The 10 Best Rock Music Videos of the '90s, Ranked

Published Sep 18, 2026, 5:21 PM EDT

Shawn Van Horn is a Senior Author for Collider. He's watched way too many slasher movies over the decades, which makes him an aficionado on all things Halloween and Friday the 13th. Don't ask him to choose between Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees because he can't do it. He grew up in the 90s, when Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, and TGIF were his life, and still watches them religiously to this day. Larry David is his spirit animal. His love for entertainment spreads to the written word as well. He has written two novels and is neck deep in the querying trenches. He is also a short story maker upper and poet with a dozen publishing credits to his name. He lives in small town Ohio, where he likes to watch professional wrestling and movies.

Rock music hit its peak in the 1990s thanks to the rise of grunge, the return of Brit rock, and 80s veterans who saw their talent carry over into a new decade. In the last decade before the internet and social media led to a drastic decline in the genre, rock and roll thrived not only on radio but the immense popularity of MTV. Music videos on the channel helped to break out new bands and offer older icons a way to stay fresh and relevant. These 10 music videos best highlight rock's last big era, a decade now timeless with billions of YouTube views as they're discovered by new generations.

"Right Now" by Van Halen (1992)

Van Halen formed in the late 70s and became one of the biggest rock bands of the 80s with the flamboyant David Lee Roth as their lead singer. When he left the group, Van Halen didn't end. Instead, they evolved and matured under new lead singer Sammy Hagar. You can't get any more serious and grown up than the music video for "Right Now." There are two ideas at work in the video. The song is simplistic, with Hagar singing about making tomorrow today and living right now. As he does, video clips play with powerful words like "Right now, justice is being perverted" and "Right now, guilt is turning someone inside out." Van Halen has often been the fun, party band. With "Right Now," they deliver a video you can feel in your soul.

"Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden (1994)

Grunge dominated the early 90s. It fell away fast starting in 1994 with the death of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, but Soundgarden wouldn't let it die with a whimper. That same year, they became bigger than ever with their fourth album, Superunknown, and its huge lead single, "Soundgarden." The video for it was everywhere. As the band sings on a hill against a clear blue sky, we watch a twisted version of suburbia as people with stretched out smiles go about their days before being swallowed up by a black hole. The surrealism and creepy images combine perfectly with Soundgarden's most popular song.

"Buddy Holly" by Weezer (1994)

Weezer broke out in the 1990s as light punk pop rock nerds who became a voice for slackers everywhere. On their first album, the second single, "Buddy Holly", shows how fun and inventive the band could be. The song itself, with Rivers Cuomo singing over a catchy beat about how much he loves his girl no matter what others say, is enough on its own. The video, however, takes it to another level, thanks to the combination of nostalgia and brilliant editing. In it, the band is part of the show Happy Days, performing in the diner as the likes of Richie (Ron Howard) and Fonzie (Henry Winkler) look on.

"Closer" by Nine Inch Nails (1994)

As grunge rose, so did Cleveland, Ohio's Nine Inch Nails and their unique industrial sound. In 1994, they delivered their most commercially available album, The Downward Spiral, and their most popular song, "Closer." In a twisted mix of multiple genres, Trent Reznor's vocals are shockingly vulgar, incredibly sexy, with passion turned into self-hatred. The frustration of brokenness is felt even more in the terrifying video. Chaotic imagery of animals and a beating heart collide with Reznor spinning in the air and pulling at his face against a steampunk background. It's a hard to watch video for an impossible-to-forget song.

"Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve (1997)

Oasis' American takeover in the mid-90s led to the mainstream resurrection of British rock. Riding that wave was The Verve, with one of rock's greatest one-hit wonders, "Bitter Sweet Symphony." Over an orchestral sample of a Rolling Stones song, lead singer Richard Ashcroft sings about the woes of having to work to survive and what it does to our minds. In the video, he's so lost in his own pain that he doesn't care about anyone else. The entire video is him walking down a busy London street, bumping into people, refusing to move, refusing to even acknowledge their existence. He can't change his mould.

"No Rain" by Blind Melon (1993)

Blind Melon rode the grunge wave without actually being grunge. The L.A. band hit it big in 1993 with their self-titled debut album, which was led by their huge hit, "No Rain." The song, with Shannon Hoon singing about loneliness contrasted with a happier sound, became one of the biggest of the decade on radio. It was even bigger on MTV because of the video, which centers on an awkward girl dressed as a bee. As the band plays on a sunny hillside, Bee Girl dances for strangers, overcoming her fear to live fully. Towards the end, the Bee Girl joins the band and others dressed like her, dancing their lives away and no longer alone.

"November Rain" by Guns N' Roses (1992)

Guns N' Roses became one of the biggest bands in the world with the release of their debut album, Appetite for Destruction, in 1987. Four years and millions of sales later, GNR returned with Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II. The last single on the former, "November Rain," is a nine-minute power ballad, a love song which begins with Axl Rose on the piano before transforming into a traditional hard rock sound. Such a big song needed an equally big video. "November Rain" succeeds with a concert shot giving way to a wedding scene, as Rose gets married in front of a large audience to his then real-life girlfriend, model Stephanie Seymour, before the day turns cold and becomes her funeral. For added coolness, check out Slash thrashing at his guitar outside the church in the windswept dirt. This one is epic.

"Sabotage" by Beastie Boys (1994)

Beastie Boys were one of a kind. Long before the short life of nu-metal, there was the enduring talent of this trio of rappers with an alt-rock sound. Their best song is arguably "Sabotage." The first single from Ill Communication is a sonic blast of punk rock certain to get your heart bumping. The Spike Jonze directed video put the song into legendary status with a send up to 1970s cop dramas. As the bass kicks in, a cop car careens down the street while the group, dressed in old school detective garb and sporting exaggerated wigs and mustaches, begin running through the streets as parodies of past TV good guys and bad guys. The intensity of the parody only adds to the energy of a one of a kind jam.

"Jeremy" by Pearl Jam (1992)

Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" is intense too, but in the exact opposite way. There's not an ounce of humor to be found in the hit song from the Seattle band's legendary debut album, Ten. In it, Eddie Vedder reminisces about the kid he and his classmates used to bully in school and how "Jeremy spoke in class today." What does that mean? What did he say? The video shows us, first with words setting the moment as sound bites from the news of the world plays. The video goes back and forth between Vedder and a troubled young boy. In the last shot comes the answer as the boy walks into a classroom and puts a gun in his mouth in front of everyone. Based on the real life tragedy of Jeremy Wade Delle, the video for "Jeremy" is a heartbreaker that grabs you by the soul.

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana (1991)

Rock entered the 90s as mostly predictable, overly commercialized blandness. Grunge was there to break it apart, and one band led the way with one game-changing song. Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," from their seminal album Nevermind, shook rock music to the core with a punk pop thrash that woke up a frustrated youth. The video digs deep into that feeling as the band plays in a gymnasium for a high school pep rally from Hell. Hair in his face, Kurt Cobain locks eyes with the camera with a performance for the ages. There's no high concept for "Smells Like Teen Spirit." It's a perfect moment in time, a video that makes you remember what rock and roll is meant to be.