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Photos from So Many MTV VJs, Then and Now
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So Many MTV VJs, Then and Now

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MTV VJs, Nina Blackwood, Then and Now
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Nina Blackwood

One of MTV's original five VJs when the network first launched, Blackwood and her fellow trailblazers spent several years literally just talking about the videos they were playing, before the programming was divided up into shows.?

"I envisioned it to be like a really, really cool FM station, only on TV," she recalled to WNYC's Soundcheck ?in 2013.?"I didn't go there wanting to be 'Miss TV Star' at all. I really thought that video music was going to catch on. I thought combining two of America's favorite pastimes, music and TV, would probably work."

Blackwood was correct. After leaving MTV in 1986, she went on to host her own syndicated music show,? Solid Gold , and has been helping to tell the story of 1980s music culture ever since. In 2003 she was a member of a touring production of? The Vagina Monologues , and she's now a DJ for SiriusXM's?'80s on 8 channel ?along with fellow O.G. MTV VJs Mark Goodman and Alan Hunter .?

As far as her old stomping grounds go, however, "I really hate to say this, but when I turn it on, I can't watch it," Blackwood told interviewer Gary James in 2009 .?"I like VH-1 Classic because there are a lot of documentaries on there. They have a classic album show about the making of a classic album. It's not just '80s, it's any classic album, basically. I like stuff like that. I'm more of a musicologist."

Moreover, "I'm not much of a pop music person," she said. "I'm more of a rock music person. But you got Madonna , who became a force of nature, and unfortunately of all the other people who follow in her path, the Britney Spears ?of the world that I could do without, but that's my opinion."

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Mark Goodman

He was supposed to be the first of MTV's five inaugural VJs to introduce himself when the network launched on Aug. 1, 1981, but due to an editing snafu, he was the last.?

In addition to his brass-tacks music video duties, Goodman went on to host The Week in Rock , 120 Minutes and?MTV's first-ever syndicated special,? MTV: The Top 20 Video Countdown .

Commenting on MTV's penchant for constantly adding new, young faces to its lineup, Goodman told WNYC's? Soundcheck , "Whether the five of us stayed or didn't stay, MTV made a decision in terms of their future, and that was: We will not grow old with our audience. This is what our demo is. This is what we will do to superserve them... They probably would have gone in the same direction, and maybe we would have been behind the scenes, or maybe we would have been in the news department, or more than likely we would have been out."

Goodman is still celebrating the best of the '80s and its hidden gems, still with Nina Blackwood and Alan Hunter, on SiriusXM's '80s on 8.

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J.J. Jackson

One of the original five VJs, Jackson would often go by "Triple J" in his heyday. After five years at MTV, he?returned to his L.A. radio roots and remained a fixture on those airwaves, hosting? The Beatle Years for Westwood One until?his death from a heart attack in 2004 at the age of 62.

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Alan Hunter

The O.G. five member?the first VJ to ever appear onscreen for the network, who also kept his job as a bartender for that first iffy month?stayed at MTV until 1987, starting off in a more stationary position but eventually hitting the road as host of? MTV Spring Break ,? MTV's Amuck in America ?and? MTV's Hedonism Weekend With Bon Jovi in Jamaica . (They've always been? so specific with their show titles.)

In 1999 the movie buff and Birmingham, Ala., native co-founded the?Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival (now the Sidewalk Film Festival), and the?Alan Hunter Best Alabama Film Award is still given out to this day.

Hunter has also been a host on the Starz and Encore networks, and he continues to play the best of the 1980s on SiriusXM's '80s on 8 with Nina Blackwood and Mark Goodman.

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Martha Quinn

The member of the original five auditioned for her first-ever?on-air job by riffing about Earth, Wind and Fire for a few minutes?and she was hired, first through 1986 and then she returned in 1989, staying at MTV until 1992. Not only did she have a grand comeback, but? Rolling Stone readers voted her the best ever MTV VJ and? Allure? call the 1980s on MTV "the Martha Quinn years."

She collaborated with Hunter, Goodman and Blackwood (and co-writer Gavin Edwards ) on the 2013 tell-all? VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's First Wave .

