Madonna and Taylor Swift Lead VMA 2026 Nominations
The Queen of Pop has 11 nominations, while Swift has 9. The ceremony takes place on September 27 in Los Angeles, with fan voting open until September 25.
The Queen of Pop has 11 nominations, while Swift has 9. The ceremony takes place on September 27 in Los Angeles, with fan voting open until September 25.
On August 18, 2026, MTV announced the nominations for this year's Video Music Awards, putting the spotlight on two of today's biggest pop stars. According to E! News, Madonna leads with 11 nominations, while Taylor Swift has 9. Both are nominated in the Video of the Year and Artist of the Year categories, meaning they will go head-to-head for the night's most prestigious awards.
Madonna earned her nominations for her album Confessions II and its accompanying film, while Swift competes with her song "The Fate of Ophelia." The ceremony will take place on Sunday, September 27, 2026, in Los Angeles, with a live broadcast on CBS and MTV, as reported by Pitchfork. Fan voting for 13 categories is open at vote.mtv.com until September 25 at 6:00 PM Eastern Time.
Taylor Swift is currently tied with Beyoncé for the most VMA wins, with both holding 30 Moon Person trophies. If Swift wins at least one award this year, she will become the all-time record holder in the ceremony's history.
Interestingly, the Best Dance category is returning after a seven-year hiatus. It will feature Madonna, Tate McRae, PinkPantheress, and Zara Larsson, as well as Harry Styles, Bebe Rexha, Slayyyter, and Lady Gaga and Doechii for their collaboration "RUNAWAY" from the film The Devil Wears Prada 2.
Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter each have 7 nominations, and both are in the running for Best Pop. Bruno Mars, PinkPantheress, and Zara Larsson each have 5 nominations, while LISA from Blackpink is nominated in 4 categories. Shakira and Tate McRae share 3 nominations each.
Other nominees include BTS with their song "Swim" in the Song of the Year category, and BLACKPINK with "JUMP" in Best K-Pop. The Best New Artist category features 7 artists, including Sienna Spiro, GENER8ION, CORTIS, and Stella Lefty, all of whom are first-time VMA nominees.
The host of this year's ceremony and the recipient of the Video Vanguard Award have not yet been announced, according to Pitchfork.