two stints.
Fab 5 Freddy
By the time Fab 5 Freddy became the first host of Yo! MTV Raps in 1988, he had already cemented his street cred in the hip hop scene. Fab 5 Freddy was part of the very early days of hip hop in New York City, going back the '70s when he was working with bands like Blondie (he's name-checked in their song "Rapture") and artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Mark Goodman
Mark Goodman was one of the five original VJs. He found his niche early on as one of the most "serious" personalities on the station, and was the first journalist of sorts for the network. He took on most of the early serious interviews, including an important one with David Bowie, where Bowie criticized the lack of Black artists on MTV in the early years.
Tabitha Soren
Tabitha Soren came into the MTV world via MTV News as one of the presenters. She was not there to introduce videos, but to tell us all what was going on in the music world. She also took on some of the most serious interviews of newsmakers outside of music, like Anita Hill and Yasser Arafat. Today she's a photographer and married to writer of the The Blind Side, Michael Lewis.
Downtown Julie Brown
After jumping into the rap game with Yo! MTV Raps, the next genre MTV added to its repertoire was dance music with Club MTV. The first host of the American Bandstand-like show was Downtown Julie Brown. She had already established her career by hosting similar shows in the U.K. and fit right in when she landed on MTV.
Alan Hunter
A classic trivia answer is "Video Killed The Radio Star" as the first video to appear on MTV, but can you name the first VJ to appear on the network? It was Alan Hunter. He was the first VJ to appear on screens, but the last hired by the network, coming on board just weeks before the launch. He spent six years with the network.
Riki Rachtman
As MTV continued to expand into genre-specific programming, one of the earliest examples was Headbangers Ball. While Adam Curry first hosted it, Riki Rachtman took over and became the face of the show that everyone still remembers today. Rachtman was more of a musician than a presenter before joining MTV, but he's still remembered most for his enthusiasm for metal and his awesome hair.
Adam Curry
Adam Curry was not one of the original VJs, he didn't come on board until 1987, still, he's one of the most fondly remembered hosts in the early days. Hosting shows like Headbangers Ball and the Top 20 Video Countdown, Curry was a favorite of many in the late '80s and early '90s before leaving in 1991.
Matt Pinfield
For many people, myself included, 120 Minutes was the most important show on MTV. It came on late, and it showed the coolest videos for the edgiest artists in what was then called "Alternative" music. The host for much of the show's run was Matt Pinfield, a very respected DJ with deep connections to that emerging scene in the late '80s and early '90s. He only worked for MTV from 1995 until 1999, but during that time he hosted countless shows and specials.
Ed Lover
The growing popularity of hip-hop in the early '90s led MTV to expand Yo! MTV Raps into a daily show, called, appropriately, Yo! MTV Raps Today. The man they selected to host the show was Ed Lover, who already had a long history in the scene as a rapper and brought a ton of personality every weekday into the homes of suburban America.
Doctor Dre
Not to be confused with hip hop pioneer Dr. Dre, the producer and former Super Bowl Halftime Show artist, Doctor Dre was the co-host of Yo! MTV Raps Today for six years in the early '90s alongside Ed Lover. Like many of the early hip-hop hosts on MTV, Doctor Dre had a long history in the scene, starting as a DJ in the early '80s.
Kurt Loder
Unlike much of the unpredictability and zaniness that many of the MTV VJs brought, MTV News host Kurt Loder brought some serious gravitas and experience to MTV when he started in 1987. He was older than most of the VJs and had a ton of music journalism experience, writing for Circus, Rolling Stone, and other publications before landing on MTV. He was the serious newsman of the bunch and he's remembered for breaking a lot of news on the air, maybe most notably the death of Kurt Cobain in the spring of 1994.
Ken Ober
Ken Ober joined MTV for one reason, to be the excellent host of one of its first game shows, Remote Control. It's almost forgotten these days, but few have forgotten Ober. Sadly, he passed away in 2009, but he'll always be one of our favorite personalities in MTV history.
Randee Of The Redwoods
On a network filled with weirdos and oddballs, Randee of the Redwoods stands out as maybe the weirdest. The character, played by comedian Jim Turner, wasn't a host, of a VJ, and he wasn't a musician. He was something else. He did a lot of the promos in his weird way as the lost hippie, confused about where he was and what he was doing. He was omnipresent for a time on the network and won't soon be forgotten.
J.J. Jackson
J.J. Jackson was the dean of the first five VJs on MTV. He was the oldest of the bunch and by far the most experienced, having been a radio DJ since the 1960s in Boston and LA. His connections in the industry reached far and wide and his spot as an early VJ brought serious credibility in the early days. He died in 2004 at age 62.
