List of most expensive music videos

Michael Jackson performing
Janet Jackson performing
"Scream" by Michael Jackson (left) and Janet Jackson (right) is the most expensive music video of all time at the time of production.

This article lists the most expensive music videos ever made, with costs of $500,000 or more.

David Bowie's video for the 1980 single "Ashes to Ashes" was the first music video to exceed this sum. Janet Jackson and Britney Spears have six videos each on the list, while Michael Jackson and Ayumi Hamasaki have five each. Madonna has made three appearances in the top five, and five total, making her the artist with the most expensive videos of all time combined. TLC, Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Busta Rhymes, Guns N' Roses, Mylène Farmer and MC Hammer appear on the list twice.

Joseph Kahn has directed seven, Paul Hunter has directed four, while Hype Williams, Cha Eun Taek and Wataru Takeishi have directed three. Nigel Dick, Mark Romanek and John Landis appear twice, the latter with videos both for Michael Jackson. This list only includes music videos with an announced or reported budget.

Romanek, who made Michael and Janet Jackson's "Scream", which was claimed to be one of the most expensive music videos ever made, has since denied this claim, saying that there were two other music videos from the same era which cost "millions more" than "Scream". In a 2017 interview, Mick Garris, a writer for Michael Jackson's Ghosts stated that after several years of production development for the Ghosts short film: "It became the most expensive music video ever made...it ended up coming in at about $15 million, all of it out of Michael's pocket."

