The Top 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time (100 to 50)

A lighthearted look at the best videos of all time

Screencapture from Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi

Rules:

1. No more than two appearances per artist to prevent this list from being all Bjork and Major Lazer.
2. No more than two appearances per director to prevent Michael Gondry, Spike Jonze, and Hype Williams from dominating.
3. English language bands only. Otherwise, the list would be a ton of weird Russian Synthpop. And I’d have to watch K-Pop videos.

Notes:

• The oldest video on my list is Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody from 1975. The newest is Little Nas X’s MONERO from March 2021.
• I like a video where things happen. Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinead O’Connor is not on this list. It’s boring. Music videos should complement the music. Editing matters.
• If the powers that be won’t put the explicit version on YouTube, I’m not putting the whack clean version on the list. Nelly, David Banner, and Rick Ross should be on my top 100 list. Rappers used to use the word “bitch.” We remember.
• There’s no “it was a good video for its time” on this list. These are the best of all time.
• I don’t want to spend the next 5 years of my life fixing broken links on this…