Madonna is at the forefront of the 2026 MTV Video Music Award nominations. The pop icon continues her streak of being nominated in every decade of her illustrious career, as announced on Tuesday by the network. Her career tally includes 19 competitive MTV VMA wins. In 1986, she was the first solo female artist to receive the Video Vanguard Award.
This year, Madonna is in contention for 11 awards, including video, artist, and song of the year, alongside categories like best collaboration, dance, direction, art direction, cinematography, editing, choreography, and visual effects.
If Madonna secures all nominations, she would tie with Beyoncé and Taylor Swift for the record of the most-awarded musician in VMA history, both holding 30 awards each. Eminem stands as the male artist with the highest count at 15 VMAs.
Taylor Swift closely follows with nine nominations. A single win will make her the most-awarded artist in VMA history. Swift is shortlisted for video and artist of the year, including best pop, direction, art direction, cinematography, editing, choreography, and visual effects.
In addition to Madonna and Swift, Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter hold seven nominations each, while Bruno Mars, PinkPantheress, and Zara Larsson have five. Blackpink’s LISA has four nominations, while Shakira, Tate McRae, GENER8ION, and Yung Lean are tied with three.
The artist of the year category includes nominees like Grande, Mars, Carpenter, and Morgan Wallen, along with Madonna and Swift.
For the video of the year, Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” competes 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” featuring Yung Lean.
The event will air live on CBS from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern and 4:30 p.m. Pacific. It will also be accessible on MTV and streaming on Paramount+ within the U.S., with global streaming availability the next day.
CBS hosts several award shows, like the Tony Awards and the American Music Awards. CBS has aired the Grammys since 1973, with the event switching to ABC in 2027.
This year marks the first-time nomination for 26 artists, among them GENER8ION and Yung Lean with three nominations for their collaboration, “Storm,” and new acts like K-pop boy band CORTIS and viral sensation Stella Lefty with two nominations. Other noteworthy first-time nominees include Don Toliver, Kali Uchis, Noah Kahan, Olivia Dean, Tucker Wetmore, and Sienna Spiro.
The best dance category returns after seven years, featuring nominees like McRae’s “Nobody’s Girl,” Bebe Rexha and Faithless’ “New Religion,” Harry Styles’ “Aperture,” Lady Gaga and Doechii’s “Runway,” Madonna’s “Confessions II — The Film,” PinkPantheress’ “Stateside” featuring Larsson, and Slayyyter’s “Dance …”.
Online fan voting began Tuesday across 13 categories, closing on Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. Eastern and 3 p.m. Pacific. Voting for the best new artist category will stay active during the show.
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