When Prince gave fans a cheeky surprise at steamy MTV VMA concert in 1991

27 September 2026, 23:29

There's always some fun to be had when the MTV Video Music Awards come around.

If anything newsworthy happens at the 2026 edition of the event, it'll certainly be no surprise.

In many ways, the MTV VMAs are kind of like the outrageous younger cousin of the Grammy Awards, which the music industry's biggest stars let loose.

The list of eye-popping incidents at the awards ceremony is rather long, as artist's know it's a prominent platform to cause a stir.

There was the time Madonna snogged both Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, or when Kanye West crashed Taylor Swift's acceptance speech, or when Michael Jackson smooched his then-girlfriend Lisa Marie Presley for an awkwardly long time.

• Inside Prince's spine-tingling final performance and days leading to the music icon's tragic death
• ‘Comeback’: The gorgeous tribute Prince wrote after losing his only child
• Watch unearthed rare footage of 11-year old superstar Prince putting the world to rights
• Prince's 15 greatest songs, ranked

But not to be outdone by his peers or proteges, Prince was also an artist that could knew how to turn heads.

And turn heads he did on 5th September 1991 during the epic performance of his recent single 'Gett Off'.

Adding some extra spice to the saucy track, few could've predicted the how much of a bang he'd deliver during the award ceremony's closing performance.

Whenever Prince took to the stage, audiences would know they were about to witness a truly sensational entertainer.

That's precisely what he promised during his performance of 'Gett Off', leaving the crowd inside the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles blushing, as well as the viewers from home.

“This is the one. This is the reason I took the gig again,” said host Arsenio Hall before the performance kicked off. “Prince and the New Power Generation!”

And what a sight to behold the show was – with intertwined dancers writhing around wearing little-to-nothing, and pillars of fire exploding throughout, it was a raunch-fest from the get-go.

Orchestrating the sexually-charged production from the centre of the stage was of course Prince, dressed in a yellow lattice bodysuit.

What the audience didn't realise about his outfit was just how cheeky it was, until he turned round to reveal to holes cut out to show his butt in full view.

Prince - Gett Off (Live) From the MTV Video Music Awards

It was just the kind of raunchy spectacle that Prince became renowned for, and closed out the MTV VMAs with jaws dropping throughout the venue.

Naturally, his performance was the only thing that people talked about in the days after the awards ceremony.

The Los Angeles Times called his set an "all-out, simulated orgy," going to say that "Prince's swingers' scene was the kind of fleshy spectacle that sends writers running to their dictionaries to look up the proper plural for menage a trois."

It was pure scandal, and Prince knew precisely what he was doing – he was a master showman after all.

It wasn't the first time that Prince performed at the MTV VMAs, winning multiple 'Moonman' awards over the years.

The awards ceremony started in 1984 at the height of MTV's cultural power, and was held at New York City's Radio City Music Hall.

Prince's first appearance came just a year later, thought he missed out on the award for Best Choreography to David Atkins, the choreographer for Elton John's 'Sad Songs Say So Much' music video.

He made up for it in the years after however, winning Best Choreography for 'Raspberry Beret', the first of many awards Prince rightly deserved.

The 'cheeky' Prince performance wasn't the only iconic occasion he took to the stage at the MTV VMAs.

He first performance was an electrifying version of 'Sign 'O The Times' in 1988, where he'd also pull out a joyous rendition of 'Play In The Sunshine' whilst finding the time to introduce Sheila E alongside him.

• Michael Jackson and Prince's feud explained: Why the pop rivals hated each other
• When Bruno Mars paid an epic tribute to the late icon Prince
• The story of when Prince and Robbie Williams 'jammed together' at German afterparty
• Prince's absence from 'We Are the World' explained: Why pop legend refused to appear on the song

What's strange is that after his tragic death in 2016, the MTV VMAs failed to recognise his legacy at the subsequent awards ceremony – the same with David Bowie that year.

The 2026 edition are finally paying homage to the musical impact of George Michael, with the likes of Raye, Sombr, and Teddy Swims taking to the stage.

Given his connection MTV, and the fact he was one of the era's most influential artists, it's time to do the same for Prince.