Last night in DC, we were reminded of the very moment when voting became “cool”. It was exactly 25 years ago in 1990, when the first Rock the Vote campaign was launched, featuring Madonna wearing nothing more than combat boots and an American flag haphazardly draped around her shoulders. The movement was backed by MTV, which was a mere nine years old at the time. The goal was simple: get young people to vote. How? By making it cool. And that they did. Suddenly America’s youth saw their seemingly carefree and even careless hip-hop and pop icons preaching the need to go out and vote.

We celebrated the quarter century anniversary at the Black Cat with the help of iHeart Radio– a valued partner of Rock the Vote. Taking the stage was the iconic 2 Live Crew followed by DMC, with lyrics that still make us blush well into adult-hood.

John Sykes; Rodell Mollineau; Ron Bonjean; Sara Bonjean; Kenny Day; Sylvia Day; Jack Smith; Chris Gindy; Nikki Schwab; Lindsey Miller; Gabby Wooten; Kiki Burger; Ashley Spillane; Tim Burger; Scott Logan; Adam Weiss; Hayley Dierker; Mark Drapeau; Sena Fitzmaurice; Garance Frank-Ruta; Tom Williams; Ben Sheffner; Christine Delargy; Jennifer Vinson; Ben Clark; Matt Dybwad; Doug Davenport; Michelle Edwards; Erin McPike; Nick Owens.