Since the mid-1980s, he has been the industry’s very own burly, bearded version of Forrest Gump, appearing in the background, slightly blurry but ever present, at a remarkable number of key musical moments. Except that Rubin's ubiquity is not an accident. His production credits include LL Cool J’ Radio (which may have been the first real hip-hop album); The Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill; “Walk This Way” by Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith; Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (as executive producer); the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Blood Sugar Sex Magik; Tom Petty’s Wildflowers; Johnny Cash’s American Recordings series; and various songs and albums by Justin Timberlake, System of a Down, Metallica, Slayer, Danzig, Weezer, AC/DC, Nine Inch Nails ... The list goes on.

The 1992 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 9, 1992, honoring the best music videos from June 16, 1991 to June 15, 1992. The show was hosted by Dana Carvey at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. Performances by The Black Crowes, Bobby Brown, U2 and Dana Carvey, Def Leppard, Nirvana, Elton John, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Michael Jackson, Bryan Adams, En Vogue, Eric Clapton, Guns N' Roses and Elton John.