Pop Culture | 00s | 80s | 90s | Celebrities | Music

13 Iconic Live Performances You Watched Growing Up That Are Impossible To Forget

There were so many awards shows and events where performers would be asked to sing their most popular songs as a way to trick people into watching. When an event knows that they aren't the most entertaining content wise, or want to bring in a bigger audience they spice it up with all the best pop stars.

The shows they put on were truly incredible. If you try to think about the amount of time and money that went into designing the set pieces for some of these it'll make your head spin.

How many of these iconic performances do you remember from your childhood?

Slave For You - Britney Spears - 2001

Britney comes in in a cage with a tiger, dances while holding a snake and generally just destroys the VMA's with her awesome performance that people STILL talk about.

Wild Wild West - Will Smith - 1999

Because bringing a horse into an auditorium was a great idea. There are just so many characters involved in this whole thing. Everyone from Sisqo to Stevie Wonder are all decked out in their western gear and it's the very best.

Lady Marmalade - Christina Aguilera, Pink, Lil Kim, Maya, Missy Elliot Featuring Patti Labelle - 2002

It was really quite the event. They had so many big names of the time, and then they brought out the one and only Patti Labelle to bring the house down.

Like A Virgin - Madonna - 1984

The cake, the dress, the whole thing was really nothing short of iconic. Madonna really knows how to put on a show!

The Star Spangled Banner - Whitney Houston - 1991

If you had to pick one definitive version of the Star Spangled Banner, this would absolutely be it. People still talk about it to this day because honestly, how could you not? She's a complete super star and nails every moment of this song.

You Oughta Know - Alanis Morrisette - 1995

Alanis was huge in the 90s. She was the angry anti-pop star a lot of people needed. Her greasy style hair and scream-singing were totally different from everything else out there.

What's Love Got To Do With It - Tina Turner - 1985

Her hair is enough to make this performance memorable, but it also helps that she is just fantastic. She didn't need a whole bunch of back-up dancers or stunts. It was just her alone on the stage singing her heart out and it was so magical.

There are even more iconic moments you totally forgot about. Click to the next page to see the rest!

I Have Nothing - Whitney Houston - 1993

Everything she did was immaculate, but this heartbreaking song is actually such a powerful performance, you need to see it.

Like A Virgin / Hollywood - Madonna, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Missy Elliot - 2003

How was Madonna going to top her original performance? Well she was going to bring in two of the biggest pop stars in the world to perform with her. .Britney and and Christina start it off doing a cover Like a Virgin then Madonna comes in to sing Hollywood With the others dancing and singing with her. It also had THAT infamous kiss between Britney and Madonna that people put up a huge stink about.

Straight Up / Cold Hearted / Forever Your Girl - Paul Abdul - 1989

She got to do three songs while tap dancing with some amazing 80s hair and shoulder pads. She really was looking about as 80s as humanly possible while she belted out her big hits. She also does some full on circus-style stunts that will make you dizzy.

MTV Medley - Michael Jackson - 1995

One Michael song isn't enough, so he does a whole bunch at once to really make it last. Honestly it's a 15 minute performance of all of his biggest hits and it is absolutely outstanding.

Vogue - Madonna - 1990

Once again Madonna proves that she is not to be out-staged. Her Victorian style performance of Vogue has unbelievable costumes, set decorations and is the definition of excess (in a good way). Although, watching the video ago it doesn't even look that they are pretending she is singing, there is no pretend microphone there at all. It's still great though!

I'll Be Missing You - Puff Daddy, Sting, Faith Evans, 112 - 1997

This was a tribute to Biggie and it was pretty sad to see his good friend Puff Daddy perform for him.

Which was your favorite performance? Let us know in the comments!

More Throwbacks

Celebrities

'Mighty Ducks' Star Shaun Weiss Arrested Again Only Months After Leaving Rehab

After Shaun Weiss' arrest in August left everyone worried about the former child star, the actor was forced to re-evaluate his choices. His mugshot showed a gaunt, sickly, and unrecognizable man, but Weiss believed this was his "rock bottom" and hoped to come back from it stronger than ever. In a statement released to his Facebook page after the arrest, Weiss revealed that he realized he was in "danger." Oroville Police Department"At this time, in an effort to break free from the self destructive patterns of behavior and drug abuse that have landed me at rock bottom, (to be

Celebrities

91-Year-Old 'Boy Meets World' Star Scared Off Burglars After They "Kicked In" His Door

Mr. Feeny will forever be a character that every 90s kid cherishes. He was the teacher. The one teacher we all wished we could have in real life, the one teacher who could have given us helpful advice, and above all else, he was the one teacher who would have been the best neighbor ever.William Daniels was a legend and an icon long before Boy Meets World, because he was the voice of KITT in Knight Rider. Not only that, but he won two Emmy awards for his role on St. Elsewhere. Daniels is a talented man, and his

70s

James Karen, Legendary Actor Known For 'Poltergeist' And So Much More, Dead At 94

You probably don't know his name, but you definitely know James Karen's face. The prolific character actor, best known for his role as the unscrupulous developer Mr. Teague in 1982's Poltergeist, passed away in his Los Angeles home on Tuesday at the age of 94.MGM/UA Entertainment Co.Over the course of his seven-decade career, Karen racked up over 200 acting credits across movies, television, and even video games. If you watch just about any of the most popular television shows from the 1970s, 80s, or 90s, you're guaranteed to see him pop up sooner or later. Born Jacob

Music

Hootie And The Blowfish Are Making A Comeback In A Huge Way

Hootie and the Blowfish are one of those bands that helped define the 90s. You couldn't go more than two hours without hearing one of their songs after they hit it big.But as is the case with most bands, Hootie and the Blowfish decided to take a break. In 2008, their lead singer Darius Rucker went solo, and became successful on his own. The only time the band has reunited was for Jason Aldean's High Noon Neon Tour when he was in Atlanta, but now they've decided to return in a major way. Kick your Monday off with us

90s

Brace Yourself: The Backstreet Boys Released A New Song And Are Going On A World Tour

The Backstreet Boys have been one of the biggest bands in the country, well, the world for several decades now. After getting their start in the early 90s, they've managed to be one of the very few bands that has stuck together and continued performing. They didn't need a big reunion, because they didn't break up. Well, let's just pretend like that whole Kevin fiasco didn't happen. But anyways, they've been putting out music and performing together for 25 years now, and they have no intention of stopping. To be fair, they did warn of this two decades ago. They

90s

The Spice Girls Announced Their Reunion Tour Dates And We Really 'Wannabe' There

It's been months and months of a "will they or won't they" debate, but we've finally got some concrete details about the Spice Girls reunion tour. It feels like every time they appear on a talk show or make a comment on Twitter they've been contradicting what the others have said, but now it's official, there's no going back, the Spice Girls are going on tour. Well, sort of. There is one catch, Victoria Beckham is not going to be there. We all suspected it for a while, as she herself had said that she didn't want to go on