The MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative is given at the annual MTV Video Music Award. The category was first given out at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards as Best Alternative Music Video, succeeding the Best Post-Modern Video category.
After the 1998 ceremony, this award was eliminated, and it was not presented until over two decades later, when it was brought back for the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, under the name Best Alternative. During its discontinuation, artists and videos who would have normally been eligible for this award became eligible for other genre categories, including Best Rock Video.
Nirvana is the biggest winner of this award, winning all three of their consecutive bids for the Moonman from 1992 to 1994. MGK has the most nominations with five.
Recipients 1990s + Year Winner(s) Video Nominees Jane's Addiction "Been Caught Stealing" Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit" Nirvana "In Bloom" Nirvana "Heart-Shaped Box" Weezer "Buddy Holly" The Smashing Pumpkins "1979" Sublime "What I Got" Green Day "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" colspan="4"
2020s + Year Winner(s) Video Nominees Machine Gun Kelly "Bloody Valentine" Machine Gun Kelly "My Ex's Best Friend" Måneskin "I Wanna Be Your Slave" Lana Del Rey "Candy Necklace" 2024 Benson Boone "Beautiful Things" 2025 Sombr "Back to Friends" 2026 Olivia Rodrigo "The Cure"
Statistics Artists with multiple wins 3 wins Nirvana
2 wins MGK
Artists with multiple nominations
5 nominations MGK
4 nominations Imagine Dragons Twenty One Pilots
3 nominations Green Day Nirvana Willow
2 nominations Avril Lavigne Beck Blackbear Bleachers Foo Fighters Lana Del Rey Red Hot Chili Peppers R.E.M. Sombr Stone Temple Pilots The Smashing Pumpkins Travis Barker
See also MTV Europe Music Award for Best Alternative MTV Video Music Award for Best Post-Modern Video
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