TIMOTHY HUTTON
won an Academy Award at the age of twenty for his role in
Ordinary People
. He has starred in many films, plays, and TV shows, and his career as a director includes music videos for the Cars and Don Henley.
SCOTT IAN
is the guitarist and main lyricist in Anthrax and is married to Meat Loaf's daughter.
BILLY IDOL
has had many hits, including “Dancing with Myself,” “Rebel Yell,” and “White Wedding.”
STEVE ISAACS
was a VJ on MTV from 1991 to 1993. He is the creative director at BLT & Associates.
CHRIS ISAAK
released his first album in 1985, had his own TV shows on Showtime and Biography, and appeared in the films
Married to the Mob
and
The Silence of the Lambs
, among others.
WAYNE ISAAK
worked at A&M Records from 1982 to 1994 and held the title executive vice president at east coast ops & publicity.
WAYNE ISHAM
is a director whose run of hit videos began in 1985 with Mötley Crüe's “Home Sweet Home” and includes Bon Jovi's “Living on a Prayer,” Metallica's “Enter Sandman,” and the Backstreet Boys' “I Want It That Way.”
JANET JACKSON
has sold more than 100 million records worldwide. Her hits include “Escapade,” “Miss You Much,” “Nasty,” and “When I Think of You.”
JOE JACKSON
is an English singer-songwriter whose MTV hits include “Steppin' Out.”
KURT JEFFERIS
of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, won MTV's “Lost Weekend with Van Halen” contest in 1984.
BILLY JOEL
is a singer, songwriter, and pianist. He ranks as the sixth best-selling recording artist of all time, with more than 79 million albums sold in the U.S.
STEVEN R. JOHNSON
is a music-video and television director. His video for Peter Gabriel's “Sledgehammer” won nine Video Music Awards in 1987, a record that still stands. Johnson directed the first season of the children's TV show
Pee-wee's Playhouse.
HOWARD JONES
had many '80s hits, including “Things Can Only Get Better,” “No One Is to Blame,” and “What Is Love?”
MICK JONES
sang and played guitar in the Clash and later formed the band Big Audio Dynamite.
TRACEY JORDAN
was vice president of music programming and talent development at MTV from 1992 to 1994. She has worked at Motown and Arista Records and works as a consultant with Aretha Franklin and ABKCO Records.
ROB KAHANE
managed George Michael from 1986 to 1992.
SAM KAISER
was vice president of programming for MTV from 1986 to 1988. He owns a music consultancy firm, MVP Entertainment.
JOHN KALODNER
was an A&R executive for Atlantic Records and Geffen Records. He signed Foreigner and Phil Collins to Atlantic, and Whitesnake, Cher, and Aerosmith to Geffen.
SCOTT KALVERT
is a director and producer of music videos and movies.
DAVE KENDALL
is a British-born journalist who hosted
120 Minutes
for many years.
JEANA TOMASINA KEOUGH
was the November 1980
Playboy
playmate. She is featured in three ZZ Top videos, was a
Real Housewives of Orange County
cast member, and is a real-estate broker in California.
KEVIN KERSLAKE
has directed videos for Nirvana, Green Day, R.E.M., the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and others, as well as TV shows, short films, commercials, and documentaries about surfing, EDM culture, and the Ramones.
ALEK KESHISHIAN
directed the 1991 Madonna documentary,
Truth or Dare
. He made four videos for Bobby Brown, including “My Prerogrative” and “Every Little Step.”
TAWNY KITAEN
is an actress who starred alongside Tom Hanks in
Bachelor Party
, then rose to fame with a string of gyrating appearances in hit videos for the band Whitesnake. She was married to the group's singer, David Coverdale, from 1989 to 1991.
MICK KLEBER
ran the video department at Capitol Records between 1980 and 1993.
JANET KLEINBAUM
is the senior vice president of video and DVD production for Jive Records.
DANIEL KLEINMAN
is a British music-video and commercial director.
ABBEY KONOWITCH
was MTV's senior VP of music and talent from 1988 to 1992. He has worked as a record executive at Arista Records, Maverick Records, and Hollywood Records.
