The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards was a party to remember.
The broadcast in Los Angeles — which was set to begin at the Peacock Theater at 7:30 p.m. ET but was delayed by the Ravens-Cowboys game — kicked off with a stunning opening performance by Madonna, alongside Sabrina Carpenter and Charli xcx.
A number of performers kept the celebrations going. Raye made her VMAs debut, before Bruno Mars performed remotely from Colorado and Kacey Musgraves performed an emotional tribute in honor of Dolly Parton. Alongside a slew of dancers, Blackpink’s Lisa performed “SaWaDiKa.”
Nirvana won this year’s Video Vanguard Award. Taylor Swift won the first-ever Artist Directors Honors. George Michael was honored with a tribute sung by Sombr, Raye, Teddy Swims and Adam Lambert.
Madonna — who performed at the first VMAs 43 years ago — won multiple awards, including Artist of the Year, Best Collaboration with Carpenter for their song “Bring Your Love” and Best Dance for “Confessions II — The Film.”
Swift — who debuted her music video for her new song “Patient Zero” at the show — closed the night by winning the coveted Video of the Year for “The Fate of Ophelia.”
Read our recap of the show below.
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Taylor Swift wins Video of the Year — and dedicates the award to Dolly Parton
Swift’s big night, which included premiering her music video for “Patient Zero,” culminated with a win for Video of the Year for “The Fate of Ophelia.”
During her acceptance speech, Swift dedicated the Moon Person to Dolly Parton, whom Kacey Musgraves paid tribute to earlier in the night. Calling Parton the “ultimate showgirl” — a nod to the title of Swift’s 12th album — Swift complimented the late Queen of Country Music for her “vivid and rich” storytelling that made you feel like you were watching the “best music video you have ever seen in your life” when you listened to her songs.
“Everything that happened in her life or her career, she channeled back into love and gratitude and appreciation for her fans,” Swift said. “I am lucky I got to be one of them, and I will always be one of them. I love you all so very much, and I think we were all very, very lucky to share this planet with Dolly Parton for a time. Thank you for this amazing moment.”
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Taylor Swift wins Video of the Year for ‘The Fate of Ophelia’
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Ariana Grande, “Hate That I Made You Love Me”
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Gener8ion, “Storm starring Yung Lean”
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Madonna, “Confessions II — The Film”
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Taylor Swift, “The Fate of Ophelia” — winner
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Yung Lean smashes a Moon Person on stage
A bruised Yung Lean took the VMAs stage and immediately smashed a Moon Person award before going into his track “Storm II,” a collab with electronic producer Gener8ion. The artist then moved to the center of a group of male dancers on bleachers, all of whom wore matching prep school attire for a trippy, highly choreographed performance.
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Sienna Spiro wins Best New Artist
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Stars pay tribute to George Michael
The VMAs paid special tribute to the late pop icon, featuring performances of hits like “Father Figure,” “Faith” and “Careless Whisper” by Sombr, Raye, Teddy Swims and Adam Lambert.
Orville Peck introduced the performance, applauding Michael for creating “music and videos [that were] timeless anthems and powerful statements against the establishment.”
Lambert, the only openly gay artist on the lineup, was not originally announced as part of the performance. Fans had expressed an interest in having Lambert, as well as other queer artists, perform onstage to honor Michael. Ultimately, Lambert took the stage for “Freedom! ’90,” widely regarded as Michael offering fans a look at his then-private life as a gay man.
Michael, who died 10 years ago this year, will have a restored and remastered version of his concert film George Michael: The Faith Tour in theaters this December.
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Madonna accepts Best Dance: ‘I’m kind of unclear what this award is for’
Madonna’s second acceptance speech of the night started out a little… messy.
She was complaining about the height of the mic. (“I’m short, but not that short.”) She was “kind of unclear what this award is for.” She removed a “laser” from the seat of her bodice. But eventually, the Queen of Pop pulled it together.