On the personal front, Quinn married musician Jordan Tarlow in 1992 and they have two kids.

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John Sencio

MTV's resident morning person hosted? Rude Awakening , which aired at 6 a.m., while the kids were getting ready for school. In the 2000s he hosted? Cash in the Attic but Sencio mainly turned to producing after leaving MTV. A two-time cancer survivor, he's directing a documentary about his journey called Thryvor .

 

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Daisy Fuentes

The Cuban-born?TV presenter?and model made history as MTV's first Latina VJ, signing on with both the?U.S. network and MTV Latin America. That led to her run as the host of? House of Style? and these days she presides over a name-brand empire of clothing, eyeglasses, fragrances and hair care.

Fuentes is currently host of? A New Leaf , which connects people with their roots with the help of Ancestry.com, and she's an active fundraiser for breast cancer research.

She's been married to Richard Marx , her second husband, since 2015.

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Adam Curry

He joined MTV in 1987 and went on to host? Headbangers Ball? and the? MTV Top 20 Video Countdown . Sensing something was up with this Internet business back in the 1990s, Curry registered "mtv.com" in 1993, a sanctioned move at the time but one that caused some legal friction once Curry left the network.

His visionary efforts in podcasting, starting in 2005, has earned him the nickname "Podfather" in some circles, and that too turned out to be quite the thing. He?and John C. Dvorak have been hosting the twice-weekly political podcast? No Agenda since 2007.

Curry married third wife Tina Snider in 2019.

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China "Slick" Kantner

The daughter of Jefferson Airplane singer Grace Slick? and guitarist Paul Kantner? was MTV's youngest-ever VJ, getting her start on the network at 15. One of her?first gigs: interviewing her dad for MTV's Summer of Love 20th anniversary coverage in 1987.

Kantner has acted on stage and screen, and has logged time as a singer and songwriter with Jefferson Starship , the band that evolved out of the remaining pieces of Jefferson Airplane after a?couple of founding members left in the 1970s.

She's been married to second husband? Seth Isler since 2011.

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Riki Rachtman

The L.A.-born musician hosted? Headbangers Ball? from 1989 until 1993 and then became?a local legend as co-host of KROQ-FM's? Loveline? with Adam Carolla and Dr. Drew Pinsky (until some sort of issue among the three prompted Rachtman's departure in 1996).

He's been an actor, a correspondent for World Championship Wrestling, a nightclub owner, a skateboarding entrepreneur, an avid motorcycle rider (his Riki's Ride is an annual charity event) and, always, a music man and raconteur. He?later popped up on VH1 commentating on the various I Love the? [insert decade] specials?as host of the? Rock of Love and? Rock of Love Bus reunion specials, featuring his friend Bret Michaels .?

Rachtman hosts the? Cathouse Hollywood podcast , named after his since-shuttered but legendary club of the same name, and lives with his longtime girlfriend, tattoo artist and model Lea Vendetta .

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Adrienne Bailon

The? Cheetah Girls ?singer co-hosted MTV's New Year's Eve coverage and? MTV News Presents: Top 9 of '09 , flexing her hosting muscles a few years before she joined? The Real , sharing?the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host with her co-hosts in 2018.

Recently she enjoyed an impressive run as the Flamingo on? The Masked Singer .

In 2016, she married Israel Houghton? and is stepmom to his four kids.

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Karen "Duff" Duffy

The MTV regular branched out into acting in the 1990s in the likes of? Reality Bites ,? Dumb Dumber? and? Blank Check? and in 2009 she was the voice of Linda Otter in the Wes Anderson's? Fantastic Mr. Fox .

The model and veteran host is also the author of two books about her battle with?neurosarcoidosis, a disease that attacks the central nervous system that she was diagnosed with in 1995, contributing to her being out of the spotlight for long stretches at a time.

"Sarcoidosis isn't some burden that I carry. It's not a gift that I would have picked out for myself," Duffy told CNN in 2003, the same year she and husband John Lambros welcomed their son, Jack , via surrogate. "But now that I have it, it's made me actually stronger. It's made me braver."

