The special was first held in 1981 as MTV's New Year's Eve Rock N' Roll Ball, which featured a concert from the Hotel Diplomat in mid-Manhattan featuring Bow Wow Wow, Karla DeVito, and David Johansen (a photo of which was used as the cover art for his subsequent live album Live It Up).
[1] For its early editions, the Rock N' Roll Ball was hosted by MTV VJs; the 1986–87 edition would instead be hosted by Joe Piscopo and carry an Ancient Rome theme.
[2] Later specials were typically broadcast from MTV's One Astor Plaza studios in Times Square, covering the nearby ball drop.
[3] During the late 1990s, 2000s, and part of the early 2010s, the special was heavily promoted and featured top musical acts and celebrities.
The network decided not to carry a special at the end of 2015 leading into 2016, choosing to carry a marathon of the viral clip series Ridiculousness instead, and the cold opening of the winter premiere of Teen Wolf at midnight; the network and parent company Viacom in general went through a number of staff and budget cutbacks in 2015 due to declining ratings.