Madonna, who stole the show at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984 with a jaw-dropping performance of “Like a Virgin,” is the leading nominee for the 2026 VMAs with 11 nods. It’s the first time Madonna has been the leading nominee since 1998, the year she won video of the year for the first time with “Ray of Light.” She was also the leading nominee in 1990, the year she was nominated for the top award with “Vogue.” In both of those years, she had nine nominations. This year’s tally of 11 nods represents a personal best for the legendary star.
Madonna’s 14-minute “Confessions II – The Film” is nominated for video of the year. Two recent winners in that category were likewise longer-form pieces: Taylor Swift’s 15-minute “All Too Well: The Short Film,” which won in 2022, and Ariana Grande’s 26-minute “Brighter Days Ahead,” which won last year.
Swift, who has won a record 30 Moon Persons, is second on the leaderboard with nine nominations. Other top contenders include Grande and Sabrina Carpenter (seven nods each); Bruno Mars, PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson (five each); and LISA (four). You’ll notice that seven of the eight artists with the most nominations this year are women.
Three past winners for video of the year are nominated in that marquee category again this year: Grande (“hate that i made you love me”), Madonna (“Confessions II – The Film”) and Swift (The Fate of Ophelia).” The three other nominees, vying for their first win in the category, are Mars (“I Just Might”), Carpenter (“Tears”) and GENER8ION (“Storm”), starring Yung Lean.
The latter video may be the least known of this year’s video of the year nominees and thus stands to gain the most by the nomination. Gener8ion is an audiovisual collaboration between French DJ Surkin and director Romain Gavras. “Storm” stars Swedish rapper Yung Lean, who plays a disruptive and aggressive student at an all-boys British boarding school.
Grande is nominated for artist of the year for a record-extending sixth time. Swift is a beat behind, landing her fifth nomination in the category. Morgan Wallen is nominated for the second year in a row, giving country representation in a high-profile category. The other nominees in the category are Mars (his third), Carpenter (her second) and Madonna (her first). For the first time since the category was introduced in 2017, no hip-hop artists were nominated in the category. For the first time in five years, no Latin artists were nominated in the category.
The nominees for best new artist are Bella Kay, CORTIS, Magnus Ferrell, Malcolm Todd, Myles Smith, Sienna Spiro and Stella Lefty. Spiro is considered a leading candidate for the Grammy for best new artist, along with Ella Langley, who wasn’t named in this category.
First-time nominees receiving multiple nods are GENER8ION and Yung Lean (three each) and CORTIS and Lefty (two each). Don Toliver, Kali Uchis, Noah Kahan, Olivia Dean and Tucker Wetmore are also among those competing for their first Moon Persons.
The best dance category returns for the first time in seven years. Madonna has yet to win in the category, which was first presented in 1989. She may well win this year for “Confessions II –the Film.” The other nominees in the category are Bebe Rexha & Faithless’ “New Religion,” Harry Styles’ “Aperture,” Lady Gaga & Doechii’s “RUNWAY,” PinkPantheress + Zara Larsson’s “Stateside,” Slayyyter’s “DANCE…” and Tate McRae’s “Nobody’s Girl.”
Two genre categories that were presented on last year’s show, best rock and best Afrobeats, were not in the initial announcement of nominees. Also missing, for now at least, are these categories that were presented last year: best pop artist, Push performance of the year, best album, video for good, best long-form video, best group and song of summer.
All of the lead nominees for best pop are women, though a few male artists who might have been nominated in that category wound up in different genre categories instead. Bruno Mars (“I Just Wait”) and Justin Bieber (“YUKON”) are nominated for best R&B; Harry Styles (“Aperture”) for best dance.
Fan voting is now open for 13 categories by visiting vote.MTV.com through Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. ET, except best new artist, which remains active into the show. Fans can get double the votes per category every day during “Power Hour,” running daily 1-2 p.m. ET from Aug. 20 through Sept. 24.
The VMAs will broadcast live from the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 27 (7:30-9:30 p.m. ET/4:30-6:30 p.m. PT) on CBS. The show will simulcast on MTV and stream on Paramount+ in the U.S. The show will also be available globally the next day on Paramount+ and MTV.
This will be the first time the show has been held in the Los Angeles area since 2017, when Katy Perry hosted the show from The Forum in Inglewood. This will be the second year in a row that the show has aired on CBS. It will be the first time the VMAs have been held in the fall. Previous shows were all held in late summer.
The 2026 VMAs are produced by Gunpowder & Sky. Van Toffler serves as producer for the second year in a row. Jesse Ignjatovic of Den of Thieves, Barbara Bialkowski and Bruce Gillmer serve as executive producers, alongside Barry Barclay and Floris Bauer. Melanie Block serves as co-executive producer and Gary Lanvy as co-producer.
Here’s the full list of nominees for the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards. (Nominees are listed in alphabetical order by first name.)
