Myosin VI has been reported to be associated with the progression of ovarian and prostate cancer. The aim of the present study was to reveal the role of myosin VI in the proliferation of melanoma. Briefly, lentivirus‑mediated short hairpin RNA (shRNA) was designed specifically to silence myosin VI in A375 and A431 cell lines. Expression levels of myosin VI were then analyzed in the two cell lines by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analyses. Cell viability was assessed using MTT and colony formation assays. In addition, the cell cycle distribution was determined by flow cytometry. The results demonstrated that knockdown of myosin VI significantly suppressed melanoma cell viability and proliferation, and induced cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase. To the best of our knowledge, the present study was the first to assess the role of myosin VI in the growth of melanoma. Knowledge of the underlying mechanism of the role myosin VI in skin cancer cells may aid in the development of novel methods of melanoma diagnosis and therapy in the future.