Look Back at All the Artists Who Have Won MTV's Coveted Video Vanguard Award

Drew Barrymore presented Michael Stipe and the guys with their Vanguard trophy.

Mariah Carey presented the eternally smooth rapper with a Vanguard Award in 1997, making him the first hip-hop artist to receive the honour. That same year, director Mark Romanek was also recognised for his talents.

The band received their honour from Chris Rock and Lance Crouther.

During their acceptance speech, the members of U2 pulled a sweet move by inviting the surviving members of the Ramones on stage with them to honour the memory of lead singer Joey Ramone, who had died a few months earlier. "New York City has given us a lot of things, but the best thing it ever gave us was a punk rock group called the Ramones, without whom a lot of people would never have gotten started, certainly us," Bono told the audience.

Perhaps after realising how much it let me down with Britney Spears's tribute two years earlier, MTV decided to make it up to me by honouring Justin Timberlake. For his Vanguard Award performance, Timberlake gathered his former *NSYNC bandmates and took over the show like it was 1999. I screamed like a teenager throughout.

MTV surprised us all in 2015 when Taylor Swift presented her on-again, off-again nemesis Kanye West with his Vanguard Award. It was a full-circle moment from their "infamous encounter" at the show in 2009. Kanye went on to give a long and passionate acceptance speech in which he announced his plans to run for president in 2020 and railed against award shows and the entertainment industry.

After she performed several medleys during the show, it was Rihanna's rumoured on-again flame Drake who presented her with the Vanguard Award, and his speech was so gushy that many of us were waiting for him to get down on one knee and propose. Rihanna opened up about the "uncomfortable" moment in an interview in June 2018, saying, "I don't like too many compliments; I don't like to be put on blast."

Pink was introduced to the stage by Ellen DeGeneres, and after giving a rousing performance of a medley of her many hits, the singer shared an inspiring story about her daughter during her acceptance speech.