Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter is an American singer, songwriter and businesswoman. Regarded as one of the most influential cultural figures in history and the greatest artist of the 21st century by several publications, Beyoncé has been credited with transforming both the sound of popular music and the music industry itself. She is renowned for her vocal ability and live performances, with Rolling Stone naming her the world's greatest living entertainer and one of the greatest vocalists of all time. Her work is considered by many to be amongst the greatest of all time.
The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position". In 2023, it was joined by a companion category, Best Alternative Music Performance.
The MTV Video Music Awards is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards, the annual MTV Video Music Awards ceremony has often been called the Super Bowl for youth, an acknowledgment of the VMA ceremony's ability to draw millions of youth from teens to 20-somethings each year. By 2001, the VMA had become a coveted award.
The MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year Presented by Burger King is the most prestigious competitive award and the final award presented at the annual MTV Video Music Awards. The award was created by the U.S. network MTV to honor artists with the best music videos. At the first MTV Video Music Awards ceremony in 1984, the Video of the Year honor was presented to The Cars for the video "You Might Think". Originally, all winners were determined by a special panel of music video directors, producers, and record company executives. Since the 2006 awards, winners of major categories are determined by viewers' votes through MTV's website, while the jury decides in the technical categories.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video was one of four original general awards that have been handed out every year since the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, though, the award was briefly renamed Male Artist of the Year, and it awarded the artist's whole body of work for that year rather than a specific video. However, the award returned to its original name the following year. It was replaced by the Artist of the Year category in 2017, combining Best Male and Best Female video categories.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Concept Video was first given out in 1984, awarding the best videos that involved the conceptual interpretation of a song.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist has been given out since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. Until 2006, the award was named Best New Artist in a Video. In 2007 its name was changed to Best New Artist, as the category underwent a format change to recognize the artist's body of work for the full year rather than a specific video. For the 2008 ceremony, the award retained its 2007 name but returned to the format of awarding a specific video rather than the artist's full body of work.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography is a craft award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and choreographer of the music video. From 1984 to 2007, the full name of the award was Best Choreography in a Video. The biggest winner is Frank Gatson with six wins. Michael Rooney follows closely behind with five wins.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Editing is a craft award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and the editor of the music video. From 1984 to 2007, the award's full name was Best Editing in a Video, before acquiring its current name in 2008.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B was first awarded in 1993 under the name Best R&B Video, and it was given every year until 2006. The following year MTV revamped the VMAs and eliminated all the genre categories. However, in 2008, when MTV returned the Video Music Awards to their previous format, Best R&B Video did not return despite four other genre awards doing so. It was only in 2019 that the R&B award returned to the VMAs, now under the shorter name of Best R&B.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip Hop was first given out at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards. The award, according to MTV, was originally intended for hip hop-inspired songs, not necessarily actual hip hop music videos. This explains the recognition of non-hip hop songs such as "Thong Song" and "I'm Real (Remix)".
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Dance was first awarded in 1989, and it was one of the original four genre categories that were added to the MTV Video Music Awards that year.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock was first given out in 1989, one of the four original genre categories added to the VMAs that year. In its first year, the award was called Best Heavy Metal Video, and from 1990 to 1995, it was renamed Best Metal/Hard Rock Video. The category underwent a third, brief name change in 1996, when it was renamed Best Hard Rock Video. In 1997, the award acquired its most enduring name, Best Rock Video, which it retained until 2016. The following year, the word "Video" was removed from all genre categories at the VMAs, giving this award its current name: Best Rock.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop was first given out in 1999 under the name of Best Pop Video, as MTV began to put several teen pop acts in heavy rotation. Nominations, however, were not just limited to pop acts, as dance, R&B, pop/rock, and reggaeton artists have also received nominations throughout the award's history.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative was first given out at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. Prior to being called Best Alternative Video, it was known as Best Post-Modern Video in 1989 and 1990.
The MTV Video Music Award for Breakthrough Video was first awarded in 1988, replacing the award for Most Experimental Video. Along with Best Direction in a Video, this award was considered to be one of the most important professional categories at the VMAs, as every once in a while it was even presented during the main show.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Collaboration was first introduced to the MTV Video Music Awards in 2007 under the name Most Earthshattering Collaboration, as the VMAs were revamped and a few new categories were added to the show. When MTV brought the VMAs back to their old format in 2008, this category did not return. It was not until 2010 that the category was reintroduced under the name Best Collaboration.
"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Beyoncé, from her third studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008). Columbia Records released "Single Ladies" as a single on October 8, 2008, as a double A-side alongside "If I Were a Boy", showcasing the contrast between Beyoncé and her aggressive onstage alter ego Sasha Fierce. It explores men's unwillingness to propose or commit. In the song, the female protagonist is in a club to celebrate her single status.
The MTV Video Music Award for Video for Good is an award handed out at the yearly MTV Video Music Awards, first introduced at the 2011 ceremony. Originally named Best Video with a Message, the word "Social" was added to its name in 2013.
