Sticking with MTV, what distinction does the Michael Jackson video 'Billie Jean' hold?

Nelly

First black artist to be shown on MTV. Jackson and Epic had planned to present the music video for the song to the executives of newly-formed cable network MTV, which was at the time not playing videos by black performers or even dance artists. Since its inception, the network's playlist was predominantly white and mainly featured videos by the top rock artists of the day such as Duran Duran, Peter Gabriel, The Clash, Blondie, Journey, Pat Benatar, Genesis, and Billy Idol. In 1983 Jackson and CBS Records President Walter Yetnikoff informed MTV's president that if the cable channel didn't play Jackson's video, CBS would literally not allow them to play all of their white artists who were getting exposure on the network, most notably Billy Joel. With that ultimatum, MTV finally bowed to pressure and premiered Jackson's "Billie Jean" video on March 10, 1983. Soon enough, MTV was airing the video in heavy rotation, thus making Jackson the first black performer to find stardom on the network. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Jean [Added reference - McG] Sep 05 02, 8:29 PM

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