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Carson Daly

After starting out on the radio, he made?his debut on MTV in 1997 as the host of Total Request Live , interviewing pop princesses, boy bands, alt-rockers, actors and more for the show?an after-school must-watch for so many?until 2003.

He went on to host the late-late-late-night NBC show? Last Call with Carson Daly? from?2002 until 2019, when he handed the keys to that time slot over to Lilly Singh , and he's been hosting The Voice since 2011.?He's also been hosting?NBC's New Year's Eve coverage since 2004 and, in 2013, Daly?joined? Today? as its social media correspondent?and has since become a go-to fill-in host.

Daly married Siri Pinter in 2015 and they have four children together. He was still doing morning radio and hosting a weekend countdown show until 2017, when he stepped down to have more time with his family. "Today is my very last day on AMP Radio…," Daly explained in his? farewell message on Instagram . "The truth is… The reason I'm going to stop doing radio for now is that I just want to have breakfast with my kids… I want to thank you guys. It's been really incredible."

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Ananda Lewis

The?aspiring journalist began working with?the network in 1997, hosting Hot Zone and appearing on? TRL ,?as well as contributing to their rather robust news coverage at the time,?presiding over?specials about violence in schools after the mass shooting in Columbine in 1999 and reporting on Aaliyah 's untimely death in a plane crash in 2000.

She left the network in 2001?to host? The Ananda Lewis Show , but that only lasted for one season amid the crowded daytime talk landscape. Then it was on to work for BET, interviewing celebs as a?correspondent for? The Insider ,?and competing on? Celebrity Mole: Yucatan? in 2004 with the likes of Dennis Rodman and Angie Everhart .

Lewis is mom to a son and she's an experienced carpenter, posting tutorials on how to change your locks and other home-improvement tasks on Instagram.

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Dave Holmes

He may have been runner-up to Jesse Camp ?on MTV's first Wanna Be a VJ competition in 1998, but the network hired him anyway, bringing him on to host? 120 Minutes , Real World reunion specials and? Say What? Karaoke .

After leaving MTV in?2002, he hosted FX's? DVD on TV ?for 10 seasons and has been a frequent contributor across the cable lineup when a pop culture talking head is needed.?In 2016, he published? Party of One: A Memoir in 21 Songs ,?chronicling his experience coming into his own and "fumbling toward self-acceptance" ?and these days he's an editor at large for? Esquire? and curates his own newsletter, " The Dave Holmes Diet ." The pandemic put a stop to live shows, but he has also hosted? The Friday Forty  trivia night?with? The Walking Dead? executive producer Scott Gimple since 2003.

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Tyrese Gibson

Before his acting career took off when John Singleton cast him in his 2002 drama? Baby Boy , before he became a member of the Fast and Furious? family, before?he became a dad to two daughters...?the Black Rose? artist?was supplementing his music career as a host of? MTV Jams in 1998.

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Bill Bellamy

The actor and comedian started out hosting? MTV Beach House? in 1993?and presided over specials like? MTV Spring Break: Panama City Beach and? MTV Rock 'N' Jock Basketball VI.? Over the years he's appeared in films?including? Love Jones , The Brothers , How to Be a Player , Getting Played and Any Given Sunday , and he hosted?two seasons of NBC's Last Comic Standing? from 2007 to 2008. Bellamy has remained a fixture on the comedy special circuit and his gigs have ranged from filling in as a guest host on? Rachael Ray to?making?appearances on longtime friend Tiffani Thiessen 's?cooking show? Dinner at Tiffani's .?

In 2018, Bellamy appeared on several episodes of HBO's? Insecure and?in 2020 he was in?the Emmy-nominated miniseries? Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker? with Octavia Spencer .

He's been married to wife Kristen since 2001 and they have two children.?

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Hilarie Burton

The? One Tree Hill star got?her start on MTV, appearing on? TRL? (her scripted TV debut on Dawson's Creek was playing herself, thanks to her MTV fame) and joining the revolving door of hosts after Carson Daly left.