Most expensive music videos

 Indicates the title was the most expensive of all time at the time of production
 Indicates non-English-language music videos
Most expensive music videos
Rank Title Artist(s) Director Year Cost (est.) Ref
Nominal Adjusted
1 "Scream" Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson Mark Romanek 1995 $7,000,000 $13,443,547
2 "Die Another Day" Madonna Traktor 2002 $6,100,000 $9,924,773
3 "Express Yourself" David Fincher 1989 $5,000,000 $11,804,027
"Bedtime Story" Mark Romanek 1995 $5,000,000 $9,602,533
5 "Estranged" Guns N' Roses Andy Morahan 1993 $5,000,000 $10,129,003
6 "Black or White" Michael Jackson John Landis 1991 $4,000,000 $8,594,185
"Make Me Like You" Gwen Stefani Sophie Muller 2016 $4,000,000 $4,877,427
8 "Cartoon Heroes" Aqua Thomas Masin 2000 $3,500,000 $5,947,633 [citation needed]
9 "Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)" Limp Bizkit Fred Durst 2000 $3,000,000 $4,614,581
10 "Victory" Puff Daddy
(featuring The Notorious B.I.G. & Busta Rhymes)
Marcus Nispel 1998 $2,700,000 $4,847,652
11 "2 Legit 2 Quit" MC Hammer Rupert Wainwright 1991 $2,500,000 $5,371,366
"Heartbreaker" Mariah Carey (featuring Jay-Z) Brett Ratner 1999 $2,500,000 $4,391,730
"Doesn't Really Matter" Janet Jackson Joseph Kahn 2000 $2,500,000 $4,391,730
14 "What's It Gonna Be?!" Busta Rhymes (featuring Janet Jackson) Hype Williams 1999 $2,400,000 $4,216,061
15 "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" Celine Dion Nigel Dick 1996 $2,300,000 $4,291,576
16 "Bad" Michael Jackson Martin Scorsese 1987 $2,200,000 $5,666,901
17 "Larger Than Life" Backstreet Boys Joseph Kahn 1999 $2,100,000 $3,689,053
18 "Remember the Time" Michael Jackson John Singleton 1992 $2,000,000 $4,170,737
"Honey" Mariah Carey Paul Hunter 1997 $2,000,000 $3,645,937
"Miami" Will Smith Wayne Isham 1999 $2,000,000 $3,513,384 [citation needed]
"She's a Bitch" Missy Elliott Hype Williams 1999 $2,000,000 $3,513,384 [citation needed]
"Freeek!" George Michael Joseph Kahn 2002 $2,000,000 $3,254,024
"My Name's Women" Ayumi Hamasaki Wataru Takeishi 2005 $2,000,000 $2,996,763
"Fairyland" Wataru Takeishi 2005 $2,000,000 $2,996,763
25 "Me Against the Music" Britney Spears (featuring Madonna) Paul Hunter 2003 $1,750,000 $2,783,918
26 "Green" Ayumi Hamasaki Kazuyoshi Shimomura 2008 $1,600,000 $2,697,086
"Unpretty" TLC Paul Hunter 1999 $1,600,000 $2,810,707
28 "November Rain" Guns N' Roses Andy Morahan 1992 $1,500,000 $3,128,053
"Girlfriend/Boyfriend" Blackstreet & Janet Jackson (featuring Eve & Ja Rule) Joseph Kahn 1999 $1,500,000 $2,635,038
"Give Me All Your Luvin'" Madonna (featuring Nicki Minaj & M.I.A.) Megaforce 2012 $1,500,000 $1,912,016
31 "Here Comes the Hammer" MC Hammer MC Hammer 1990 $1,000,000 $2,239,939
"Ready or Not" Fugees Marcus Nispel 1996 $1,300,000 $2,425,674 [citation needed]
33 "Work Bitch" Britney Spears Ben Mor 2013 $1,200,000 $1,507,543
"Stronger" Kanye West Hype Williams 2007 $1,200,000 $1,693,597
33 "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect for You)" Grace Jones Grace Jones 1986 $1,200,000 $3,203,643
36 "Jewel" Ayumi Hamasaki Wataru Takeishi 2006 $1,100,000 $1,596,798 [citation needed]
37 "Party All Night" Yo Yo Honey Singh & Meet Bros Anthony D'Souza 2013 $1,025,000 $1,655,352
"Hurt" Oliver Tree Oliver Tree 2018 $1,024,000 $1,193,355 [citation needed]
39 "The Wild Boys" Duran Duran Russell Mulcahy 1984 $1,000,000 $2,816,784 [citation needed]
"Dominion/Mother Russia" The Sisters of Mercy Andrew Eldritch 1988 $1,000,000 $2,474,395 [citation needed]
"Love Is Strong" The Rolling Stones David Fincher 1994 $1,000,000 $1,974,405 [citation needed]
"Waterfalls" TLC F. Gary Gray 1995 $1,000,000 $1,920,507 [citation needed]
"I Get Lonely" (remix) Janet Jackson Paul Hunter 1998 $1,000,000 $1,795,427 [citation needed]
"L'Âme-stram-gram" Mylène Farmer Ching Siu-tung 1999 $1,000,000 $1,756,692 [citation needed]
