What Ever Happened To MTV VJ's From The '80s And '90s?
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The ultimate nostalgia for anyone who came of age in the '80s and '90s is probably remembering the old days of MTV, back when it was all music videos and hot takes about Madonna or Guns N' Roses. MTV first went on the air in 1982 and was the first network of its kind to utilize "Video Jockeys," like radio DJs but, you know, with music videos.The original MTV VJs were Alan Hunter, J.J. Jackson, Nina Blackwood, Martha Quinn, and Mark Goodman. However, over the years many VJs have come and gone from the network, some continued their careers in music, others branched into acting or continued hosting shows on other networks, and some just fell off the map completely.
14 Alan Hunter
Alan Hunter was one of the five original VJs. Not only that, he was the first ever to host any MTV show, and he was the face that the MTV audience saw first when it debuted. Today, Alan lives in Birmingham Alabama, where he runs a film studio and a music/entertainment venue called Workplay. He also hosts the show The Eighties on 8 which airs on Sirius XM radio.
13 J.J. Jackson
Jackson was the older one of the original VJs and had already worked as a radio DJ and as a music reporter for Los Angeles' ABC affiliate, KABC-TV. Jackson was most known for hosting MTV's coverage of the famous Live Aid charity concert. Sadly, he died in 2004 from heart failure.
12 Nina Blackwood
Blackwood was with MTV until 1986. When she left she continued hosting, and she became responsible for Entertainment Tonight's "Rock Report." She now hosts two radio shows, Nina Blackwood's Absolutely 80s, and co-hosts The 80s on 8 with Alan Hunter.
11 Martha Quinn
Quinn was only 22 when she joined MTV and many fans considered her "MTVs Best VJ," according to Biography. Quinn was originally an actress and had done a few commercials before MTV. She then went on to have roles in shows like Full House and The Bradys and co-hosted Star Search, which was sort of the '90s version of America's Got Talent. She now hosts iHeartRadio's iHeartThe80s and a podcast called Talk Talk With Martha Quinn.
10 Mark Goodman
Goodman, like many of his fellow VJs, continued to work in music after leaving MTV in 1987. He has worked for KROQ, Soundbreak.com, and VH1 Classic, and he was the music supervisor for a little-known show called Desperate Housewives. He co-hosts The 80s on 8 with Hunter and Blackwood.
9 John Sencio
Sencio was MTV's early morning host of Rude Awakening. He left MTV in the early 2000s to become a producer, director, and documentarian.
8 Daisy Fuentes
Fuentes was one of the most popular VJs because of her good looks. Fuentes was also a model and was used in ad campaigns for Budweiser and other products, and worked heavily in the fashion industry, selling makeup, clothes, and perfume. Fuentes continues to host, she is now on the show A New Leaf. Fun fact, she was MTV's first Latina VJ.
7 Adam Curry
Curry started as the host of Headbangers and The Top 20 Video Countdown in 1987. Curry would go on to be a massive innovator as one of the first successful podcasters ever, as he has hosted the political podcast No Agenda since 2007.
6 Slick Kanter
Slick, whose real name is China, is the daughter of Jefferson Airplane singer Grace Slick. Slick was only 15 when she started working on MTV, and from there she acted occasionally and worked a little bit for her parents as a songwriter. Kanter now works in Pomona, CA at UrbanMission, where she helps addicts recover from addiction.
5 Karen Duffy
One might recognize Duffy from her many films, including Dumb and Dumber and Blank Check. She was also the voice of Linda Otter in The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Duffy suffers from neurosarcoidosis, which is why she is so on and off again with her acting career.
4 Tyrese Gibson
That's right, Roman Pearce from The Fast And The Furious films was a VJ in the late 1990s. He took on the job to supplement his music career, which helped take off thanks to the publicity he garnered from his MTV work. In 2021, the musician and actor began a messy divorce process with his now ex-wife, Samantha Lee.
3 Bill Bellamy
Bellamy started as the host of MTV Beach House in 1993. He was originally a standup comedian and he did continue touring the circuit while working as a VJ. Bellamy has been in several films and TV shows, he hosted two seasons of NBC's Last Comic Standing, and he has guest hosted for Rachel Ray many times.
2 Downtown Julie Brown
Downtown Julie Brown hosted Club MTV from 1987 to 1992. She has since gone on to acting, she appeared in a handful of TV shows and is a regular in the SyFy Sharknado films. She also hosts the series A Year In Music and is a very in-demand pundit for any show documenting music or cultural history.
1 Carson Daly
Daly might be the most recent of the MTV VJ alumni to branch off. He joined the network in the late '90s and quickly became the host of TRL, and was arguably the show's most famous host. He stayed with the network until the mid-2000s and then ventured off into the world of hosting and journalism for other networks. He now is a regular on Today and several other NBC programs and has several millions of dollars to his name.
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