Madonna and Taylor Swift Lead 2026 MTV VMA Nominations

New York (AP) — Madonna heads the list for the 2026 MTV Video Music Award nominations, as revealed by the network on Tuesday. The pop icon has managed to secure nominations in each decade of her extensive music career. To date, she boasts 19 competitive MTV VMA wins and was the first solo female artist to earn the Video Vanguard Award back in 1986.

This year, Madonna is up for a notable 11 awards, categorized under video, artist, and song of the year. She also competes in best collaboration, dance, direction, art direction, cinematography, editing, choreography, and visual effects. A complete sweep of these awards would see her tying with Beyoncé and Taylor Swift for the title of the most-awarded musician in VMA history, both holding 30 awards each. Eminem currently holds the record for male artists with 15 VMAs.

Taylor Swift follows closely with nine nominations this year. Winning any award could elevate her to the most-awarded artist in VMA history. Her nominations span video and artist of the year, along with best pop, direction, art direction, cinematography, editing, choreography, and visual effects.

Next in line after Madonna and Swift are Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter, with seven nominations apiece, while Bruno Mars, PinkPantheress, and Zara Larsson each have five. Blackpink’s LISA has secured four nominations, and Shakira, Tate McRae, GENER8ION, and Yung Lean tie with three each.

Other contenders for artist of the year include Grande, Mars, Carpenter, and Morgan Wallen, in addition to Madonna and Swift. The coveted video of the year award sees Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” face off 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 two-hour event will broadcast live on CBS on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern and 4:30 p.m. Pacific from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Additionally, it will be simulcast on MTV and made available for streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S. Globally, the show will be accessible the following day on Paramount+ and MTV.

While CBS hosts several award shows, including the Tony Awards and the American Music Awards, it has aired the Grammys since 1973. However, the Grammys will move to ABC in 2027.

This year’s VMAs feature 26 first-time nominees. Notables include GENER8ION and Yung Lean with their “Storm” collaboration securing three nominations, the K-pop group CORTIS, and viral artist Stella Lefty with two nominations each. First-time nominees of interest include Don Toliver, Kali Uchis, Noah Kahan, Olivia Dean, Tucker Wetmore, and Sienna Spiro.

The best dance category re-emerges after a seven-year hiatus. Nominees include 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” with Larsson, and Slayyyter’s “Dance …”

Fan voting opened online Tuesday across 13 categories and closes on Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. Eastern and 3 p.m. Pacific. Voting for best new artist will remain ongoing throughout the show.

An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect spelling of Lady Gaga and Doechii’s song “Runway.”