The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards air live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 27 at 7:30 p.m. ET on CBS, with a simulcast on MTV and streaming on Paramount+ — and the story of the night is already written in the nominations. Madonna leads everyone with 11 nods, a personal best for the 68-year-old Queen of Pop, per the Los Angeles Times. Right behind her: Taylor Swift with nine, chasing additions to her all-time record of 30 Moon Person trophies. It’s a genuine generational showdown — the artist who performed at the very first VMAs in 1984 against the artist who has dominated the last decade of them.
Key Takeaways
- The 2026 VMAs air live Sunday, September 27 at 7:30 p.m. ET on CBS, simulcast on MTV and streaming on Paramount+.
- Madonna leads with 11 nominations — a personal best — ahead of Taylor Swift's nine, per the Los Angeles Times.
- Best Dance returns after a seven-year hiatus, and Madonna has never won it despite being nominated for "Confessions II — The Film."
- Fan voting runs at vote.mtv.com through September 25, with votes counting double during the daily 1–2 p.m. ET "Power Hour."
Madonna’s full-circle moment
Madonna’s 11 nominations include Video of the Year for “Confessions II — The Film” — a 14-minute short film — plus Artist of the Year, Song of the Year for her Sabrina Carpenter collaboration “Bring Your Love,” and choreography, per the LA Times. It’s her biggest nomination haul ever, and her first time topping the field in decades: the LA Times points back to 1990, when “Vogue” led the pack, while Billboard’s Pop Shop Podcast recalls 1998, when she last entered as the leading nominee and won Video of the Year for “Ray of Light.” Either way, the drought has been generational.
There’s a poetic subplot: the Best Dance category is returning after a seven-year hiatus, per the LA Times — an award first given in 1989, which Madonna has somehow never won. “Confessions II” is nominated. If the night wants a storybook moment, it’s sitting right there.
The top categories
Video of the Year, per Deadline: Ariana Grande (“hate that i made you love me”), Bruno Mars (“I Just Might”), GENER8ION (“STORM starring Yung Lean”), Madonna (“Confessions II — The Film”), Sabrina Carpenter (“Tears”), and Taylor Swift (“The Fate of Ophelia”).
Artist of the Year: Grande, Mars, Madonna, Morgan Wallen, Carpenter, and Swift.
Song of the Year is the most eclectic race: BTS’s “Swim,” Ella Langley’s country juggernaut “Choosin’ Texas,” KPop Demon Hunters trio HUNTR/X’s “Golden,” Madonna and Carpenter’s “Bring Your Love,” Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need,” PinkPantheress’s “Stateside” with Zara Larsson, and RAYE’s “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!”
Best New Artist (the one category still votable during the show): Bella Kay, CORTIS, Magnus Ferrell, Malcolm Todd, Myles Smith, Sienna Spiro, and Stella Lefty.
Behind the leaders, Grande and Carpenter took seven nominations each; Mars, PinkPantheress, and Zara Larsson landed five; Lisa has four; Shakira and Tate McRae three, per Deadline.
The genre races worth watching
- Best Pop is a bloodbath: Grande, Charli xcx (“SS26”), Lisa, Olivia Rodrigo (“drop dead”), Carpenter (“House Tour”), Tate McRae, and Swift.
- Best Hip-Hop: Cardi B with Kehlani, Don Toliver, Drake (“Janice STFU”), Megan Thee Stallion, Travis Scott, and Tyler, the Creator.
- Best K-Pop stacks BLACKPINK (“JUMP”), BTS (“SWIM”), CORTIS, KATSEYE (“PINKY UP”), LE SSERAFIM with j-hope, and LISA.
- Best Dance pits Harry Styles (“Aperture”), Lady Gaga and Doechii (“RUNWAY”), and Madonna against each other in the revived category.
- Best Country features Langley, Kacey Musgraves, Lainey Wilson, Luke Combs, Shaboozey, Tucker Wetmore, and new-artist crossover Stella Lefty.
Notably absent this year, per the LA Times: the rock and afrobeats categories, both presented last year, along with awards for pop artist, push performance, album, video for good, long-form video, group, and song of the summer. The trimmed field concentrates the drama — and has already drawn criticism.
How voting works (and the double-vote trick)
Fans vote in 13 categories at vote.mtv.com through September 25, per the LA Times. The wrinkle worth knowing: during the daily “Power Hour” from 1 to 2 p.m. ET, running August 20 through September 25, votes count double per category. Best New Artist stays open into the live show.
The chart context making this VMAs bigger
Two Billboard chart notes frame the season. Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” — a Song of the Year and Best Country nominee — just logged its 19th week at No. 1 on the Hot 100, tying the longest run ever for a non-holiday song, per Billboard. And KATSEYE, nominated in Best K-Pop, just scored their first No. 1 album with WILD. Both acts arrive at the VMAs with genuine momentum rather than legacy goodwill — exactly the tension (heritage icons vs. chart-dominant newcomers) that this year’s nominations set up.
What happens next
Voting closes September 25, two days before the show. Expect performer announcements to roll out through September — the producer team of Van Toffler and Den of Thieves’ Jesse Ignjatovic typically stacks the lineup late, per Deadline’s production credits. The questions for the night of the 27th: Does Madonna convert 11 nominations into her first-ever Dance award and a late-career Video of the Year? Does Swift push her record trophy count into the mid-30s? And does the Song of the Year category — where a K-pop demon-hunting fictional trio, a 19-week country No. 1, and Madonna are somehow competing — produce the weirdest winner’s speech in VMA history? CBS, MTV, and Paramount+ carry it live.
The VMAs also cap an unusually crowded September for live TV: the Emmys hand out their trophies September 14 on NBC, Dancing with the Stars opens season 35 the next night on ABC, and Best Hip-Hop nominee Drake just sold a majority stake in OVO to Authentic Brands Group.
Quick poll
Who takes Video of the Year at the 2026 VMAs?
For the record: Madonna leads all nominees with 11 nods to Swift's nine, per the Los Angeles Times — but nominations have never guaranteed a Moon Person.
FAQ
When are the 2026 MTV VMAs? Sunday, September 27, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT, live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on CBS, simulcast on MTV and streaming on Paramount+.
Who has the most 2026 VMA nominations? Madonna with 11 — a personal best — followed by Taylor Swift with nine, and Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter with seven each.
How do I vote for the 2026 VMAs? At vote.mtv.com through September 25, across 13 categories. Votes count double during the daily 1–2 p.m. ET “Power Hour,” and Best New Artist voting continues during the show.
Why is Best Dance a big deal this year? The category is back after a seven-year hiatus — and Madonna, nominated for “Confessions II — The Film,” has never won it despite her dance-floor legacy, per the LA Times.
