Taylor Swift Makes History as Madonna Wins Artist of the Year at 2026 MTV VMAs
publishers 94articles 153first reported 27 Sep, 11:00 UTCdeveloping since 27 Sep · 4 editionstop 25 #4
Taylor Swift became the most-awarded artist in MTV Video Music Awards history as Madonna won Artist of the Year at Sunday’s ceremony at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
Swift received the inaugural Artist Director Honor, an award recognizing work behind the camera, and premiered the music video for her single “Patient Zero,” starring Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell. CBS News reported that her other victories included Video of the Year and Best Direction, bringing her career total to 33 VMAs and surpassing Beyoncé’s 30. Swift dedicated her final award of the evening to Dolly Parton, calling her “the ultimate showgirl.”
Madonna returned to the VMA stage for her first performance at the ceremony in more than 20 years. She performed “Bring Your Love” with Sabrina Carpenter and “Danceteria” with Charli xcx; “Bring Your Love” also won Best Collaboration. Madonna later received Artist of the Year.
Kacey Musgraves honored Parton with a performance of “I Will Always Love You.” K-pop singer LISA gave the television debut of “SaWaDiKa” and won Best Pop for “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi.” The surviving members of Nirvana received the Video Vanguard Award, accompanied by a tribute featuring archival footage of Kurt Cobain discussing the band’s music videos.
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