2026 MTV VMAs: Madonna ties nominations record as Snoop Dogg hosts in Los Angeles
Madonna went into the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards with 11 nominations, tying the record for the most nominations in a single night.
The show was held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, hosted by Snoop Dogg and broadcast on CBS, according to the nominations and winners rundown published after the ceremony Pitchfork. The previous single-night nominations record belonged to Lady Gaga.
Fan voting was hosted at vote.mtv.com MTV. Winners were scheduled to be revealed on Sunday, September 27 at 7:30 ET, which MTV listed as 4:30 PT on its voting site.
Video of the Year pitted six acts against each other. The nominees were Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Gener8ion, Madonna, Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift. Grande was nominated for “Hate That I Made You Love Me” and Mars for “I Just Might” NBC Los Angeles.
Artist of the Year covered much of the same ground. The nominees were Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Madonna, Morgan Wallen, Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift. It is a fan-voted prize, decided by public vote rather than an industry panel.
Song of the Year had seven nominees. They were BTS with “Swim”, Ella Langley with “Choosin’ Texas”, Huntr/x with “Golden”, Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter with “Bring Your Love”, Olivia Dean with “Man I Need”, PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson with “Stateside”, and Raye with “Where Is My Husband!”.
Best New Artist also had seven contenders. The shortlist was Bella Kay, Cortis, Magnus Ferrell, Malcolm Todd, Myles Smith, Sienna Spiro and Stella Lefty. The category is open to acts breaking through in the eligibility year.
Best Collaboration brought together cross-genre pairings. Nominees included Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter for “Bring Your Love”, PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson for “Stateside”, Shakira and Burna Boy for “Dai Dai”, Clipse, Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T and Malice for “Chains & Whips”, French Montana and Max B for “Ever Since U Left Me”, and Teyana Taylor and Lucky Daye for “Hard Part”.
Best Alternative leaned guitar-first. The nominees were Geese with “Taxes”, MGK and Fred Durst with “Fix Ur Face”, Noah Kahan with “The Great Divide”, Olivia Rodrigo with “The Cure”, Sombr with “Homewrecker”, Tame Impala with “Dracula” and Twenty One Pilots with “Drag Path”. In Best Pop, Lisa and Kentara Sakaguchi took the prize with “Dream”.
For fans, this means a changing of the guard was possible but not guaranteed. Lady Gaga won Artist of the Year at the 2025 ceremony, while Rosé and Bruno Mars won Song of the Year for “APT.”, MTV’s 2025 winners list shows.