KOOL MOE DEE
was the first rapper to perform at the Grammys. His hits include “How Ya Like Me Now” and “Wild Wild West.”
LENNY KRAVITZ
is a Grammy Awardâwinning singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His debut 1989 video, “Let Love Rule,” was directed by his then-wife,
Cosby Show
star Lisa Bonet.
RICK KRIM
joined MTV in 1982, tasked with filing Les Garland's expense reports. He eventually worked his way up to vice president of music and talent. He is currently the executive vice president of music and talent programming at VH1.
JOHN LACK
was the executive vice president of the Warner Amex Satellite Entertainment Company, or WASEC. It was Lack who came up with the idea for MTV. He served as an executive vice president at ESPN and is currently the chief partner at FireMedia Partners, a digital media company.
LADY GAGA
is a singer and songwriter whose second album,
Born This Way
, debuted at number one on the
Billboard
album charts with first week sales of 1.1 million copies.
MARY LAMBERT
directed the Madonna videos “Borderline,” “Material Girl,” “Like a Virgin,” and “Like a Prayer.” She is currently a film director.
JON LANDAU
manages Bruce Springsteen.
JOHN LANDIS
is a film director whose credits include
National Lampoon's Animal House
and
Trading Places
. His video for Michael Jackson's “Thriller” was the first music video inducted into the National Film Registry.
JANI LANE
was Warrant's singer during their heyday, when they had five number one videos on MTV.
CYNDI LAUPER
won Best Female Video at the first VMAs for “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and has sold more than thirty million albums in her unusual career.
SIMON LE BON
is a former child actor and the front man in Duran Duran.
TOMMY LEE
plays drums in Mötley Crüe. He married Heather Locklear in 1986 and after their divorce dated Bobbie Brown.
HARVEY LEEDS
was the national director of video promotion for Epic Records. He currently runs Headquarters Media, a management and consulting company.
STEVE LEEDS
was head of on-air talent for MTV from 1987 to 1990. He is currently the vice president of talent and industry affairs at Sirius XM Radio.
ANNIE LENNOX
is a Grammy Awardâwinning singer who performed with Dave Stewart in the 1980s duo Eurythmics.
DON LETTS
directed videos for the Clash and Musical Youth and has made several films, including
Punk: Attitude
and
The Punk Rock Movie.
ADAM LEVINE
is Maroon 5's singer and a costar of NBC's
The Voice.
HUEY LEWIS
is the leader of Huey Lewis and the News. They performed “I Want a New Drug” at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984.
PAM LEWIS
was national media director at Warner Amex Satellite from 1980 to 1984. She later comanaged Garth Brooks, from the start of his career to the peak of his superstardom, as well as Trisha Yearwood.
GARY LIEBERTHAL
is a TV executive and the former chairman and CEO of Columbia Pictures Television.
LIMAHL
was seen on MTV with Kajagoogoo (“Too Shy”) and as a solo artist. His “Love in Your Eyes” video was directed by Russell Mulcahy.
PERRI LISTER
is an English dancer and choreographer. She has appeared in music videos for Def Leppard, Duran Duran, and former boyfriend Billy Idol.
GEORGE LOIS
is a legendary advertising executive who may or may not have created the phrase “I Want My MTV.”
ROBERT LOMBARD
is a Hollywood producer who worked with Van Halen and Fleetwood Mac and cast many soft-core porn films.
COURTNEY LOVE
is the leader of the band Hole. She is the widow of the late Nirvana singer-songwriter Kurt Cobain.
ED LOVER
cohosted the weekday
Yo! MTV Raps
with Dr. Dre and blogs at cmonson
online.com
.
STEVE LUKATHER
is the lead guitarist for the band Toto.
MONICA LYNCH
worked as a go-go dancer before rising to the presidency of the rap label Tommy Boy Records.
ANNE-MARIE MACKAY
was the head of music video at Propaganda Films. She is now executive director/chief creative officer at the media production company Wondros.
MATT MAHURIN
is an illustrator, photographer, and director who has worked with U2, Metallica, Peter Gabriel, and R.E.M.