Troye Sivan, Madonna and Charli xcx. (Francis Specker/CBS) “I came to New York to be a dancer,” she told the audience. “Dance is where everything happened to me in life. I came to life on the dance floor. I found my community on the dance floor… and I lost many people I loved on the dance floor.”
“Dance,” she concluded, “brings everybody together. We are all equal on the dance floor.”
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Madonna wins Best Dance
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Bebe Rexha & Faithless, “New Religion”
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Madonna, “Confessions II — The Film” — winner
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PinkPantheress, “Stateside + Zara Larsson”
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Taylor Swift premieres ‘Patient Zero’ music video
The moody, psychological thriller-inspired “Patient Zero” video stars Swift alongside Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell. So, what’s the video actually about?!
It may be Swift’s creepiest video yet.
In the video, Johnson plays the wife of a wealthy businessman (Farrell) who begins to suspect that her perfect husband may be manipulating and gaslighting her. Swift portrays his previous wife, an heiress who, at the end of the video, is revealed to have been killed by Farrell’s character. The ghost of Swift’s character attempts to warn Johnson’s to “run” before it’s too late.
Swift wrote and directed the video. She worked with Oscar-winner Emmanuel Lubezki, the cinematographer behind The Revenant, Birdmanand Gravity.
Taylor Swift and Dakota Johnson. (Stewart Cook/CBS) -
Taylor Swift accepts first-ever Artist Director Honors
Dakota Johnson introduced Taylor Swift as she received the inaugural Artist Director Honors ahead of the debut of Swift’s video for “Patient Zero.” Johnson starred in the music alongside Colin Farrell.
“Taylor Swift is a storyteller,” Johnson said. “She is an architect of emotional landscapes filled with the most intimate and intricate detail. She captures universal feelings with a style and endowment that is entirely and singularly her own. She does it in her writing, her performing, and her work behind the camera as a director. Taylor has spent the majority of her life on set, telling tales and building worlds. She isn’t just one of the most decorated artists in the history of the VMAs. She is the single most recognized video director in this show’s history.”
Taylor Swift accepts Artist Director Honors. (Stewart Cook/CBS) The VMAs then showed a series of clips of Swift’s history as a music video director, including her video for “The Fate of Ophelia.”
Swift came onstage to accept the award, which made her the most-honored artist at the VMAs.
“I got to start making music videos and being a part of music videos 20 years ago, and since then I’ve gotten to be a part of making 60 music videos, roughly 60. Eighteen of those I wrote and directed, and I really love writing and directing music videos,” Swift said. “I got to tell you though, the main reason why I love writing and directing music videos so much is because you, the fans, make it so much fun. You make it so rewarding because you actually care about what we’re making, so you know, I want to say thank you to everyone who ever worked on a music video that I got to be a part of.”
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Madonna accepts Artist of the Year: ‘I spent the last year and a half finding myself’
Madonna just accepted her first VMA in 27 years — for Artist of the Year — by recalling her first appearance on the VMA stage: her scandalous-for-the-time rendition of “Like a Virgin” at Radio City Music Hall in 1984.
“Some of you were probably not born — I think most of you were not born — but I performed at the first MTV awards 43 years ago,” she recalled. “I had a little problem with one of my shoes. One of my stilettos fell off, and I dove onto the stage to kind of make myself look cute and sexy, like I meant to do it. And my dress went off and my butt cheek was hanging out.”
When Madge went backstage, she continued, she was “feeling really proud” of herself. But then “my manager told me my career was over.”
He’s “not my manager now,” she quipped.
Madonna went on to reveal that the album she’s being honored for tonight, Confessions II, represented both a personal and professional breakthrough.
“I spent the last year and a half finding myself, believing in myself and really making the music that I wanted to make,” she said. “And to me that really is the definition of being an artist. My hope for all of you here is that you spend the next year, or 10 years, or the rest of your life, doing the same.”
Madonna. (Francis Specker/CBS) Advertisement
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Taylor Swift and Madonna share a hug
Pop queens unite! Taylor Swift embraced Madonna as she made her way into the Peacock Theater. (I knew it was Taylor coming inside before I could see her because people in the audience just started screaming.)
