Music historians will remember the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards less for who took home 'Moonman' trophies than for the tense pre-show face-off between the Nirvana and Guns N' Roses camps. But for Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis the night was memorable for an entirely different reason.
The night promised to be a significant one for the Los Angeles funk-rock quartet, who were then riding high on the success of their Rick Rubin-produced fifth album, 1991's Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The Chilis were actually the most nominated artists of the evening, having secured six nominations for French film-maker Stéphane Sednaoui's striking video for the album's first single, Give It Away, plus an additional three nominations for Gus Van Sant's more low-key and intimate video for Under The Bridge, which had peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The band were also scheduled to perform on the night, alongside industry big-hitters including U2, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses and Michael Jackson, plus their 1991 touring partners Pearl Jam and Nirvana.
