| 1996 MTV Video Music Awards | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date | Wednesday, September 4, 1996 |
| Location | Radio City Music Hall, New York, New York |
| Country | United States |
| Hosted by | Dennis Miller |
| Most awards | The Smashing Pumpkins (7) |
| Most nominations | The Smashing Pumpkins (9) |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | MTV |
| Produced by | Andy Schuon |
| Directed by | Beth McCarthy |
The 1996 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 4, 1996, honoring the best music videos from June 16, 1995, to June 14, 1996. The show was hosted by Dennis Miller at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
The show centered on the Smashing Pumpkins, who led the night with nine nominations. Following original drummer Jimmy Chamberlin's firing from the band due to his arrest of drug possession and the death of their touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin from a heroin overdose on July 12, the band opened the show as a three-piece, performing a version of "Tonight, Tonight." Additionally, the band ended up winning seven of the awards they were up for: "Tonight, Tonight" won six awards out of its eight nominations, including Video of the Year, thus making it the night's most nominated and biggest winning video; while their video for "1979" won the award for Best Alternative Video.
Canadian singer Alanis Morissette won three out of her six nominations for her video "Ironic." Tying with her in terms of nominations was Icelandic singer Björk, who also received six; however, her video for "It's Oh So Quiet" only took home one Moonman for Best Choreography. Closely following with five nominations each were Coolio, Foo Fighters, and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. Out of these, though, only the former two ended up taking home Moonmen for their videos. Coolio won three, as "Gangsta's Paradise" won two out of its three nominations, and "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)" won one out of its two nominations, while Foo Fighters' "Big Me" took home one Moonman for Best Group Video. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, meanwhile, went home empty-handed.
Highlights of the show included a pre-show set by No Doubt, who performed on the entrance marquee of Radio City Music Hall. There was also a short-lived reunion of the four original members of Van Halen, who had not appeared together at that time for more than a decade, presenting the award for Best Male Video, as well as a live interlink with astronauts on the Mir space station. The ceremony also marked Tupac Shakur's final public appearance before his death on September 13, from gunshot wounds after being shot four times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, three days after the VMAs on September 7.