The surviving members of Nirvana have taken to the stage at the 2026 MTV VMAs – accepting the Video Vanguard Award, three decades after their first appearance at the awards.
Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic – along with Foo Fighters guitarist Pat Smear, who toured with the grunge icons extensively throughout the ‘90s – took to the stage at the awards ceremony last night (Sunday September 27).
There, they were honoured with the Video Vanguard Award, which celebrates their huge impact on both music and culture. In his speech, Novoselic looked back at how the appearance came over three decades after they first attended the VMAs back in 1992, where they played ‘Lithium’ live while still enjoying the huge response to sophomore album ‘Nevermind’.
“Thank you so much to Nirvana’s fans around the world and to everyone at MTV,” he said, following a video compilation of the band’s most iconic music videos. “This award brings back so many memories of making those videos.”
“The ideas for those videos all grew out of the vision of one of the greatest artists of all time, Kurt Cobain,” he added. “Kurt was one of one. None of us could have imagined that our band, our sound or our aesthetic would mean so much to so many people. But ultimately, the music had a life of its own. It charted its own course.
“Nirvana continues to resonate so deeply because people are still hungry for authenticity or something real, something uncompromising. Something that tells you it’s just OK to come as you are.”
Closing his speech, he shared: “Kurt would have loved that legacy. Thank you all so much.”
Nirvana came to an end in 1994 when Cobain died by suicide in April that year, although their music and legacy has continued to remain prevalent in the years since.
The 2026 VMAs were held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, and opened by Madonna who gave an elaborate performance alongside Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX, drawing on the visual world of her latest album, ‘Confessions II’.
Taylor Swift also made history on the night by becoming the ceremony’s most-awarded artist of all time.
She arrived at the event tied with Beyoncé on 30 career VMAs, before moving ahead when she received the Artist Director Honors award. Swift later won Best Direction and Video Of The Year for ‘The Fate Of Ophelia’, taking her career tally to 33.
Accepting the latest award, Swift dedicated it to the late Dolly Parton, who died last month aged 80. “I want to thank and dedicate this award to one person, without whom this wouldn’t be happening, and that person is the ultimate showgirl, Dolly Parton,” she said.
