Madonna and Taylor Swift lead the nominations for the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards.
Madonna is the top nominee ahead of this year’s ceremony with 11 nods, including the coveted Artist of the Year and Video of the Year categories, bringing her career total to 82 MTV VMA nominations.
The Like a Prayer hitmaker is also nominated for Song of the Year for her collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter, Bring Your Love, as well as Video of the Year for her 14-minute project Confessions II – The Film.
This year marks the first time the pop icon has led the nominations since 1998, when she received nine nods and won Video of the Year for Ray of Light. She was also the leading nominee in 1990, when she received nine nominations, including for the top award for Vogue.
Swift follows close behind with nine nominations, including Artist of the Year, Video of the Year and Best Pop for The Fate of Ophelia.
The Bad Blood hitmaker is currently tied with Beyoncé for the most MTV Video Music Award wins of all time, with 30 Moon Person trophies each.
Carpenter and Ariana Grande are joint third with eight nominations each, including nods for Artist of the Year, Video of the Year and Best Pop.
Bruno Mars and GENER8ION are also nominated for Video of the Year, while the Artist of the Year category also features Mars and Morgan Wallen.
The Song of the Year nominees include BTS for Swim, Ella Langley for Choosin’ Texas, HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI for Golden, Olivia Dean for Man I Need, PinkPantheress for Stateside + Zara Larsson and RAYE for Where Is My Husband.
The Best New Artist nominees include Malcolm Todd, Bella Kay, Myles Smith and Sienna Spiro.
The VMAs will air live from Los Angeles on 27 September, marking the ceremony’s first return to the city since 2017. Details of the host, performers and Video Vanguard recipient are still being kept under wraps.
