2026 VMAs Winners: Swift and Madonna Lead the Night

The 2026 VMAs winners were led by Taylor Swift and Madonna on Sunday night, as Swift extended her record as the most-awarded artist in MTV Video Music Awards history with a Video of the Year win while Madonna took seven trophies. Snoop Dogg hosted the show at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on September 27.

Swift won Video of the Year for "The Fate of Ophelia" and Best Direction for "Opalite," and received the inaugural Artist Director Honors, according to the published winners list. The new honor recognizes "groundbreaking music artists whose work behind the camera has expanded the possibilities of music video and advanced the art of visual storytelling," MTV said. Those victories brought her career total to 32 VMA wins, the most in the show's history, and the Video of the Year victory was her sixth in that category, extending the record.

In her acceptance speech, Swift dedicated the Video of the Year award to the late Dolly Parton, calling her "the ultimate showgirl." She also premiered the video for her new single "Patient Zero," which stars Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell with cinematography by Academy Award winner Emmanuel Lubezki, according to VENUS MAG's coverage of the event.

Swift sets a new all-time VMA record

Swift entered the night with nine nominations, including video of the year and artist of the year. The Artist Director Honors was introduced this year as a new category, and Swift was its first recipient, in recognition of her work directing her own videos.

The "Patient Zero" video had been teased days earlier, when Swift announced the full video would debut during the show, according to VENUS MAG's coverage of the event. The song was released on Friday as one of four new tracks on "The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore," according to coverage of the event.

Kacey Musgraves performed Parton's "I Will Always Love You" in a separate tribute segment during the ceremony, according to the published roundup of the evening's performances.

Madonna dominates the ceremony

Madonna was the night's biggest winner by count, taking home the largest haul of the evening. She won Artist of the Year, Best Collaboration for "Bring Your Love" with Sabrina Carpenter, Best Dance, Best Cinematography, Best Choreography, Best Longform Video for "Confessions II - The Film," and Best Album for "Confessions II," according to the official winners announcement.

Madonna entered the night with 13 nominations, tying the record, and opened the ceremony for a fifth time, her first VMA appearance in 23 years. Her opening performance began with Sabrina Carpenter for "Bring Your Love" before moving into "Danceteria Afterhours," her collaboration with Charli XCX, with appearances from Debi Mazar, Julia Garner and Sombr. The track's recent remix release had already drawn attention ahead of the ceremony.

Accepting Artist of the Year, Madonna told the crowd to "find yourself and believe in yourself." Most of her wins traced back to the "Confessions II" era and its accompanying visual projects, which swept the craft categories for cinematography, choreography and direction.

BTS, LISA and a night of tributes

BTS won three awards on the night: Song of the Year and Best K-Pop for "Swim," plus Best Group. LISA won Best Pop for "Dream" featuring Kentaro Sakaguchi, continuing K-pop's strong presence at the ceremony.

Sienna Spiro was named Best New Artist and performed her song "Great Expectation" during the broadcast. Nirvana received the Video Vanguard Award, the lifetime honor given to acts whose videos have shaped the medium.

Other winners included Cardi B and Kehlani for Best Hip-Hop with "Safe," Bruno Mars for Best R&B with "I Just Might," Olivia Rodrigo for Best Alternative with "the cure," Bad Bunny for Best Latin with "NUEVAYoL," and Ella Langley for Best Country with "Choosin' Texas," according to the winners list. Sabrina Carpenter won Best Editing for "House Tour," Ariana Grande won Best Visual Effects and Song of Summer for "Hate That I Made You Love Me," and PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson took Best Art Direction for "Stateside."

The ceremony also featured a tribute to George Michael, performed by Raye, Sombr and Teddy Swims ten years after his death. The VMAs were launched by MTV in 1984 and honor the year's best music videos across pop, hip-hop, R&B, rock, Latin, country and K-pop.

Full coverage of the night's winners is available in the complete VMAs winners list from the ceremony, with additional reporting on Swift's Video of the Year win in Rova's coverage of the ceremony and inMusicBlog's full winners roundup.