Madonna Leads ’26 VMA Nominations
• We are having a serious ’80s flashback… Madonna leads the field of nominees for the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, the network announced Tuesday. The pop superstar, who has been nominated in every decade of her long musical career, is up for 11 awards, including Video, Artist and Song of the Year, as well as Best Collaboration, Dance, Direction, Art Direction, Cinematography, Editing, Choreography and Visual Effects.
Taylor Swift follows Madonna with nine nominations, including Video and Artist of the Year, as well as Best Pop, Direction, Art Direction, Cinematography, Editing, Choreography and Visual Effects. If she wins even one of those awards, she will become the most-awarded artist in VMA history.
Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter each earned seven nominations, followed by Bruno Mars, PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson with five. Blackpink’s LISA has four, and Shakira, Tate McRae, GENER8ION and Yung Lean are tied with three.
In addition to Madonna and Taylor, the other Artist of the Year nominees are Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Sabrina Carpenter and Morgan Wallen, in addition to Madonna and Swift.
The top prize of the night, Video of the Year, sees Taylor’s “The Fate of Ophelia” up against Madonna’s “Confessions II — The Film,” Grande’s “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” Mars’ “I Just Might,” Carpenter’s
“Tear,” and GENER8ION’s “Storm” starring Yung Lean.
The two-hour show will broadcast live on CBS and MTV on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT, from the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles. The show will also stream live on Paramount+ in the U.S. and be available to stream globally the next day on Paramount+ and MTV.
