Top 5 - Best MTV Unplugged Performances

Remember when unplugged was a thing? It reached its peak in the mid 90’s, but so many good artists went on MTV and performed a stripped-down set. Clapton, Rod Stewart, Nirvana, and many others performed a small style stage show in front of a few hundred fans and then released the results on CD.

Here are my Top 5 Unplugged Performances:

5. Jay-Z with the Roots (2001). Hip Hop is always super cool stripped down and unplugged.

4. Bob Dylan (1994). Born to be stripped down to acoustic, that’s how he got his start after all. Here he performs some great classics like All Along the Watchtower and Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.

3. Bruce Springsteen (1992). He keeps mainly to Human Touch and Lucky Town which were his recent releases at the time, but does wow with classics like “Thunder Road”, “Atlantic City” and “Light of Day”.

2. Pearl Jam (1992). Great set list from a band that was still relatively new at the time. Mostly the set was from Ten and Eddie and the boys sound great.

1. Eric Clapton (1992). In the top 5 of best selling unplugged albums of all time and one can see why. From his classics like “Layla” and the blues track “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out” to the tear inducing “Tears In Heaven”, such a great performance from this legendary guitarist.

Honorable Mentions: Alice in Chains, Maxwell, Alicia Keyes and Nirvana.

Who did I miss? Let me know?