History behind the MTV VMAs iconic Moon Person trophy and the gender neutral name change
History behind the MTV VMAs iconic Moon Person trophy and the gender neutral name change
Demetria Osei-Tutu Mon, September 28, 2026 at 3:19 AM UTC
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The MTV Video Music Awards award is called a Moon Person (formerly a Moonman) -Credit:AFP via Getty Images
The MTV Video Music Awards, like many awards, have their signature trophies, and there is always a history behind them.
The Moon Person is the one for the VMAs and has been since the inception of the award show in September 1984. But back then it was originally called the Moonman. In 2026, with the upcoming VMAs on Sunday, September 27, there will be handing out Moon Persons.
As of now, Taylor Swift is the artist with the most Moon People, and she could maintain that record, depending on whether she wins her 11 nods she is up for. The name change came ahead of the 2017 VMAs; they announced the trophy would have a name that reflected.
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Then-MTV president Chris McCarthy spoke with The New York Times in 2017 about the future of the network, which included bringing back TRL, making the acting categories in the MTV Movie Awards gender-neutral, and changing the Moonman to the Moon Person.
"Why should it be a man?" the executive said at the time. "It could be a man, it could be a woman, it could be transgender, it could be nonconformist."
The Moonman changed to the Moon Person in 2017 -Credit:AFP via Getty Images
In an MTV News article in 2016, they explained the origins of Moon Person, which goes back to 1981 when MTV launched in August of that year.
In its inaugural broadcast, the network featured footage of the historic Apollo 11 space shuttle firing from the ground.
Apollo 11 was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the moon on July 20, 1969. The ship launched four days prior.
The video montage on the broadcast went from the Apollo 11 launch to showing an astronaut planting a flag embellished with the MTV logo on the moon's surface.
A voiceover said, "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll." Per the History Channel's Facebook post, the words were said by John Lack, one of the co-creators of MTV.
The channel also said that there was footage of the first Space Shuttle launch countdown of Columbia in April 1981 that played as well.
The MTV launch introduction was formulated by Manhattan Design, a small NYC-based graphic design collective headed by Pat Gorman, Frank Olinsky, and Patti Rogoff.
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The Moon Person was based on astronaut and space imagery from real-life examples, specifically with Apollo 11 -Credit:AFP via Getty Images
The group also designed the MTV logo and the moon landing-themed "top of the hour" animation. The late Pat told MTV News in 2016 that the animation was based on "claiming uncharted territory."
"We thought, 'We're like the guys landing on the moon and claiming it. We claim this land for music,'" she explained. "The thing about music is, there's always something happening that's the next thing. There's always something new. MTV was claiming that. The Moonman claims all of that: what has happened and what will become in music."
Pat and her team were then commissioned to design the VMA trophy and had sent in three ideas: a sneaker, a container of popcorn (which became the MTV Movie Award statue), and a then-Moonman.
The sculptor shared how the then-Moonman felt like the right choice, especially with the figure being recognized cause of the "top of the hour" animation.
"So that, however many years this goes for, everybody will know that it has something to do with claiming this land for music," Pat elaborated.
The high-ups at MTV agreed, and Pat commissioned the company that molded the Oscar statues to do the then-Moonman. They had under two weeks to come up with the design.
Pat shared that the first design was "horrible" and it had an astronaut wearing bell bottoms and the second design she strongly opposed with the then-Moonman's feet rooted firmly on the ground.
"The whole idea was, the statue had to be balancing on one leg, like anti-gravity and floating," Pat said. "Otherwise, it didn’t have any magic to it."
Pat Gorman sculpted the first Moon Person for the inaugural show in 1984
She also wanted a footprint to be on the base of the trophy beneath the astronaut's floating foot as a tribute to Neil Armstrong's famed quote, "One giant step for man, one giant leap for mankind.."
Pat said she thought they used the quote in the VMAs program but had altered it to "'This is one small step for man, but a giant step for all music,""
Pat ended up sculpting the then-Moonman herself, but there was only time to make five before the debut show. At the time, they had the idea to present with the five awards and gather them back during the commercial break and then give them out again and repeat the process.
Pat shared how there was a mishap with Diana Ross, who wasn't aware of the process, having a tug-of-war with the award with a backstage guy on-air.
The co-founder of Manhattan Design remarked about the moment, and how it was "somewhere between really terrible and really hilarious" as well as "just so insane." Pat said that it made her think, "'This is the award show where anything happens, and it’ll always be that way.'"
The Moon Person has gone through some changes over the years. Brooklyn artist KAWS redesigned the trophy in 2013, and designer Jeremy Scott revamped it in 2015.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
