5 Facts About Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer Video

It won a record nine MTV Video Music Awards in 1987. That was the most awards ever won by a single video at the time.

The video relied heavily on stop-motion animation. This technique gave it a distinctive, surreal look that stood out from typical music videos of the era.

It was directed by Stephen R. Johnson. Johnson had previously worked on innovative commercials and music videos.

The video took months to produce. The stop-motion process was painstakingly slow, requiring frame-by-frame manipulation.

It remains one of the most awarded music videos in MTV history. Its technical ambition and visual creativity set a new standard for the medium.