Madonna and Michael Jackson were both on the list three times.

Music videos have been an integral part of every artist's life since the advent of MTV in 1980. They are often used to show the meaning of a song and allow artists to express themselves creatively. These artists have the freedom to create their own visual masterpieces.

Madonna and Michael Jackson, two of the most famous musicians in music video history, have spent millions on their videos. These videos have huge budgets, regardless of whether they were made possible by A-list stars, large sets or cutting-edge CGI technology.

This list is ranked based on the video's current inflation calculated by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Below, discover which music videos broke the bank.

10. Limp Bizkit "Rollin'" (Air Raid Vehicle), - $4.8 Million

In 2000, Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst directed a video for Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle), which was partly filmed at the top of South Tower of World Trade Center. It featured cameos by Stephen Dorff and Ben Stiller, who were also starring in Zoolander that year. It cost $3 million, which was approximately $4.8 million today, due to inflation.

9. MC Hammer "2 Legit 2 Quit" - $5 million

MC Hammer was a star in his 1991 music video for 2 Legit 2 Quit. The clip lasted just 15 minutes and was almost a short film with a storyline that revolved around Michael Jackson's iconic glove. There were many celebrity appearances in the video, including Tony Danza and Jim Belushi. The video was originally priced at $2.5 million, but today it would cost $5 million.

8. 8.

Michael Jackson was not afraid to make big-budget videos throughout his career. This includes his 18-minute long video for "Bad," directed by Martin Scorsese, and written by Richard Price. The film was shot on location in Brooklyn for over a month and took inspiration from "West Side Story" (including a dance competition in a subway station).

It sounded great. Martin Scorsese called me and told me that Quincy Jones had come to him for Michael Jackson's music video. At the time, music videos were still a popular thing. Jackson wanted to let people know that he was 'down. It's not hard to imagine Richard Price, Scorsese and Michael Jackson saying no. It was obvious that I would do it...Jackson can be a great actor and Scorsese is a great director. Richard said that he had written a good eight-page script. He thought it was cool.

7. Aqua "Cartoon Heroes", $5.6 Million

Aqua's music video "Cartoon Heroes" is still a mystery. Aqua, best known for their hit "Barbie Girl", spent more than $3 million to make the video. Inflation adds up, and that's $5.6 million. The video is four minutes long and nineteen seconds in length. It shows a sea monster trying to rule the world. Although there is a lot of green screen use and unique sets, it is still not clear how much the video cost. The video has been kept secret by the band.

6. 7.6 Million - Guns N'Roses "Estranged".

Guns N'Roses' "Estranged", a Guns N'Roses music video, was the last part of a trilogy that included "Don't Cry," and "November Rain." Andy Morahan directed the video, which is a riotous 10 minutes long. It was written by Axl Rose, frontman of Guns N' Roses. Axl, a depressed man, moves through a series expensive set pieces. He then jumps off an oil tanker into a sea of dolphins. This video featured high-end CGI visual effects, which were quite unique at the time. It drove the price up to $4 million or $7.6million in today's economic climate.

Others argue that the video was actually more expensive than that. Mark Romanek, the director, stated that production cost him "$9 to $10 million", which is higher than the most expensive video of all time.

5. Michael Jackson "Black Or White", $8.1 Million

The second-most expensive music video for Michael Jackson was his 1991 single "Black Or White." The 11-minute video broke television records and became the most watched Fox special. It was watched by an estimated 500 million viewers. A young Macaulay and Tyra Culkin appear in the video, as well as a variety of special effects. One example is when a black panther turns into Michael. The video cost $4million and today's inflation-adjusted budget would have been $8.1 million.

4. Madonna's "Bedtime Story", $9.1 Million

Madonna's videos are some of the most expensive ever made. In 1995 she spent $5 million to make a video for her song "Bedtime Story". Today that sum would exceed $9 million. Director Mark Romanek tried to bring the song's hook "Let's Get Unconscious" to life with surrealist imagery during the production process. It took six days to shoot the video and several weeks to finish the post-production. It was released in theaters in New York, Chicago and LA as a movie premiere.

3. Madonna "Die Another Day", $9.4 Million

Madonna's second-most expensive video was made for the James Bond theme song, which she recorded in 2002. The video was inspired by action sequences in the movie of the same title and Traktor, a Swedish director team, spent $6.1 million. That's easily over $9.4million today. The video depicts realistic fighting between Madonnas, one good and one evil. This required advanced special effects for almost every shot.

2. Madonna "Express Yourself", $11.2 Million

Madonna's video "Express Yourself" cost $5 million. This is more than $11 million if you consider inflation. This video was inspired by Fritz Lang’s dystopian film, 'Metropolis'. It was directed by David Fincher, but Madonna contributed a lot.

"This was the one where I had the most input. Everything was my responsibility. I built the sets, coordinated everyone's costumes. I also met with the make-up artist and hairdresser, as well as the cinematographer. Casting, finding and selecting the right cat. It's like making a movie. We basically just sat down, brainstormed all possible ideas and then decided to make a movie. We could imagine all the imagery we wanted. I had some ideas, such as the Metropolis idea and the cat. "I wanted that influence on all men, that look upon them, the workers, meticulously, methodically working away," Madonna stated in 'Madonna. In Her Own Words.

1. 1.

Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson collaborated to create the most expensive ever video. In 1995, "Scream", which would have cost over $12 million today, was a staggering $7 million. Mark Romanek directed the video. It follows the siblings as their escape from earth via a spaceship. The video includes 13 set pieces that took several weeks to make. Mark believes that the primary reason the video was so expensive to produce was because of the tight deadlines and fast turnaround times required by the label.

"The reason video cost so much money was because the record label came too late to me with a hard release date...And Michael is crazy. It has to be the greatest, biggest and biggest, largest, biggest, most, best, and best in history. They gave me five weeks to make it happen. It took us 10 days to film it. We had two and a quarter weeks to edit the footage and create visual effects. They had to spend money to make it happen. Two million dollars was spent on Janet and Michael's perks, security, campers, trailers, and assistants. So two million didn't make it to the screen," Mark explained to SlashFilm.

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Title: Top 10 Most Expensive Music Videos Ever Made
Sourced From: toofab.com/2021/10/03/top-10-most-expensive-music-videos-ever-made/
Published Date: Sun, 03 Oct 2021 17:00:29 +0000

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