The 2026 VMAs: Madonna won seven, Taylor Swift passed Beyoncé and Yung Lean smashed a Moon Person

// Coda · 6 min read

MTV VMAsMadonnaTaylor SwiftOlivia RodrigoNirvanaYung LeanMTV VMAsMadonnaTaylor SwiftOlivia RodrigoNirvanaYung LeanMTV VMAsMadonnaTaylor SwiftOlivia RodrigoNirvanaYung Lean

The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards took over the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday 27 September, with Snoop Dogg hosting for the first time.

Four of the names from that stage have been in front of our cameras over the past two years. Yung Lean, above, is one of them.

There was one problem if you were watching on TV. The broadcast started around twenty minutes late because the NFL game ran over, and spent the rest of the night trailing what was happening in the room. Anyone with X, Instagram and a livestream open knew a fair amount before CBS got there.

MTV's own run through the night, if you want the whole thing before the detail.

Four nominations, nothing won, and the last slot of the night

"STORM" went into the VMAs with four nominations and came out with none. The film comes from GENER8ION, the project of the French producer Surkin and the director Romain Gavras, with Yung Lean at its centre.

It was nominated for Video of the Year, Best Long Form Video, Best Direction for Gavras and Best Choreography for Damien Jalet. Video and Direction went to Taylor Swift. Long Form and Choreography went to Madonna.

And then Yung Lean and GENER8ION got the final performance of the night. Lean opened it by picking up a Moon Person, carrying it to the main stage and smashing it on the floor. Then they played "STORM II" live for the first time, with Jalet's choreography from the film and a crowd of dancers in school uniforms.

No awards won. One award destroyed.

We have photographed Yung Lean three times now, most recently at Roskilde this summer. This was a slightly different setting.

Madonna came back after 23 years

Madonna had not performed at the VMAs since 2003. Twenty-three years later she opened the whole show, and then spent the rest of the night winning.

Seven awards in total: Artist of the Year, Best Collaboration, Best Dance, Best Cinematography, Best Choreography, Best Album and Best Long Form Video. Six of them are connected to Confessions II and the film she released on her own YouTube channel in June. Nobody else won more than three.

Confessions II – The Film, which carried six of Madonna's seven awards.

Taylor Swift passed Beyoncé

Taylor Swift arrived with thirty VMAs, level with Beyoncé. She left with thirty-three, making her the most-awarded artist in the history of the show.

The first was technically already hers before the ceremony began. MTV gave Swift its inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors, a new award recognising artists who direct their own work. Then "The Fate of Ophelia" won Video of the Year and "Opalite" took Best Direction.

Swift dedicated the biggest one to Dolly Parton, who died in August at eighty. She called Parton the ultimate showgirl and said listening to her songs is like watching the best music video you have ever seen. Later in the night, Kacey Musgraves performed "I Will Always Love You" in tribute.

"The Fate of Ophelia", Video of the Year.

Nirvana got the Video Vanguard Award

Thirty-four years after "Smells Like Teen Spirit" won them Best Alternative Video and Best New Artist Video, Nirvana received the Video Vanguard Award. They are only the ninth band to get it, and the first since Duran Duran in 2003.

Chuck D of Public Enemy presented the award. Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl accepted it, with Pat Smear beside them. Only Novoselic spoke.

"The ideas for those videos all grew out of the vision of one of the greatest artists of all time, Kurt Cobain," he said. "Kurt was one of one."

He put the band's staying power down to people still being hungry for something that tells you it is alright to come as you are.

Grohl has been through our pit too, with Foo Fighters at Roskilde in July 2024.

GENER8ION feat. Yung Lean Perform "STORM" | 2026 VMAs

RAYE got two turns

RAYE opened with a medley of "I Will Overcome." and "WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!", then came back later in the night for the George Michael tribute.

sombr opened the tribute with "Faith" and "Father Figure", RAYE took on "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)", Teddy Swims performed "Careless Whisper" and Adam Lambert, who had not been announced, closed it with "Freedom! '90".

Olivia Rodrigo got one

Olivia Rodrigo's "the cure" won Best Alternative, the second single from You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love. We photographed her at Roskilde on 4 July last year, on the same bill as Doechii, who came to the VMAs this time nominated alongside Lady Gaga and left without a Moon Person.

"the cure", Best Alternative.

Most of the awards were not on TV

There were twenty-three competitive categories at this year's VMAs. Six were presented during the broadcast.

Which produced the slightly strange situation where BTS were among the biggest winners of the night without accepting a single award on television. Song of the Year and Best K-Pop for "SWIM", plus Best Group, all of it off air, in their first VMAs since finishing military service.

Four categories, Best Group and Best Album among them, were not voted for through MTV's regular platform at all. That voting ran through Instagram Stories and closed before the show began.