DAVID MALLET
is a British director who has worked extensively with David Bowie, as well as Queen, Def Leppard, Billy Idol, Scorpions, and INXS.
AIMEE MANN
and her band 'Til Tuesday won Best New Artist at the 1985 Video Music Awards. She has been a solo artist since 1993.
MICHAEL MANN
was executive producer of the TV series
Miami Vice
. He directed the films
Heat
,
The Insider
, and
Collateral
.
KIM MARLOWE
manages Fab Morvan, formerly of Milli Vanilli.
LIONEL MARTIN
cohosted
Video Music Box
, one of the first TV shows to feature rap videos, and as a director worked with Public Enemy, Bobby Brown, and Whitney Houston, among others.
CURT MARVIS
was a partner with Wayne Isham in the music-video production company The Company. He is currently the president of digital media at Lionsgate Entertainment.
RICHARD MARX
released seven consecutive Top 5 singles between 1987 and 1990.
LEE MASTERS,
born Jarl Mohn, was the general manager of MTV from 1986 to 1989. He founded E! Entertainment Television in 1990 and is currently an investor in a number of broadcast, cable programming, and Internet companies.
MC HAMMER
recorded the hits “U Can't Touch This,” “Pray,” and “Too Legit to Quit.”
Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em
was the first rap album to sell 10 million copies.
RON McCARRELL
was vice president of marketing at Epic, Portrait, and CBS Associated Labels, then worked at Capitol and Windham Hill. He later launched record labels for the House of Blues and for the World Wrestling Federation.
BETH McCARTHY
was a director at MTV whose credits include
Nirvana Unplugged
. She directed
Saturday Night Live
from 1995 to 2006 and frequently directs the comedy series
30 Rock
.
DOC McGHEE
managed Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, Scorpions, and Skid Row at the height of each band's career.
JUDY McGRATH
began as a copywriter at MTV in November 1981. She was appointed chairman/CEO of MTV Networks in 2004 and stepped down from the post in May 2011.
PAUL McGUINNESS
has managed U2 since 1978.
MEAT LOAF
is a singer and actor. His 1977 album
Bat Out of Hell
has sold an estimated 43 million copies worldwide.
RIC MENELLO
directed LL Cool J's “Going Back to Cali” and codirected (and had cameos in) Beastie Boys' “Fight for Your Right” and “No Sleep Till Brooklyn.”
PETER MENSCH
is the cofounder of Q Prime Management.
BOB MERLIS
was senior vice president of worldwide corporate communications at Warner Bros. Records, where he worked for twenty-nine years.
MARK METCALF
is an actor best known for his role as Doug Neidermeyer in
National Lampoon's Animal House
, a part he reprised in two Twisted Sister videos, “We're Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock.”
GEORGE MICHAEL
has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and received a Video Vanguard Award from MTV in 1989.
BRET MICHAELS
is the singer for the hard rock band Poison. He starred in three seasons of the VH1 reality show
Rock of Love
.
JEAN-BAPTISTE MONDINO
is a French-born fashion photographer and video director who has worked with Madonna, Don Henley, David Bowie, Prince, Sting, Björk, and Bryan Ferry.
TOM MOHLER
comanaged Billy Squier and later managed Poison.
ANDY MORAHAN
is a British music-video and commercial director. He directed George Michael's “Faith” and Guns N' Roses' “November Rain,” among many clips.
ROBERT MORTON
served as creative director of MTV prior to the network's launch. He was the longtime executive producer of David Letterman's late-night talk show.
FAB MORVAN
was born in Paris and lived in Munich when he met Rob Pilatus. The two performed as Milli Vanilli, one of the biggest pop acts of the late '80s.
MARK MOTHERSBAUGH
is a cofounder of Devo, who were early adopters of music video. He has scored many TV shows and movies.
TOMMY MOTTOLA
managed Hall & Oates, became president of CBS Records in 1988 and chairman and CEO of Sony Music five years later.
RUSSELL MULCAHY
is an Australian film and TV director. His exotic trilogy of videos for Duran Duranâ“Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Rio,” and “Save a Prayer”âpropelled the band to worldwide stardom. He has directed several episodes of MTV's original series
Teen Wolf.