Madonna Wins Seven VMAs, Taylor Swift Takes Video of the Year and Sienna Spiro Is Best New Artist

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Madonna walked into the 2026 VMAs with 13 nominations and walked out with seven Moon Persons, more than anyone else on a night that also gave Taylor Swift a record-extending Video of the Year win. Held Sunday (Sept. 27) at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles and hosted by Snoop Dogg, it was Madonna's night by the numbers and Swift's by the trophy that closes the show.

Madonna's 13 nods tied Lady Gaga's record for most in a single year, Pitchfork noted. She took Artist of the Year, Best Collaboration (with Sabrina Carpenter for “Bring Your Love”) and five prizes for Confessions II and its short film: Best Album, Best Long Form Video, Best Dance, Best Choreography and Best Cinematography. Billboard counts 26 competitive wins in her career now, behind only Swift (32) and Beyoncé (29), and at 68 she is the oldest Artist of the Year winner by a distance. Every previous recipient was in their 20s or 30s. (We have the full story of her opening set and the night's best collaboration.)

Swift's sixth Video of the Year

Taylor Swift won Video of the Year for “The Fate of Ophelia,” the self-directed clip she described as an attempt to look like one continuous shot. “I wanted it to seem like one continuous shot, so I learned a lot about hiding cuts in places,” she said, per Billboard. It is her sixth win in the category, three times as many as anyone else, and she added Best Direction for “Opalite,” her fifth in that category. Earlier in the night she received the inaugural Artist Director Honors, and the video for her new single “Patient Zero” premiered during the broadcast.

That person is the ultimate showgirl, Dolly Parton. Every single song that she wrote … her storytelling was so vivid and rich, listening to her songs, it was like watching the best music video you’ve ever seen in your life, every single time.

Taylor Swift, dedicating the award to Dolly Parton, Billboard

Parton died at 80 at the end of August, and her presence ran through the night. Kacey Musgraves sang “I Will Always Love You” alongside an old video of her, and Nirvana, honored with the Video Vanguard Award, became the first group to receive it after disbanding since The Beatles at the first VMAs in 1964, Billboard noted.

The rest of the winners

BTS won three awards for “Swim” (Song of the Year, Best K-Pop and Best Group), and neither they nor Ariana Grande were in the room to collect. LISA won Best Pop for “Dream,” featuring Kentaro Sakaguchi. Cardi B and Kehlani took Best Hip-Hop with “Safe,” Bruno Mars won Best R&B for “I Just Might,” Olivia Rodrigo won Best Alternative for “The Cure,” and Bad Bunny won Best Latin for “NUEVAYoL.” Ella Langley was nominated across the board and won only Best Country for “Choosin' Texas,” five days after the song became the longest-running No. 1 in Hot 100 history. Grande won Song of Summer and Best Visual Effects for “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” and PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson won Best Art Direction for their “Stateside” remix video.

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

The newcomer category went to Sienna Spiro, the first English artist to win Best New Artist since One Direction in 2012, Billboard noted. Her night, including the performance, got its own story.

What's next: Billboard notes that Spiro has a good chance of winning the same category at the Grammys, which would make her only the sixth act to take best new artist at both shows.

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