"Love" S.E.S. Hong JongHo 1999 $1,000,000 $1,756,692 [citation needed]
"Thong Song" (remix) Sisqó & Foxy Brown Little X 2000 $1,000,000 $1,699,324 [citation needed]
"Don't Say Goodbye" Paulina Rubio The Brothers Strause 2002 $1,000,000 $1,627,012
"Toxic" Britney Spears Joseph Kahn 2004 $1,000,000 $1,549,331
"Touch the Sky" Kanye West (featuring Lupe Fiasco) Chris Milk 2006 $1,000,000 $1,451,634
"Call on Me" Janet Jackson & Nelly Hype Williams 2006 $1,000,000 $1,451,634
"Virgin Road" Ayumi Hamasaki Masashi Muto 2010 $1,000,000 $1,341,981 [citation needed]
"A New Day Has Come" Celine Dion Dave Meyers 2002 $1,000,000 $1,300,888 [citation needed]
"Cry Cry/Lovey Dovey" T-ara Cha Eun Taek 2011 $1,000,000 $1,300,888
"The Ghost of You" My Chemical Romance Marc Webb 2005 $1,000,000 $1,300,888
55 "God's Plan" Drake Karena Evans 2018 $996,632 $1,161,461
56 "One Shot" B.A.P Kang Ji Won &
Kim Ki-bum
2013 $915,000 $1,149,501
57 "Honey Honey" Gangkiz Cha Eun Taek 2012 $900,000 $1,147,210 [citation needed]
58 "Destiny" Infinite Hong Won-ki 2013 $890,000 $1,118,094
59 "Kilimanjaro" A. R. Rahman, Javed Ali, & Chinmayi S. Shankar 2010 $875,000 $1,174,233
60 "Malang" Pritam (featuring Siddharth Mahadevan & Shilpa Rao) Vijay Krishna Acharya 2013 $850,000 $1,655,352
61 "Super Lady" (G)I-dle Son Seung-hee 2024 $820,000 $820,000
62 "Heartbeat of Love" Pia Zadora Dominic Sena 1989 $800,000 $1,888,644
"Saturnz Barz" Gorillaz Jamie Hewlett 2017 $800,000 $955,091
"Triumph" Wu-Tang Clan Brett Ratner 1997 $800,000 $1,458,375
65 "California" Mylène Farmer Abel Ferrara 1996 $788,000 $1,470,331
66 "Applause" Lady Gaga Vinoodh Matadin 2013 $767,000 $963,571
67 "Push It" Garbage Andrea Giacobbe 1998 $750,000 $1,346,570
"Oops!... I Did It Again" Britney Spears Nigel Dick 2000 $750,000 $1,274,493
69 "Sad Promise" Speed Cha Eun Taek 2012 $706,000 $899,922
70 "Pillow Talking" Lil' Dicky Tony Yacenda 2017 $700,000 $835,705
71 "Tunak Tunak Tun" Daler Mehndi Daler Mehndi 1998 $610,000 $1,519,780
72 "Ashes to Ashes" David Bowie David Bowie and David Mallet 1980 $581,000 $2,063,536
73 "Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah" A.R. Rahman & Javed Akhtar
(featuring Mohammed Aslam & Bonnie Chakraborty)
Ashutosh Gowariker 2008 $575,000 $1,955,993
74 "The Centre of the Heart" Roxette Jonas Akerlund 2001 $575,000 $2,793,391
75 "Dola Re Dola" Ismail Darbar, Shreya Ghoshal, & KK Sanjay Leela Bhansali 2002 $514,300 $2,832,473
76 "Thriller" Michael Jackson John Landis 1983 $500,000 $1,469,095
77 "Livin' la Vida Loca" Ricky Martin Wayne Isham 1999 $500,000 $878,346
78 "Piece of Me" Britney Spears Wayne Isham 2007 $500,000 $705,665
79 "Hold It Against Me" Jonas Åkerlund 2011 $500,000 $650,444
80 "Come Back Home" 2NE1 Dee Shin 2014 $470,000 $580,992
81 "Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya" Naushad, Shakeel Badayuni, Lata Mangeshkar K. Asif 1960 $320,000 $3,165,444

Most expensive of all time at the time of production

Timeline of most expensive music videos
Year Title Artist(s) Director Cost (est.) Ref
Nominal Adjusted
1960 "Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya" Naushad, Shakeel Badayuni, Lata Mangeshkar K. Asif $320,000 $3,165,444
1980 "Ashes to Ashes" David Bowie David Bowie and David Mallet $582,000 $2,067,087
1984 "The Wild Boys" Duran Duran Russell Mulcahy $1,000,000 $2,816,784
1986 "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect for You)" Grace Jones Grace Jones $1,200,000 $3,203,643
1987 "Bad" Michael Jackson Martin Scorsese $2,200,000 $5,666,901
1989 "Express Yourself" Madonna David Fincher $5,000,000 $11,804,027
1995 "Bedtime Story" Mark Romanek $9,602,533
"Scream" Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson $7,000,000 $13,443,547


See also


This page was last updated at 2024-02-08 18:44 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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