The VMAs are heading back to the West Coast with a Long Beach native holding the mic. MTV confirmed on Thursday (Sept. 10) that Snoop Dogg will host the 2026 Video Music Awards on Sunday, Sept. 27, live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. A day earlier, the network announced that Nirvana will receive this year’s Video Vanguard Award.
It is the show’s first return to California since 2017, when Katy Perry hosted at the Forum in Inglewood, Rolling Stone notes. Snoop is a 13-time VMAs nominee with three wins, and he has a long history with the stage: his debut performance in 1994, a show-closing set with Dr. Dre and Eminem in 1999 and a metaverse-inspired performance with Eminem in 2022.
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In a statement, Snoop called the job full circle:
MTV and the VMAs have been part of my story since the beginning. Some of the biggest moments of my career happened on that stage and on MTV – they gave hip-hop a place to be loud, fearless and seen by the whole world.
Snoop Dogg, in a statement, Rolling Stone
He is hosting alongside veteran MTV producer Van Toffler, and promised “a whole lot of history together. Now we get to make some new history.” Snoop is also the subject of Universal’s upcoming biopic, Snoop, which was cast with SwayvoTwain as Biggie this week.
A legacy-heavy night
Billboard points out that MTV chose legacy artists for both the host and the top honor. Nirvana had four No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 in the 1990s and Snoop had three, and both won at the 1994 VMAs, when Roseanne Barr hosted. It will be the sixth year in a row with a hip-hop host, after Megan Thee Stallion in 2024 and LL Cool J in 2025.
Nirvana’s surviving members, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear, have reunited only occasionally for tribute performances since Kurt Cobain’s death in 1994, per Pitchfork, most recently at the 2025 FireAid benefit. Whether they will play at the ceremony hasn’t been announced.
Madonna leads this year’s nominees on the strength of the short film for her album Confessions II, and Taylor Swift follows with nine. Video of the Year pits the Confessions II film and Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” against Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars’s “I Just Might,” Gener8ion and Yung Lean’s “Storm,” and Sabrina Carpenter.
What’s next
The show airs live on CBS, MTV and Paramount+ on Sept. 27, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. ET. Performers, presenters and special guests will be announced in the coming weeks.
- Show
- 2026 MTV Video Music Awards
- When
- Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, from the Peacock Theater, Los Angeles
- Host
- Snoop Dogg
- Video Vanguard
- Nirvana
- Airs
- CBS, MTV and Paramount+
Added to the High Grailed archive on October 12, 2026.
