Sienna Spiro Performs “Great Expectation” on a Giant Turntable, Then Wins Best New Artist at the VMAs

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Sienna Spiro had a very good Sunday for a singer who hadn't been on the VMAs stage before. She performed “Great Expectation” standing on a giant replica of a turntable, then returned to the stage to accept Best New Artist, beating six other nominees, in front of a Peacock Theater crowd that Billboard says gave her a standing ovation for the performance.

The set was a showpiece. Spiro began under a spotlight on a stage-side replica of a vinyl record spinning on a turntable, in a metallic dress, before the lights lifted to reveal a large band with horns and strings and a bank of backing vocalists, Rolling Stone reports. Like her fellow Brit RAYE, who performed earlier in the night, she went big with a live band.

Read moreSienna Spiro Takes Her Gold Debut on the Road, Starting Tuesday at the Ryman

The win came later, from last year's Best New Artist, Alex Warren, who presented it. Spiro looked stunned.

I didn’t think this would happen, so I just have to say thank you so much. Thank you to the fans and the people that voted for me. I love you. I can’t believe this.

Sienna Spiro, accepting Best New Artist, Rolling Stone

She thanked her team at Capitol Records, the women around her, her mother and her sister, then trailed off with a breathless “I don’t even know.” Watch the moment below.

Sienna Spiro Wins Best New Artist | 2026 VMAsMTV · Watch on YouTube ↗

Why it matters

The category has predicted a lot. Billboard notes that Spiro is the first English artist to win Best New Artist since One Direction took it in 2012, and that she has a good chance of repeating at the Grammys, which would make her only the sixth act to take both. Rolling Stone lists the company she joins: Nirvana, Eminem, Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish.

The route was the modern one. Spiro first got attention with viral TikTok videos of covers and originals, then built through a string of singles, including her 2024 breakthrough “Maybe,” from the EP Sink Now, Swim Later. Her jazz-inflected sound, which Rolling Stone says draws on Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone and Etta James, helped set her apart. Visitor, her debut album, came out in July and peaked at No. 2 on the U.K. albums chart and No. 9 on the Billboard 200, with singles including “You Stole the Show” and “Die on This Hill.” “Great Expectation” has now spent three consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the U.K.'s Official Singles Chart, and she has two more songs in the top 40, per Billboard.

The VMAs bump is already measurable: Billboard reports that “Great Expectation” hit a single-day streaming best of 919,000 U.S. streams on Monday (Sept. 28), up 31% from the prior Monday, according to early Luminate data.

What's next: she plays Austin City Limits, then starts a North American tour on Oct. 13 in Nashville that runs through Nov. 12 in Los Angeles. (Here's the tour story, and the rest of the VMAs winners.)

Added to the High Grailed archive on October 12, 2026.