Kennedy
In a lot of ways Kennedy (Lisa Kennedy Montgomery) was the original "emo girl." She joined MTV in 1992 to host Alternative Nation and stayed with the network until 1997. Since leaving MTV, she has built an impressive career, as a DJ, game show host, and political commentator. Starting in 2005 Kennedy, a staunch libertarian, began working for Fox News, first as a host on Fox News Business, then later as a contributor and host on the parent network.
Serena Altschul
Serena Altschul is an award-winning journalist who started her career with MTV in the '80s, behind the scenes. She soon moved in front of the camera and became one of the main hosts of MTV News after Tabitha Soren left the network. She worked at MTV 16 years before moving on to become a contributor for CBS.
Sway
Sway Calloway, better known simply as Sway, became the face of MTV in the early 2000s. He was everywhere on the network for years, hosting shows, interviewing celebrities, and just about everything else. He's been involved with the network for decades now, and also works as a DJ on SiriusXM, like many of his former MTV counterparts.
Daisy Fuentes
The multitalented Daisy Fuentes has broken a lot of barriers in her career, including becoming the first Latina host on MTV. The Cuban-born Fuentes started on MTV Latin America but joined the U.S. network in 1993. She hosted MTV House of Style, among many other shows during her time there.
Dan Cortese
As a former high school and college athlete with a big personality, Dan Cortese was the perfect choice for the host of the then-new MTV Sports. The frenetic show featured what were then called "alternative" sports, like skateboarding, snowboarding, and all the other sports that would soon become part of the X-Games on ESPN. Cortese and the show pre-date the X-Games and it's fair to say that it helped set the tone for how ESPN presented them.
Duff
Karen "Duff" Duffy was a big part of MTV in the '90s. As a VJ and correspondent for MTV News, she was often in the thick of whatever the network was broadcasting. Since leaving MTV, she's continued to have a successful career in media, as a host, actor, and writer.
Jesse Camp
In 1998 MTV ran its first Wanna Be a VJ contest. The unlikely winner was the enigmatic Jesse Camp. He immediately became a fan-favorite with many MTV viewers, while also driving others (like me) nuts. While he only spent about a year on the network, he's still one of its most-remembered personalities.
Kari Wührer
Kari Wührer was only on MTV for a short time, as the co-hostess/sidekick on Remote Control and a host of MTV Spring Break, but her time was memorable. After leaving MTV, Wührer embarked on a semi-successful acting career, mainly appearing in B-movies and on TV, including a stint on General Hospital.
Bill Bellamy
Comedian and actor Bill Bellamy has had a long career that stretches all the way back to the early '90s when he started as a multi-faceted member of the MTV on-air crew. He was a VJ and host for a lot of programs on the network before leaving to star in movies, including the 2023 remake of House Party.
Julie Brown
Julie Brown, not to be confused with Downtown Julie Brown, is a quirky comedian who got her first big break in movies in the early '80s, and with her popular novelty hit song "The Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun." The video for the song became a staple on MTV and eventually, she landed her own show, Just Say Julie in 1989. The show highlighted her wacky, sometimes raunchy humor and was a big hit over the four years it ran.
Dave Kendall
British VJ Dave Kendall was the original host of 120 Minutes and simply by virtue of his accent (and vast music knowledge) was instantly the coolest cat on the network. His show broke a lot of bands to mainstream audiences and was one of the most important in the early days of the network.
Simon Rex
Perhaps no one else from MTV's first couple of decades, with the exception of Carson Daly, parlayed his work there into as big a career as Simon Rex. He is probably most famous for his role as Dan in the Scary Movie franchise and has been busy acting and making music ever since leaving MTV.
Nina Blackwood
Nina Blackwood was a classic-sounding DJ with her naturally raspy voice so it made sense that she made an impression on those hiring the first five VJs for MTV. The actress and model worked at MTV for five years before moving on.
Colin Quinn
Colin Quinn is most famous for being part of one of the best SNL casts of all time, joining the show in its 20th season. Previous to SNL, Quinn started out as the sidekick to host Ken Ober on Remote Control.
Chris Connelly
Chris Connelly spent an incredible 13 years at MTV, mostly as its resident movie guy. It's a stint that few have matched and for movie and music fans who grew up in the era, his opinions on both helped shape a lot of that generation's own opinions.
Alison Stewart
Alison Stewart was a news reporter from the jump in her time at MTV. She started behind the camera as a PA and then as a segment producer before moving in front of the camera in 1992. She covered news - hard news, mostly - and really didn't cover as much music. She parlayed that into a career as a journalist outside of MTV with CBS and others.
John Norris
For many years John Norris was one of the faces of MTV News. He was a regular contributor to the show and hosted a ton of specials, including covering the death of Michael Jackson in 2009. He left the network around that same time and has held various positions in media since.
MTV's big personalities were a huge reason for the network's early and sustaining success. It might have taken the "M" out of MTV a long time ago, but the cable channel will always have these fondly remembered hosts for us to reminisce about.
