MTV held their 42nd annual Video Music Awards (VMAs), which aired live at Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Sept. 27. With hundreds of A-list celebrities in attendance, the two-hour award ceremony amassed an estimated 8.99 million viewers across MTV and CBS news channels, making this the largest award ceremony hosted by MTV since 2015.
The ceremony opened with the reputed Queen of Pop, Madonna, who made headlines for attending her first VMAs in over 20 years. Illuminated by laser beams and surrounded by cameramen suspended in the air, Madonna’s opening was a foil to her infamous performance of “Like A Virgin” on MTV’s very first 1984 award show at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall, in which she sang solo in a wedding gown and veil while sitting atop a large wedding cake prop. The 2026 cross-generational performance featured celebrity cameos from Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX for an energetic dance break during “Danceteria.”
Hosted by American rapper Snoop Dogg, the event saw some of the biggest names in music take home a coveted Moon Person trophy, the VMAs’ official award. This was a hugely successful event for Madonna, who took home the most awards of the night for her latest album “Confessions II.” Two of which were Best Dance and Best Collaboration for her lead dance-pop single “Bring Your Love” featuring Carpenter.
Upon being awarded Artist of the Year, the pop icon joked, “who knew that 20 years after ‘Confessions’ we could pull it off again?” referencing her hit album “Confessions On A Dance Floor” released in 2005. The original album was nominated for five awards at the 2006 VMAs, setting a precedent for Madonna’s future success.
Some notable fan-voted wins include BLACKPINK member LISA’s ballad “DREAM” for Best Pop, and 21-year-old Sienna Spiro who prevailed in the Best New Artist category following the release of her debut studio album “Visitor” earlier this summer.
Other highlights of the night included various genre-hopping performances from VMAs nominees, including jazz artist Raye, Brit-pop rapper Gunna and country hip-hop artist Shaboozey.
Many viewers left the ceremony feeling certain artists were snubbed by MTV. The award for Best Collaboration was polarizing, with many viewers arguing that PinkPantheress deserved a win for her trending collaboration “Stateside” featuring Swedish pop star Zara Larsson. With over 700 million streams, many viewers were also surprised that “Stateside” lost to Madonna’s “Bring Your Love” which had a comparatively lower stream count of around 67 million. Luckily, the pair didn’t go home empty-handed as they received the non-fan-voted award for Best Art Direction.
Later in the night, MTV’s Best Country nominee Kacey Musgraves paid tribute to the late country icon Dolly Parton with a tender rendition of Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.” The performance opened with an old video of Parton projected on-screen for audiences, in which she delivered a heartfelt message: “I hope life will treat you real kind, and I hope that you have all that you ever dreamed of” and sang the opening lines of her infamous 70s single. Musgraves harmonized with Parton before taking center-stage to sing the melody in its original arrangement, wearing a bedazzled rhinestone jumpsuit and bright eyeshadow in true Dolly style. The tribute was widely praised, with audiences and even Musgraves herself left teary-eyed by the end of the show.
This year’s VMAs paid homage to another deceased music icon, George Micheal. In a tribute to Michael, Sombr was joined on stage by Raye, Adam Lambert and Teddy Swims to perform a medley of Michael’s biggest hits. While videos of Michael’s concerts played on-screen, the artists channeled his energy onstage while audience members were seen dancing along. Sombr wore Michael’s original leather jacket from his “Faith” tour while performing some of the late singer’s biggest hits, such as “Faith” and “Father Figure,” preserving his legacy as one of pop culture’s biggest icons.
Taylor Swift notably made history as MTV’s most decorated VMAs winner after accepting the inaugural Artist Director Honors award for her storytelling and directorial work. On receiving the award, she surprised audiences with a live premiere of her new self-directed music video for her latest single “Patient Zero” starring Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell. Since 2009, Swift has amassed 33 VMAs awards for her large discography of music videos, 18 of which she helped to produce and direct. As the first recipient of a new award that celebrates an evolving body of directorial work, the accolade marked a significant moment in Swift’s career as both a director and visual storyteller.
The night ended on a high, with a total of 23 Moon Person trophies awarded both on and off-screen to 14 artists. Overall, this was a record-breaking, star-powered event for MTV sure to entice viewers to tune in next year.
Isabella Moody is an Arts & Entertainment Intern for the fall 2026 quarter. She can be reached at moodyi@uci.edu.
Edited by Corinna Chin.
Interested in becoming an intern or a contributing writer for the Entertainment section?
Contact us at entertainment@newuniversity.org!