Europe - The Final Countdown

What this video is

Released in 1986 at the commercial zenith of MTV-era arena rock, 'The Final Countdown' video arrived when the music video format was the primary vehicle for international artist breakthrough. Europe, a Swedish band, used the promotional clip to successfully penetrate the American market, with the song reaching #8 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The video's choice of a domestic Swedish arena rather than a…

Why it matters

A canonical artifact of mid-1980s synth-driven arena rock and the hair metal promotional video format. The video's billion-plus YouTube views make it one of the most-watched music videos of its era on the platform, cementing its status as a defining document of 1986 hard rock culture and the MTV…

The director

Nick Morris is a British music video director active from the 1980s onward. He directed the original 1986 promotional video for Europe's 'The Final Countdown' as well as a 1999 remake version 'The Final Countdown 2000' for the band's Epic Records…