Taylor Swift and Madonna at the VMAs. (Todd Williamson/CBS) -
Sienna Spiro performs ‘Great Expectation’
Sienna Spiro took the stage for a stripped-down performance of “Great Expectation,” the song that made her the youngest British singer to top the U.K. charts in 12 years. The 20-year-old artist wore a metal-panel mini dress during the emotional performance.
Sienna Spiro performs at the VMAs. (Stewart Cook/CBS) -
Madonna wins Artist of the Year
Madonna accepts the award for Artist of the Year. (Stewart Cook/CBS) -
Nirvana accepts Video Vanguard Award: ‘People are still hungry for authenticity’
More than a third of a century after Nirvana first appeared at the VMAs, the band’s surviving members — Dave Grohl (drums), Krist Novoselic (bass) and Pat Smear (guitar) — just returned to accept MTV’s version of a lifetime-achievement prize: the Video Vanguard Award.
Nirvana’s creative leader — singer, songwriter and guitarist Kurt Cobain — took his own life on April 5, 1994, at the age of 27. Novoselic honored him in his remarks as “one of the greatest artists of all time.”
“Kurt was one of one,” Novoselic said, adding that Cobain’s uncompromising vision is the reason “Nirvana continues to resonate so deeply.”
“People are still hungry for authenticity,” Novoselic said as Smear lit up a cigarette. “For something real, something uncompromising. Something that tells you it’s just OK to ‘come as you are.’ Kurt would have loved that legacy.”
It was a fitting full-circle moment for a band whose stardom was supercharged by MTV — and who in turn “changed the [channel’s] entire look” by giving it “a whole new generation to sell to,” as Amy Finnerty, MTV’s former vice president of music programming and talent relations, once put it.
The anarchist pep-rally video for Nirvana’s breakout single, “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” premiered almost exactly 35 years ago, on Sept. 29, 1991. Over the next two years, Nirvana dropped one striking clip after another: themurky, aqueous “Come as You Are,” with Cobain’s hair dyed red; theswirling “Lithium,” collaged from live concert footage; the black-and-white, Beatles-on-Ed-Sullivan spoof of “In Bloom“; the surreal, technicolor swan song of “Heart-Shaped Box.”
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Lisa takes the stage to perform ‘SaWaDiKa’
Fresh off her win for Best Pop, Lisa took the stage to perform her single “SaWaDiKa.” (The title is a riff on sawatdee ka, a Thai greeting, to honor the artist’s Thai heritage.)
The cinematic performance featured a slew of background dancers, many of whom impressed the crowd with backflips and other impressive stunts.
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Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter reveal how their collaboration came about
Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter took home the VMA for Best Collaboration for “Bring Your Love.” Madonna took the time to acknowledge how the union came to be.
“Everybody who knows me knows how impatient I am, and when five days passed, and I still didn’t get connected with Sabrina and didn’t hear back from her about whether she wanted to do a song with me… I DM’d her,” the “Like a Virgin” artist shared as Carpenter laughed beside her. “She answered me back, and I don’t know. Within weeks, we were in the studio together. It was fabulous.”
Speaking to Carpenter, Madonna said, “I love working with you because you are so professional, and in this day and age, it’s really hard to find professional people to work with.”
Carpenter ended their speech with one word of reverence to the audience: “Madonna.”
Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter at the VMAs. (Stewart Cook/CBS) -
Shaboozey’s VMAs debut goes full western
Shaboozey’s VMAs debut was easily the most theatrical performance of the night so far — or should we say “cinematic.” Inspired by classic Hollywood westerns, the crossover country-rap star delivered an immersive mini-movie of sorts, starting with “Cowgirl, the second single from 2026’s The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales, and concluding with “High Noon,” featuring Gunna. In between, we were treated to a rowdy saloon scene, a wanted poster and lots of pyrotechnics.