Since her run as Peyton Sawyer ended in 2009, her TV work has included? White Collar , Castle ,?Hallmark Original Movies? Naughty or Nice? and? Surprised by Love , and an arc on?Fox's? Lethal Weapon .

Burton has two children with longtime partner (turned husband in 2019) Jeffrey Dean Morgan , and in 2020 she released a memoir,? The Rural Diaries: Love, Livestock, and Big Life Lessons Down on Mischief Farm .

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Downtown Julie Brown

Not to be confused with comedian Julie Brown , "Downtown" Julie Brown?hosted? Club MTV? from 1987 until 1992 and remains one of the personalities most associated with the network's cool AF heyday.?

The Welsh entertainer went on to dabble in acting, popping up on the likes of? Burke's Law and? Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman , and more recently she had a cameo in the 2017 Adam Sandler comedy? Sandy Wexler? and has been a familiar face in a couple of the? Sharknado movies.?

Brown has also kept busy as?a regular in TV specials?chronicling?any sort of cultural history, and she is a host and producer of?the series? A Year in Music .?She's been married to Martin Schuermann since 2001 and they have a daughter together.

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Brian McFayden

After starting out?as an MTV News correspondent he branched out into? MTV Fashion for a Day ,? VJ?for a Day ,? TRL? and? The Real World Chicago Reunion? and joined Hilarie Burton on the same episode of? Dawson's Creek , playing "Male VJ."

He hosted the CBS dating show Cupid in 2003 and the first season of The WB's? Beauty and the Geek ?in 2005.?In more recent years he?was in Portland, Ore., as a morning and evening news anchor until 2017?and?it appears he'll be back in front of the camera soon.

In July 2020 he shared a photo of himself at a taping, writing , "One chapter closes, another begins! It's been awhile and I can't thank you all enough for your support. So happy to be back doing what I love!" And in the meantime, he's a proud dad to son Dane .

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La La Anthony

The?author, businesswoman and actress?formerly known as La La Vazquez got her start on? TRL ?and? Real World/Road Rules? Challenge? reunion specials before becoming an ubiquitous host on VH1 reunions ( Flavor of Love ,? I Love New York , For the Love of Ray J , etc.). It was only a matter of time before she scored her own shows,? La La's Full Court Wedding , when she married NBA star Carmelo Anthony in 2010, and? La La's Full Court Life .

Anthony, who's mom to son? Kiyan , has been in films such as? Think Like a Man , Baggage Claim? and?the Spike Lee -directed? Chi-Raq , and enjoyed recurring roles on the Starz drama? Power? and Showtime's? The Chi.? She also?played "Brian Austin Green's" pop star wife Shay in the 2019 meta-reboot? BH 90210 .

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Damien Fahey

The Massachusetts native?rotated in as a TRL host from 2002 until 2007 and?has since?been a writer-producer-voice actor on? Family Guy? and a DJ on L.A.'s 104.3 MYfm.

Fahey's been married to wife Grasie Mercedes since 2013.

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Kennedy

Lisa Kennedy Montgomery first became known simply by her middle name as host of? 120 Minutes? and? Hangin' With MTV? in the mid-'90s and was ubiquitous on the network throughout the decade. She had a regular spot on? Hollywood Squares? and was a guest expert on? Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? before eventually becoming a Fox News pundit and go-to guest host on the likes of? Outnumbered? and? The Five .?

She was a host of? The Independents ?on Fox Business Channel?and has presided over? Kennedy? since 2015.

The mother of two has been married to David Michael Lee since 2000.

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Jesse Camp

The inaugural winner of Wanna Be a VJ ?in 1998 beat out more than 5,000 applicants, including Dave Holmes, and went on to host? MTV Rocks Off and?rotate into the hosting mix on? TRL .?He released an album,? Jesse & the 8th Street Kidz , in 1999 but the true height of his MTV-fueled fame may have been his bit part in the Britney Spears film? Crossroads , as "Audition Applicant."

Still culturally ubiquitous, Camp's Instagram is full of photos of him with luminaries including John Travolta , Larry David , and then-presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg ,  and his profile pic is?himself with 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden .